SSD for storage, a question of not affordability but practicality?

[detroitwillfall]

Im wondering which scenario would be the general consensus for optimal seperation of OS, games, storage.


250GB 960 Evo m.2(Windows OS) + 500-1TB 850 Evo SSD(Storage; movies, courses, games, ect)

512GB 960 pro m.2(windows OS, games) + 1Tb HDD/SSD


i can afford ssd storage, but i suppose it depends alot on how much writing/copying i would be doing as well.

 

[problematiq]

For games SSD's are a good idea, for movies/music? not so much. I use a 512 for OS/Games and everything else is on my home server using regular HDD's I would use a 512 for games and OS and store everything else to a 1TB+ HDD.

 

[SkyNetRising]

250GB SSD for OS;
500GB-1TB SSD for games;
3+ TB HDD for general storage - movies, installs, etc.

 

[captaincharisma]

i'm guessing the 1TB HDD/SSD you are referring to a hybrid drive?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

IMHO, the most practical approach is a single SSD drive if you can comfortably afford it.
I was trying to use 240GB SSD + 2TB hdd, but after some time i figured that i'm not using anything on the HDD since it was really annoyingly "slow".
the pefromance difference between the advanced NVMe SSDs like 960 and much more affordable SATA SSDs like Crucial MX300 or SanDisk X400 (those also come in M.2 format) is not that big. But it is much more convenient to have a single drive.
So I guess you can go with a single 1TB drive.
Beside those options, there are few other options in between, like recently announced A-DATA NVMe drives that also come in 1TB capacities. they are faster than SATA and slower than 960, but somewhat cheaper. Honestly, you wouldn't notice if your computer boots in 4 or 5 seconds. or if your game loads in 10 or 11 seconds

 

[problematiq]

Also your net speed is a large factor as well. If you are sharing a 15mbps connection you will find having larger storage is more practice, if you are using a 100+ mbps connection just yourself you can get by with a lot less. Why store it when you can download it or stream it? (says the guy with a 400mbps link and 12 TB server full of stuff)

 

[detroitwillfall]

i'm guessing the 1TB HDD/SSD you are referring to a hybrid drive?

no i appologize, was just trying to reference that a HDD or SSD could fit the role

 

[detroitwillfall]

Also your net speed is a large factor as well. If you are sharing a 15mbps connection you will find having larger storage is more practice, if you are using a 100+ mbps connection just yourself you can get by with a lot less. Why store it when you can download it or stream it? (says the guy with a 400mbps link and 12 TB server full of stuff)

yeah i get 15mbps(17mbps actually) so its crap lol. gets the job done i suppose(spectrum; formally brighthouse)

 

[detroitwillfall]

IMHO, the most practical approach is a single SSD drive if you can comfortably afford it.
I was trying to use 240GB SSD + 2TB hdd, but after some time i figured that i'm not using anything on the HDD since it was really annoyingly "slow".
the pefromance difference between the advanced NVMe SSDs like 960 and much more affordable SATA SSDs like Crucial MX300 or SanDisk X400 (those also come in M.2 format) is not that big. But it is much more convenient to have a single drive.
So I guess you can go with a single 1TB drive.
Beside those options, there are few other options in between, like recently announced A-DATA NVMe drives that also come in 1TB capacities. they are faster than SATA and slower than 960, but somewhat cheaper. Honestly, you wouldn't notice if your computer boots in 4 or 5 seconds. or if your game loads in 10 or 11 seconds

i was thinking about that but a single point failure at the price point totally takes the system down, not saying it isnt a possibility though. i think HDD's serve a great purpose, of course id love to find reasons to justify why my build doesnt need HDD in it

 

[detroitwillfall]

For games SSD's are a good idea, for movies/music? not so much. I use a 512 for OS/Games and everything else is on my home server using regular HDD's I would use a 512 for games and OS and store everything else to a 1TB+ HDD.

only reason i say movies/music, is the time it takes indexing/searching, i notice when i click on redirected folders from my desktop(to storage drive) theres 2-3 seconds roughly time it takes to access the HDD when i double click, so responsiveness to play said movies or music was just really a call to question for me.

I mean were talking about inconveniences rather than does said suffice lol. all suggestions would work well definitely

 

[detroitwillfall]

250GB SSD for OS;
500GB-1TB SSD for games;
3+ TB HDD for general storage - movies, installs, etc.

i just wish they made the 960 pro 250gb lol.

thanks man

 

[n0ns3ns3]

As I said, it's up to you.
There is really barely noticeable (IRL usage) difference between 960 and cheaper SATA SSDs.
at 250$ you can have a decent 1TB drive (much closer to 100$ on sales, last black friday 750GB was for 99$).
Some people need over 1TB, some don't use even 128GB. Only you know how much you really need.

