Upgrading storage for windows machine

[AkaJusten]

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: virtualization, gaming, programming and some ai training.

 

Current setup:
Storage: 1x 1tb 960 pro, 1x 2tb 860 qvo, 1x 2tb hds 7200rpm drive, 1x 8tb nas disk.

OS: Windows 10 pro

Cpu: amd 3950x

Mobo: msi x570 creation

Ram: 32 gb (2x16) g.skill neo

Gpu: rtx 3070

Case: Lian-li o11 dynamic

 

Hey guys and gals,

 

I'm looking to upgrade my storage in my windows machine and could really need some help.

 

I'm thinking about buying 2 nvme drives (samsung pm9a1 2tb?) and throwing them in a msi m2 expander z gen 4 pcie card.

Then i'm thinking of doing a raid 0 on them and using them as a boot drive using AMD RAIDXpert2.

 

The rest of the disks will properly be put in a tiered storage solution either through windows storage spaces or primo cache.

 

I'm thinking of moving the gpu down a pcie slot so it still gets air from the fans below however i'm unsure if there is a performance hit and how big it is.

 

So basically my questions are:

• Is there a nvme i should look at other than the samsung pm9a1 2tb?
• Is there some reason its not possible to boot on a raid 0 from raidxpert2?
• is there a penalty to lowering the gpu down a slot and if there is how much?

 

Hope you can help me :)

[Electronics Wizardy]

6 minutes ago, AkaJusten said:

'm thinking of moving the gpu down a pcie slot so it still gets air from the fans below however i'm unsure if there is a performance hit and how big it is.

 

It should still get plenty of airflow in the top slot.

 

Id just get one bigger m.2 drive(like a 4tb) and add it to a m.2 slot. Then it won't slow the gpu slightly due to changing the slot to x8, and its cheaper.

[AkaJusten]

10 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id just get one bigger m.2 drive(like a 4tb) and add it to a m.2 slot. Then it won't slow the gpu slightly due to changing the slot to x8, and its cheaper.

Is there a great 4tb or above nvme you can recommend ?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, AkaJusten said:

Is there a great 4tb or above nvme you can recommend ?

 

Id probably get a drive like this guy https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Internal-Maximum-Performance-SB-RKTQ4-4TB/dp/B08D28X4HW/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=sabrent+rocket+4tb&qid=1627571227&sr=8-4

 

QLC 4tb, gen4. Should be plenty fast for most uses.

[AkaJusten]

38 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id probably get a drive like this guy https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Internal-Maximum-Performance-SB-RKTQ4-4TB/dp/B08D28X4HW/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=sabrent+rocket+4tb&qid=1627571227&sr=8-4

 

QLC 4tb, gen4. Should be plenty fast for most uses.

I'm gonna take a look at it thou i have heard that some sabrent drives do have performance issues as they fill up more so than others.

Still thank for the recommendation

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, AkaJusten said:

I'm gonna take a look at it thou i have heard that some sabrent drives do have performance issues as they fill up more so than others.

Still thank for the recommendation

Im guessing this drive will be used for games right? Id keep your 980 for boot. Then since you have such a big ssd, don't bother with caching, just have a big ssd for all your games, and store stuff like videos that aren't used much on the hdds.

[AkaJusten]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Im guessing this drive will be used for games right? Id keep your 980 for boot. Then since you have such a big ssd, don't bother with caching, just have a big ssd for all your games, and store stuff like videos that aren't used much on the hdds.

Well its gonna be used for virtual machines, games and some intense gpu/cpu tasks such as voice recognition training and the 960 pro is sadly becoming too small and a tad slow with a handful of vms running.

 

I'm guessing that the slowness is just down to the drive being filled with data, however something faster wouldn't hurt

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, AkaJusten said:

Well its gonna be used for virtual machines, games and some intense gpu/cpu tasks such as voice recognition training and the 960 pro is sadly becoming too small and a tad slow with a handful of vms running.

 

I'm guessing that the slowness is just down to the drive being filled with data, however something faster wouldn't hurt

There is a faster TLC version you might want if you care about speed. Id probably get that here.

\\

[AkaJusten]

22 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

There is a faster TLC version you might want if you care about speed. Id probably get that here.

\\

The rocket 4 plus does seem like its a great drive and ill have to look at some review

its around 250$ more for the 4tb rocket 4 plus than two samsung 980 pro