Starting Over- How to Partition?

[angelkiller]

Ok, I have an 80GB Seagate with XP Pro x64 installed and working. Next week I'm getting a DS3 and a 32bit version of Windows. I also have two extra Seagate 80GB drives lying around.

My plan is to Raid 0 the two extra drives. I will temporarily connect my current drive to transfer data to the Raid array. My question is How should I partition my drives? I'm a gamer. (Mostly BF2) I'm looking to get the most performance out of my drives.

I thinking of having a Windows/Apps/Games partition. Then a Data partition, and I also want to have a 10GB partition to install Ubuntu. After formatting, I only exepect to have about 150GB of usable space. Should my Windows and Applications/Games be on a different partitions? How large should I make my partitions? I only have a few games and large apps. I don't have a lot of data now, but I download alot of stuff. (And Fraps videos are HUGE!) My "My Documents" folder is about 18GB now. Any help is appreciated! If I left anything out, pleas tell me! Thanks!

 

[g-paw]

I always put my OS and programs on one partition but others prefer one for the OS and one for Programs. I usually use about 30GB for the OS and programs and you could easily get away with about 20GB, I like at least 40% unused but again and lot of people would think this is excessive. If it were me, I'd put 2 partitions on the RAID drives, using 20GB to 30GB for the OS and programs and use the 2nd partition for storage. I'd put the 10GB partition for Ubunta on the 3rd drive and use the 2nd partition on the 3rd drive for storage. Keep in mind when it comes to partitioning there is no "right" it's really what best meets your needs and preference.

 

[angelkiller]

Thanks for your input. I do apologize, I was not clear enough. I do not plan on using the third/original drive. (Execept for transferring data initially)

So I will connect all three drives, Raid the empty two, transfer data form the original to the RAID array, then discard (not literally) the original drive. The final result will be two 80GB drives in Raid 0. Your input is still useful though.

OK, now, here's my new plan: 30GB OS/Apps/Games. 90GB storage/data. 10GB Ubuntu.

 

[g-paw]

Looks good

 

[jnguyen4007]

If you're going to install apps and games on the same partition as your OS, you might want to consider increasing the size of your C drive.

 

[angelkiller]

Yea, I probably should. Currently, I have ~17GB of Applications and games. (Only two large ones.) But I soon will be become a more serious gamer. (When school gets out) I'll probably do this:

40GB-OS/APPS/Games 80GB-Storage/data 10GB-Ubuntu

So performance wise, it is OK to have OS and games on the same partition or does it matter. (Looking for really fast reads= 1st one to spawn in BF2)

And thanks for the input guys!

 

[jnguyen4007]

Performance wise, I'm not sure if any will be affected if you put your games on the same partition as the OS. You might run into some issue later on though if you get down to 2 gigs of space or less. How I set mine up is that I set aside 15 gig for the OS and regular apps, 20 plus gigs for games, and other partitions for files, etc. I fill up my game partition with as much games as I want. If I get close to running out of space, I install games on my other partitions. I'm sure other people do it differently, I just feel more comfortable giving my C: drive lots of headroom.

 

[g-paw]

Performance wise, I'm not sure if any will be affected if you put your games on the same partition as the OS. You might run into some issue later on though if you get down to 2 gigs of space or less. How I set mine up is that I set aside 15 gig for the OS and regular apps, 20 plus gigs for games, and other partitions for files, etc. I fill up my game partition with as much games as I want. If I get close to running out of space, I install games on my other partitions. I'm sure other people do it differently, I just feel more comfortable giving my C: drive lots of headroom.

Agree, I like to keep at least 30% to 35% plus of the partition free space, which is likely overkill but none the less comforting in part because Windows accumulates a lot of Temp files some of which have to be manually removed in Safe Mode logged in a Administrator.

 

[angelkiller]

So considering I have 17gigs of games/applications and Windows is probably another 4GB, is 40GB enough space to install more games and still have enough headroom? I think it should be. 30% is 12gigs so I should not go over 28gigs. I'm cutting it kinda close. I can only install only two more games. :?

50GB-OS/Games/Apps 70GB-Storage/data 10GB-Ubuntu

Ok should that work?

 

[jnguyen4007]

That should work but you would know over time if it works or not if your machine is getting sluggish or taking longer than usual to boot, etc. Download ccleaner and run it at least once a week to keep your c drive clean and defrag regularly. i personally like executive diskeeper to defrag my hard drive.