SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs

prim3geek · Mar 24, 2011, 01:57 PM

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.

Tyrsonswood · Mar 24, 2011, 03:42 PM

Get 2 60gb SSD's and put them in RAID 0......

prim3geek · Mar 24, 2011, 03:51 PM

@Tyrsonswood

thanks a lot for your suggestion, i dont have idea on raid 0 but when i searched google about it, what i understand is that it will make read/write much faster? well if thats the case 2x60gb in raid 0 will be just 60gb not 120gb? is that correct? if so then i will be our of disk space.. im after the speed but im also after the disk space... pls correct me if im wrong as i really dont have any idea about raid 0

Judas · Mar 24, 2011, 03:58 PM

today... i wouldn't go with anything smaller then 60gb for a main primary drive for windows and programs..

60gb should be good..

then yeah.. having an SSD for your other things would be snappy.

Tyrsonswood · Mar 24, 2011, 04:07 PM

Two 60GB in RAID 0 is 120GB

prim3geek · Mar 24, 2011, 05:21 PM

@tyrsonswood T_T i really dont get raid-0 can you pls explain it? please?

Judas · Mar 24, 2011, 05:43 PM

Raid 0 combines the 2 or more hardrives of equal size or of the smallest hardrives size into basically a single very very fast drive seen by the system.

Essentially it potentially can give you double the bandwidth/read/write/access rates.

if one SSD does say 300mb/s both ways..... putting 2 in raid 0 theoretically will give you 600mb/s both directions. 3 would give you 900 and so forth.

The only problem with this is that if ONE .. just ONE of the drives faulters at all.. or fails completely.. all your data is lost as it splits the files and data evenly amongst the drives (this is how it gets fast performance)

Raid 1 mirrors.... roughly same performances on one drive... only one drive is seen.. but makes a duplicate backup so you have little to nothing to worry about in the realms of data backup.

raid 5 is kinda a combination of both raid 1 and raid 0, but requires a minimum of 3 drives... best if you have 4 or more however for maximum performance and data security.

The only thing is, i don't think Trim works with Raid yet and i don't know if manually trim works either.

For the sake of sanity and to reduce problems.. i think staying out of the raid 0 arena with SSDs for the time being would be a smart way to go.

Tipstaff · Mar 24, 2011, 06:19 PM

From my experience, installing things like Photoshop or Illustrator, or other such programs on a mechanical hard drive while the OS is on an SSD, the speed difference is marginal. The biggest factor is the amount of physical RAM you have, the speed of the mechanical drive, and with Photoshop and the like, where you have the scratch file and/or page file.

For instance, having Photoshop installed on the SSD only loads it faster. That's it. The SSD does not increase Photoshops speed in any other way. That's where having the page file and/or scratch file on the SSD comes in. With those on an SSD Photoshop runs much faster, even better if the page file is on the SSD, and the scratch file is on a different drive, even more so if it's an SSD.

My advice would be to grab a 60-120GB SSD for the OS, and a larger fast mechanical drive, like the WD Black (comes in both SATA2 and SATA3 forms) for programs and files. Or, grab a 60-120GB SSD for the OS, a smaller 20-40GB SSD for the scratch file, and a larger fast mechanical drive for programs/files.

BTW, Windows 7 alone can take up to 30GB of space, and that's not including the pagefile (the more RAM you have, the larger the pagefile), which is why a lot of people are recommending not to go lower than 60GB. If you do decide to go with 2 SSDs, grab a

Tyrsonswood · Mar 24, 2011, 06:27 PM

I know.... benchmarks are not "reality" but I just ran this today...... Found it interesting.

prim3geek · Mar 25, 2011, 12:47 AM

you guys rock... now i understand how raid 0 work i think i have to search it again and use it on my mobo, does it have anything to do with mobo compatibility? does some mobo does not support raid? ill just do my own research .. guys thanks a lot for your inputs very much appreciated

Tyrsonswood · Mar 25, 2011, 12:49 AM

Most modern motherboards will support RAID, just check the specs on yours.

