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Why 2 SSD's etc

XDXD_4U3IF1P
By XDXD_4U3IF1P
in Storage Devices
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Can someone explain to me (in simple terms) why so many people have 2 SSDs.

1 for operating system, and one for games (often a HDD re storage/price etc).

This is in reference to a simple gaming set up, i.e PC is just for games.

I have always just had 1 drive and put everything on it. Am I losing out somehow re performance?

cheers

CPU Intel i7 8700K @5Ghz Motherboard ROG Maximus Hero 10 RAM Corsair Vengeance 32GB 3600MHz 

GPU MSI Gaming X 1080ti Case Thermaltake Core P3  Storage SSD Boot plus Samsung 960 Evo M.2 nvme storage 

PSU Corsair RM750W Gold Display Asus ROG Strix XG32VQ 144Hz 1440p Cooling Corsair H100i V2 

Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK FX Mouse Roccat Kone Aimo Audio MK3 Fostex T50RP + Schiit Magni 3 AMP and Modi 2 DAC 
Operating System Win 10

VR HTC Vive, Audio Strap Motion Platform DOF Reality 2 DOF

 

 

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A lot of people want the fastest speeds they can get, so instead of having a hard drive as a second drive, they use another SSD. 

Main System: Phobos

AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8C/16T), ASRock B450 Steel Legend, 16GB G.SKILL Aegis DDR4 3000MHz, AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB (XFX), 960GB Crucial M500, 2TB Seagate BarraCuda, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations/macOS Catalina

 

Secondary System: York

Intel Core i7-2600 (4C/8T), ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3, 16GB GEIL Enhance Corsa DDR3 1600MHz, Zotac GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB, 240GB ADATA Ultimate SU650, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations

 

Older File Server: Yet to be named

Intel Pentium 4 HT (1C/2T), Intel D865GBF, 3GB DDR 400MHz, ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB (HIS), 80GB WD Caviar, 320GB Hitachi Deskstar, Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows Server 2003 R2

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4 minutes ago, ShoshinUK said:

Can someone explain to me (in simple terms) why so many people have 2 SSDs.

1 for operating system, and one for games (often a HDD re storage/price etc).

This is in reference to a simple gaming set up, i.e PC is just for games.

I have always just had 1 drive and put everything on it. Am I losing out somehow re performance?

cheers

I just don't need a lot of storage so I have a 250GB 850 EVO for boot and a 120GB OCZ Arc 100 for storage and it works fine.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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I preferred the idea of separating my OS installation to my Games. This way if I ever need to reformat my OS drive or reinstall windows, I can simply unplug my games SSD and plug it back in after the fact. No re-downloading of 500gb worth of games then :D

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I have two so that I can easily format the OS drive and clean install windows, then just plug the second SSD back in and have all my files there.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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I have 2 SSDs, an MX300 275gb, and a Patriot Blast 240gb.

 

I only have two because the Patriot Blast died, and I ordered another SSD for my operating system while it was being RMAd. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I use the MX300 for my operating system, essential programs, GPU drivers, and a few favorite games. This way I could just transfer the SSD to another PC and not lose much. 

The Blast is full of games that have long loading times. (BF1, BF4, Fallout 4, GTA5, etc) Literally nothing except for games. 

 

I do have a 1tb drive but I don't really organize it. 

Personal build >  New-ish AMD main gaming setup           

   PLEASE QUOTE OR @ ME FOR A RESPONSE xD 

 

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I have mine partially for looks (I have three SSDs on "display" in my build) and partly so that I can easily do an OS reinstall without having to mess around with moving stuff from the drive then moving stuff back, as well as one drive that I basically use as a scratch drive to work from but not store anything on. 

 

It can also provide performance benefits. If you're moving files around, it can slow the rest of the system or the file transfer if the OS drive is being maxed out. 

 

EDIT: Even for mass storage, I separate my media rather than having it all on one drive. I have a total of around 12TB of HDD space but it's split between mainly 2TB drives which hold certain types of media. It helps me keep things organised

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Some folks want better que depth by way of RAID0.

[FS][US] Corsair H115i 280mm AIO-AMD $60+shipping

 

 

System specs:
Asus Prime X370 Pro - Custom EKWB CPU/GPU 2x360 1x240 soft loop - Ryzen 1700X - Corsair Vengeance RGB 2x16GB - Plextor 512 NVMe + 2TB SU800 - EVGA GTX1080ti - LianLi PC11 Dynamic
 

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  • Author

Ok, keep the info coming as it heps me learn.

