Storage for a New Gaming Desktop - RAID or No?

[echamberlin8]

Hello, all. I've had a lots of success visiting the Tom's Hardware forums for info on GPUs, but this time I'd like to ask a bit about SSDs and HDDs. Sometime before the end of the year (as a reward for hopefully doing well on the LSAT law school entrance exam) I'm looking forward to getting a brand new, top-of-the-line boutique gaming desktop, probably either a Maingear F131 or a Falcon Northwest or something similar. I have most of the other specs already pretty much settled upon in my mind (i7-3770K, Nvidia TITAN or two), but I'm a little unsure of what to get in terms of storage.

First off, I'd like to specify what exactly the computer will be used for. First and foremost, it will be a gaming system, through which I hope to play the best games of both present, past, and future for many years to come. I want it to last, which is why I'm going to spend so much money on it. Since I have a work computer which I'm on most of the day, this won't be necessary for business, but I would like it to be my primary home computer (thinking of getting a laptop too in the future, but you get the picture). I will probably end up watching movies on it and listening to music. It should be noted here that I don't really download music or movies, but I have tons of CDs which I'd like to add to the computer, so I'd like a big storage space. I don't plan on ripping Blu-rays onto it or anything, but you never know, I might end up putting lots of content onto it.

My initial thought, based upon reviews of various gaming desktops, was to get a 256GB SSD and a 2TB HDD (a Samsung 840 and a Seagate, maybe). One of the options was whether I should do RAID, which, from my understanding, requires two identical drives. Can you do that format with both HDDs and SSDs, or just SSDs? What are the advantages? It seems very expensive.

Do you guys think my initial model (256GB SSD and 2TB HDD) works for my intended plans for the computer? Will that be enough storage?

Finally, what are your recommendations for hard drives, both SSD and HDD? Samsung is probably the most well-known model for SSDs, so I was figuring them, but I'm open to change. I'm not sure what to pick between Western Digital and Seagate for HDDs. Sometimes there aren't any options with boutique companies (for instance, when I was configuring a Falcon Northwest Mach V for fun online, it really only let me use WD HDDs), but sometimes there are.

Thanks in advance!

Edward

 

[vertexx]

Just get a NAS for storage, since you'll be making so much $$ and can afford multiple PC's, you'll want to stream content to all of them.

Then just focus on fast (SSD) local storage on your gaming rig.

 

[echamberlin8]

Just get a NAS for storage, since you'll be making so much $$ and can afford multiple PC's, you'll want to stream content to all of them.

Then just focus on fast (SSD) local storage on your gaming rig.

Not really sure what a NAS is, to be honest. And I definitely won't be making any kind of big money anytime soon, I assure you! I am broke all the time now, and law school is more expensive than ever.

So a NAS would allow me to access information on both my desktop and on my laptop?

 

[echamberlin8]

Bump!

 

[popatim]

A NAS is Network attached storage. Its speed will depend on how you connect to your network but yes all devices that connect to your network can be setup to use it.

Many routers also feature a usb port or two to allow sharing of external drives for the same purpose.

In either case you still need a backup solution otherwise you will need to re-rip all your cd's and movies should it fail (pc with 2tb storage drive, NAS, or router/drive combo) A pc with SDD & Hdd is pretty nice and adding a nas so that you can share files is really convenient. You can backup its data store to your 2tb and it backs up your install.

 

[echamberlin8]

A NAS is Network attached storage. Its speed will depend on how you connect to your network but yes all devices that connect to your network can be setup to use it.

Many routers also feature a usb port or two to allow sharing of external drives for the same purpose.

In either case you still need a backup solution otherwise you will need to re-rip all your cd's and movies should it fail (pc with 2tb storage drive, NAS, or router/drive combo) A pc with SDD & Hdd is pretty nice and adding a nas so that you can share files is really convenient. You can backup its data store to your 2tb and it backs up your install.

Thanks, popatim. I've noticed that no one has mentioned RAID at all. Is it not worth getting? I don't really get the point, to be honest.

I might get a NAS in the long run, although I'm not too worried about sharing files between my laptop (planning on getting a MacBook Pro Retina Display) and my desktop (want a gaming desktop), since I would be largely using the laptop for browsing/casual activities and school work, while the PC would be for gaming.

I like the idea of a mix of SDD and HDD drives on my desktop, since that seems to be the preferred thing on gaming rigs these days. Does 256GB SSD and 2TB HDD sound alright? Or should I bump that up to 3 or 4TB?

 

[popatim]

raid is not a backup in any of its many forms; its for keeping your system up when a drive dies. My main priority is data safety and recommend a backup system before considering a raid. With a good backup your downtime is however fast you can replace a drive plus say an hour. If your raid dies and you dont have a backup all your data is gone. you have to spend a day just reinstalling windows, drivers, updates, & common software (antivirus, anitspyware, flash player, pdf reader...)

If you are not concerned with loosing data or already have a backup system then I'd be happy to recommend a raid if you feel you need one. Most home users don't.