Sata 3 or Sata 2 for SSD and WD Caviar Black

[garyhope]

My new ASRock Z68 Pro 3 mobo has 2 Sata 3 connectors and 4 Sata 2 connectors.

I assume that I should use one Sata 3 for the Crucial 64 G SSD and the other Sata 3 for the new WD Caviar Black.

For my optical drive and my old HDD I will use 2 of the 4 remaining Sata 2 connectors. Is this the best or only solution?

And while I've got your eyes and ears, do I intall both the SSD and WD Caviar Black at the same time or just start the new build with just the SSD connected and then load the Windows 7 HP 64 bit OS and after that's installed, connect the WD CB as the data drive.

And how do I install and connect my old WD HDD from my old build as a second drive (can I use this as a backup drive without bringing all the clutter and junk/trash that's on it) without screwing every thing up?

Thanks all.

Intel i5 2500K
ASRock Z68 Pro 3
Crucial M4 64 G SSD
16 gigs G Skill Ram
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 +
PNY Quadro NVS 440 graphics card (4 monitors)
Cooler master HAF 212 case
Antec BP550 Plus Modular PS

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I am going to defer to Retired Chief. He has a very good list of instructions for configurations similar to yours.

 

[Ubrales]

".... I assume that I should use one Sata 3 for the Crucial 64 G SSD and the other Sata 3 for the new WD Caviar Black.
For my optical drive and my old HDD I will use 2 of the 4 remaining Sata 2 connectors. Is this the best or only solution?..."

Good strategy!

When you install the OS, have just the SSD connected. No other drive!

After you install the OS, then connect the new WD Caviar Black and format it NTFS.

After that connect the old HDD from the old computer and do an NTFS format. This way you will have a clean drive. It is not a good idea to use an internal drive for backups. Backups should generally be on an external drive and then stored in a separate location.

 

[RetiredChief]

Hello Johnny, just got home from bowling, hope this is what he is looking for.

Here are the steps:
.. Disconnect ALL HDD, connect Only the SSD. .. Go into Bios and VERIFY that the HDD controller is set To AHCI
.. Install windows 7. Note Since your system is an Intel system you will want to go to Intel’s website and download and install the latest RST drivers (ver 10.6) http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Se [...] Technology
Just select your Operating system and in the right pane click on drivers.
Everything is OK. Power down and reconnect your Old HDD. Note: do NOT delete anything for a couple of weeks, until you are sure everything is running fine. You will be able to dual boot to the SSD or the HDD simply by pressing the hot key during post that brings up the boot menu (F12 on my gigabyte MB and F11 on my asrock MB). You can simply copy Your favorites over from HDD -> SSD and for email you can do an export/import. After a couple of weeks you can then (1) delete windows from HDD, or (2) back up your data to BU drive and reformat your HDD and copy your data back (This is what I normally do.

3 Things that I normally do for an SSD:
.. (1) disable hibernation - save 4 -> 6 gigs
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730
.. (2) Set page file (virtual memory) min and max to the same value, ie 4 gigs ram set it to 1024 mb. > 4 gigs ram set to 512mb. And you can redirect it to the HDD to save alittle more (Very slight performance hit). This save upto 6 gigs
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US [...] ual-memory
.. (3) manage restore points. limit the number of restore point or disable. This one if not done can eat up space in the long haul.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/318 [...] windows-7/
.. (4) One Final Important step: Use windows 7 backup (Under Control panel -> System & Security) and creat a image backup for your “C” drive. You can place on your internal HDD (and as a added precaution copy to BU drive). As long as you have the Windows Installation disk, you do NOT need to create the “Restore Disk” when prompted.

 

[garyhope]

".... I assume that I should use one Sata 3 for the Crucial 64 G SSD and the other Sata 3 for the new WD Caviar Black.
For my optical drive and my old HDD I will use 2 of the 4 remaining Sata 2 connectors. Is this the best or only solution?..."

Good strategy!

When you install the OS, have just the SSD connected. No other drive!

After you install the OS, then connect the new WD Caviar Black and format it NTFS.

After that connect the old HDD from the old computer and do an NTFS format. This way you will have a clean drive. It is not a good idea to use an internal drive for backups. Backups should generally be on an external drive and then stored in a separate location.

Thanks Ubrales, I appreciate your answer.

 

[garyhope]

Hello Johnny, just got home from bowling, hope this is what he is looking for.

Here are the steps:
.. Disconnect ALL HDD, connect Only the SSD. .. Go into Bios and VERIFY that the HDD controller is set To AHCI
.. Install windows 7. Note Since your system is an Intel system you will want to go to Intel’s website and download and install the latest RST drivers (ver 10.6) http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Se [...] Technology
Just select your Operating system and in the right pane click on drivers.
Everything is OK. Power down and reconnect your Old HDD. Note: do NOT delete anything for a couple of weeks, until you are sure everything is running fine. You will be able to dual boot to the SSD or the HDD simply by pressing the hot key during post that brings up the boot menu (F12 on my gigabyte MB and F11 on my asrock MB). You can simply copy Your favorites over from HDD -> SSD and for email you can do an export/import. After a couple of weeks you can then (1) delete windows from HDD, or (2) back up your data to BU drive and reformat your HDD and copy your data back (This is what I normally do.

3 Things that I normally do for an SSD:
.. (1) disable hibernation - save 4 -> 6 gigs
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730
.. (2) Set page file (virtual memory) min and max to the same value, ie 4 gigs ram set it to 1024 mb. > 4 gigs ram set to 512mb. And you can redirect it to the HDD to save alittle more (Very slight performance hit). This save upto 6 gigs
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US [...] ual-memory
.. (3) manage restore points. limit the number of restore point or disable. This one if not done can eat up space in the long haul.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/318 [...] windows-7/
.. (4) One Final Important step: Use windows 7 backup (Under Control panel -> System & Security) and creat a image backup for your “C” drive. You can place on your internal HDD (and as a added precaution copy to BU drive). As long as you have the Windows Installation disk, you do NOT need to create the “Restore Disk” when prompted.

Thanks again Retired Chief. You give such smart and complete answers. This old Army brat appreciates your time, concern and expertise very much. It's very kind of you, not to mention very useful.

 

[garyhope]

Best answer selected by garyhope.