 

[detroitwillfall]

As I said, it's up to you.
There is really barely noticeable (IRL usage) difference between 960 and cheaper SATA SSDs.
at 250$ you can have a decent 1TB drive (much closer to 100$ on sales, last black friday 750GB was for 99$).
Some people need over 1TB, some don't use even 128GB. Only you know how much you really need.

Thank you!

 

[detroitwillfall]

im thinking of going with 512gb 960 pro m.2 for os + games then the 2 TB Firecuda Hybrid Drive for everything else

 

[problematiq]

im thinking of going with 512gb 960 pro m.2 for os + games then the 2 TB Firecuda Hybrid Drive for everything else

Might do research on hybrid drives as far as reliability is concerned. Back in the early hybrid drive days they wouldn't last long. I'm sure they are fine now but I would error on the caution.

 

[detroitwillfall]

Agreed, I got some thinking to do, I the idea of smaller capacity size ssds for os to be separate from everything else but its not a biggy

 

[SkyNetRising]

i just wish they made the 960 pro 250gb lol.

There is 960 evo 250gb also. Not a lot real world performance difference between those.

 

[detroitwillfall]

i just wish they made the 960 pro 250gb lol.

There is 960 evo 250gb also. Not a lot real world performance difference between those.

thats eventually what i settled on last night, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pX4PNN

i thought for awhile on the storage, ultimately, i want to do a custom loop in there ventually, and having 3.5" HDD in the bay simply will not do, i could do a 2.5" HDD in the front bottom corner or top back of my case, but with everything else having virtually no limit on price, it seems silly to holdback on the storage.

really had to tell myself that the 512gb 960 pro wasnt necessary, lol. I could do the 512gb pro paired with 500gb 850.


I did look at cheaper alternatives, like OCZ for both m.2 and mass storage, but I've been reading alot of flack comments on their recent track record, even though paid youtubers like paulshardware, bitwit, jayz2 have been seen using them in their monthly builds, the 960 evo is actually $10 cheaper then the rd400 250gb m.2 so lol

 

[problematiq]

i just wish they made the 960 pro 250gb lol.

There is 960 evo 250gb also. Not a lot real world performance difference between those.

thats eventually what i settled on last night, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pX4PNN

i thought for awhile on the storage, ultimately, i want to do a custom loop in there ventually, and having 3.5" HDD in the bay simply will not do, i could do a 2.5" HDD in the front bottom corner or top back of my case, but with everything else having virtually no limit on price, it seems silly to holdback on the storage.

really had to tell myself that the 512gb 960 pro wasnt necessary, lol. I could do the 512gb pro paired with 500gb 850.


I did look at cheaper alternatives, like OCZ for both m.2 and mass storage, but I've been reading alot of flack comments on their recent track record, even though paid youtubers like paulshardware, bitwit, jayz2 have been seen using them in their monthly builds, the 960 evo is actually $10 cheaper then the rd400 250gb m.2 so lol

You could also get a NAS o.o just use the 500GB SSD for your PC and store everything on your network. sure it's not cheap, but if you just do 2 drives in a raid 1 or 3+ drives in a raid 5 you have redundancy. I think the going price at the moment is 140$ for the NAS + the cost of drives. Might not be practical for you but just thought i'd throw it out there.

 

[detroitwillfall]

i just wish they made the 960 pro 250gb lol.

There is 960 evo 250gb also. Not a lot real world performance difference between those.

thats eventually what i settled on last night, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pX4PNN

i thought for awhile on the storage, ultimately, i want to do a custom loop in there ventually, and having 3.5" HDD in the bay simply will not do, i could do a 2.5" HDD in the front bottom corner or top back of my case, but with everything else having virtually no limit on price, it seems silly to holdback on the storage.

really had to tell myself that the 512gb 960 pro wasnt necessary, lol. I could do the 512gb pro paired with 500gb 850.


I did look at cheaper alternatives, like OCZ for both m.2 and mass storage, but I've been reading alot of flack comments on their recent track record, even though paid youtubers like paulshardware, bitwit, jayz2 have been seen using them in their monthly builds, the 960 evo is actually $10 cheaper then the rd400 250gb m.2 so lol

You could also get a NAS o.o just use the 500GB SSD for your PC and store everything on your network. sure it's not cheap, but if you just do 2 drives in a raid 1 or 3+ drives in a raid 5 you have redundancy. I think the going price at the moment is 140$ for the NAS + the cost of drives. Might not be practical for you but just thought i'd throw it out there.

i was lookn at this the other day, especially for the devices i have in house hold.. id love to just buy a cheap solution or make my own, i was looking to make my own as a fun project but at first that turned into double the price i thought it would be, granted its only what i was able to find..

thats what was i working on last night https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ppvsgL but honostly theres stuff from $300 on amazon cheap


**Anyhow, no matter what i can do 3.5" drives in my build, so i think nas is a better permanent solution in the future. Especially since i wouldnt need storage drives really for any more computers and just access stuff on a dedicated machine.