SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs

[gm_jonjon]

Hi guys,

Im new here and would like to ask regarding SSD. I want to use SSD but larger SSD = Massive price so what i wanted to do is buy 2 smaller size SSD that would fit. Will this setup would work as i have 3 disks 2 SSD and 1tb Sata3 hdd.

1st ssd - Should be for windows 7 / OS, like how much memory should this SSD have? will 40gb be enough?
2nd ssd - Will be for programs like adobe producsts e.g premier, ae, photoshop, dreamweaver and other tools that i use, like how much space should i get?
3rd HDD - Will be for my documents, files, saved games, photos videos etc. / Storage

I split 3 disks since i wanted to deepfreeze SSD 1 and unfreeze the other disk SSD 2 and the HDD, the reason why i left the other 2 disk unfreezed is because of frequent updates that will happen in the future and so i could save my documents.

Geez i hope i have explained it well, sorry for my bad english.

 

[sminlal]

Separate hard drives for OS and applications can cause sizing problems - if your application drive runs out of space and there's plenty of space left on the OS drive then you have no easy way to "move" the free space from one drive to another.

IMHO it's easier and generally better to just buy a single larger drive. You should find that one 80GB drive, for example, is no more expensive than two 40GB drives. And since SSDs use what's essentially a RAID-0 scheme to organize the internal chips, you'd typically find that a single large drive has faster transfer rates than two smaller drives of the same model.

If you really want to use deepfreeze on JUST the OS, you could still buy a single SSD, partition it, and then freeze just the OS partition. Changing partition boundaries if one of the partitions runs out of space is at least possible if necessary.

 

[gm_jonjon]

@sminlal thanks for your time, is sizing problem that serious? if not i wont mind since i have limited number of applications and when you are talking about saving files that i created from those applications, i save it on my hdd.

Anyway its my first time to do this on a SSD, but i already have done this with my 3 hdd its just that i find it faster for my apps and OS to load when its on SSD.

Well anyway regarding partition of SSD thats a brilliant idea just in case im short right? but really my budget is tight T_T

 

[photonboy]

I also agree you should get a single SSD.

FYI, a 120GB SSD is almost exactly 2x the price of a 60GB. Why would you buy two 60GB models?

I highly recommend this drive:
120GB OCZ Vertex 2

Go to NCIX or newegg etc. May find for as little as $200.

To be clear, I recommend:
1. 120GB SSD for Windows and Applications
2. hard drive for GAMES, media and backups (when installing games, must specify the path. Example is: "E:/Games/Dirt 2" where E is my 2nd hard drive. Note I drop the manufacture name. I also installed STEAM to "E:/STEAM")

(I don't recommend a 3rd drive. If you did get one it's better to just get a USB drive for critical backups etc. That way it's not connected to the system and can't get a virus or be fried with a power surge.)

 

[photonboy]

Do NOT partition the SSD. There is no need.

FYI, I first thought that 60GB for Windows 7 would be enough but I bought 120GB SSD anyway. Shortly after installing Win7 I'd used 35GB. After more programs, updates etc the size has slowly levelled off at about 70GB used and 45GB free. No games are installed to the SSD.

I can't imagine a scenario in which you would wish to partition a 120GB SSD.

 

[photonboy]

Also, don't RAID0 (i.e. 2x60GB).

If you do so you CAN double the performance, however:
1. you lose TRIM support
2. firmware updates are very difficult
3. other issues I won't mention

So definitely stick with a single 120GB SSD unless you are an advanced user comfortable with RAID0 and its limitations.

 

[gm_jonjon]

but the problem here in our country is that there is no available 120gb vertex 2 only 60gb on any shop so my choices are online stores but the problem is the warranty and also shipping which some online stores cant ship to our country but i found this one


120gb G.Skill Phoenix Pro SSD

A bit cheaper rather than buying 2x60gb vertex 2 but im not after saving im after quality.

any thoughts?

 

[photonboy]

Thoughts?

I don't know what you have available. You should look for a 100GB or 120GB SSD that you do have available and Google reviews to see if that suits your needs.

You could use two 60GB models separately or in RAID0. If you had to, I'd go with the non-RAID setup.

I don't know what else to say.

 

[fowang]

Ive no issues with raid setup with ssd

 

[gm_jonjon]

i think i will just have to go with the phoenix 120gb and partition that would be my best bet well if you guys can still give me ideas or suggestion that would be great

 

[sminlal]

Do NOT partition the SSD. There is no need.

He's talking about using Deep Freeze to protect the contents of just the OS and not the data. AFAIK Deep Freeze works on a partition-by-partition basis. While I wouldn't normally advise partitioning an SSD, if he really wants to do this then I think he's better off with a big, partitioned SSD than with two smaller SSDs with Deep Freeze enabled on one of them.

 

[gm_jonjon]

Best answer selected by gm_jonjon.

 

[photonboy]

About DEEPFREEZE:

Deepfreeze isn't something a normal Windows user should be using. You should simply be creating an IMAGE of your C-drive (Windows drive) in case of problems. Here are two options:

1) Windows Image (included in Windows 7)
2) Acronis True Image (Western Digital has a free version)

*Your IMAGE should be placed on a secondary drive, either internally or a USB drive. Never backup an image of a partition on the same drive.

I'm an electronics technician. I maintained computers on Navy ships and have built 100+ systems. My advice is to backup with BOTH the Windows 7 Image tool and the free Acronis True Image tool. If you want really up-to-date backups then purchase the full version of Acronis True Image. It can be setup for more regular, automated backups.