**kris23** · Mar 25, 2011, 02:05 AM

usually, in the US, SSDs are priced so that the 2x 60GBs tend to be the same price as a single 120GB drive.

they also tend to perform somewhat better as they get bigger, though 2 half-size SSDs in RAID 0 should still be slightly better than a single 120GB in read speeds, you still have full TRIM support if you only have a single SSD

i am not quite sure how pricing is elsewhere but it does sound like you may be getting ripped off where you are...

Judas · Mar 25, 2011, 03:38 PM

actually majority of the motherboards sold even in custom computers are generally without any raid functionality... mostly just ACHI or IDE mode sata ports.. that's it.

You have to check your motherboard model and make sure it has FULL raid support.. i would also advise that if you can hell it.. do not use the secondary sata/raid support if it's present, stick with the primary.. which would be the main raid controller such as intels ICHxR or Via or Nvidia or ATI's own raid controller (Nvidia and ATI's raid solutions suck imo, via's not much better.. intels ICHxR series is just utterly flawless i would say)..

the only alternative to those are going FULL raid which involves purchasing a rather expensive add in pci-ex card... which isn't necessary..

Even if i didn't like it.. i'd slap a few drives in raid 0 on ATI before making a purchase like that....

Mar 24, 2011, 01:57 PM	#1
prim3geek HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs 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.

Mar 24, 2011, 03:51 PM	Thread Starter #3
prim3geek HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Re: SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs @Tyrsonswood thanks a lot for your suggestion, i dont have idea on raid 0 but when i searched google about it, what i understand is that it will make read/write much faster? well if thats the case 2x60gb in raid 0 will be just 60gb not 120gb? is that correct? if so then i will be our of disk space.. im after the speed but im also after the disk space... pls correct me if im wrong as i really dont have any idea about raid 0

Mar 24, 2011, 05:21 PM	Thread Starter #6
prim3geek HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Re: SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs @tyrsonswood T_T i really dont get raid-0 can you pls explain it? please?

Mar 24, 2011, 06:19 PM	#8
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Re: SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs From my experience, installing things like Photoshop or Illustrator, or other such programs on a mechanical hard drive while the OS is on an SSD, the speed difference is marginal. The biggest factor is the amount of physical RAM you have, the speed of the mechanical drive, and with Photoshop and the like, where you have the scratch file and/or page file. For instance, having Photoshop installed on the SSD only loads it faster. That's it. The SSD does not increase Photoshops speed in any other way. That's where having the page file and/or scratch file on the SSD comes in. With those on an SSD Photoshop runs much faster, even better if the page file is on the SSD, and the scratch file is on a different drive, even more so if it's an SSD. My advice would be to grab a 60-120GB SSD for the OS, and a larger fast mechanical drive, like the WD Black (comes in both SATA2 and SATA3 forms) for programs and files. Or, grab a 60-120GB SSD for the OS, a smaller 20-40GB SSD for the scratch file, and a larger fast mechanical drive for programs/files. BTW, Windows 7 alone can take up to 30GB of space, and that's not including the pagefile (the more RAM you have, the larger the pagefile), which is why a lot of people are recommending not to go lower than 60GB. If you do decide to go with 2 SSDs, grab a __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Mar 25, 2011, 12:47 AM	Thread Starter #10
prim3geek HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Re: SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs you guys rock... now i understand how raid 0 work i think i have to search it again and use it on my mobo, does it have anything to do with mobo compatibility? does some mobo does not support raid? ill just do my own research .. guys thanks a lot for your inputs very much appreciated

Mar 25, 2011, 02:05 AM	#12
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: SSD for win7 and another SSD for Programs usually, in the US, SSDs are priced so that the 2x 60GBs tend to be the same price as a single 120GB drive. they also tend to perform somewhat better as they get bigger, though 2 half-size SSDs in RAID 0 should still be slightly better than a single 120GB in read speeds, you still have full TRIM support if you only have a single SSD i am not quite sure how pricing is elsewhere but it does sound like you may be getting ripped off where you are... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!