But it does not effect my gaming performance in any way? (that's important to me)?

I see the point re new OS install's etc. It's not important to me as I keep 3 games loaded anyhow, rest is in steam.

I am an unusual PC user!

CPU Intel i7 8700K @5Ghz Motherboard ROG Maximus Hero 10 RAM Corsair Vengeance 32GB 3600MHz 

GPU MSI Gaming X 1080ti Case Thermaltake Core P3  Storage SSD Boot plus Samsung 960 Evo M.2 nvme storage 

PSU Corsair RM750W Gold Display Asus ROG Strix XG32VQ 144Hz 1440p Cooling Corsair H100i V2 

Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK FX Mouse Roccat Kone Aimo Audio MK3 Fostex T50RP + Schiit Magni 3 AMP and Modi 2 DAC 
Operating System Win 10

VR HTC Vive, Audio Strap Motion Platform DOF Reality 2 DOF

 

 

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I use my relatively fast NVMe drive for my operating system and programs (1.5 GigaBYTES per second reads) and my slower SSD (~500 MegaBYTES per second reads) entirely for games.

My main computer:

i7 6700k || GTX 1070 || Asus Z170 RGB || C.M. Hyper 212 EVO || 16GB RAM || 256GB NVMe SSD || 500GB SATA SSD || 12TB total HDD || Define R5 Blackout || 850W PSU

More Details Below :) 

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| CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k                             | GPU:  EVGA GTX 1070 FTW                                  |  Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Aura
| CPU Cooler: C.M. Hyper 212 EVO             | RAM: 16GB Kingston Fury 4x4 DDR4 2400MHz         | SSD:  Intel 256GB NVMe SSD & Plextor 500GB SATA SSD

| Hard Drive:  WD 2TB Black, 2TB WD Blue, 8TB WD Red     | Case:  Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition   | PSU:  Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W

 

| Additional Computer Parts: NZXT Hue for LEDs

| Peripherals: Dell U2414H (x2) || Corsair Sabre RGB || Corsair K95 Platinum || Sennheiser 558's || Modmic

 

Pictures of setup:

 

 

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14 minutes ago, ShoshinUK said:

Ok, keep the info coming as it heps me learn.

But it does not effect my gaming performance in any way? (that's important to me)?

I see the point re new OS install's etc. It's not important to me as I keep 3 games loaded anyhow, rest is in steam.

I am an unusual PC user!

not at all. load times are barely affected HDD vs SSD.

[FS][US] Corsair H115i 280mm AIO-AMD $60+shipping

 

 

System specs:
Asus Prime X370 Pro - Custom EKWB CPU/GPU 2x360 1x240 soft loop - Ryzen 1700X - Corsair Vengeance RGB 2x16GB - Plextor 512 NVMe + 2TB SU800 - EVGA GTX1080ti - LianLi PC11 Dynamic
 

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I have 3 in RAID0, with all my games on it :D

 

Overkill is good, 1.3TB of storage thats faster than most PCIe drives is a good thing :D

Home PC:

CPU: i7 4790s ~ Motherboard: Asus B85M-E ~ RAM: 32GB Ballistix Sport DDR3 1666 ~ GPU: Sapphire R9 390 Nitro ~ Case: Corsair Carbide Spec-03 ~ Storage: Kingston Predator 240GB   PCIE M.2 Boot, 2TB HDD, 3x 480GB SATA SSD's in RAID 0 ~ PSU:    Corsair CX600
Display(s): Asus PB287Q , Generic Samsung 1080p 22" ~ Cooling: Arctic T3 Air Cooler, All case fans replaced with Noctua NF-B9 Redux's ~ Keyboard: Logitech G810 Orion ~ Mouse: Cheap Microsoft Wired (i like it) ~ Sound: Radial Pro USB DAC into 250w Powered Speakers ~ Operating System: Windows 10 Enterprise x64
 

Work PC:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1275 v3 ~ Motherboard: Asrock E3C226D2I ~ RAM: 16GB DDR3 ~ GPU: GTX 460 ~ Case: Silverstone SG05 ~ Storage: 512GB SATA SSD ~ Displays: 3x1080p 24" mix and matched Dell monitors plus a 10" 1080p lilliput monitor above ~ Operating System: Windows 10 Enterprise x64

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