usb boot drive [Resolved] USB 3.0 to Sata as boot drive?

[TurnerTech]

Hi guys, I am currently working on a new pc build and in looking for a boot drive (smaller drive that will hold windows) I am not able to find any storage devices under 32 GB which is way more than needed for Windows  Home 64 Bit. and I was hoping there was a way to get like a 5 or 6 GB flash/thumb drive to use as a boot drive, but I don't want to have it sticking out he back all the time, so I was hoping there is a way to connect a USB to sata and have it on the inside of my PC.

 

Any recommendations welcome!

Thank you for your time and I hope you all have a fantastic day!

 

Thank you to all who helped out, I have found a solution thanks to all who posted recommendations! 

[Crunchy Dragon]

This would technically work, but why not just get an internal drive and have the extra space?

[TurnerTech]

@Crunchy Dragon, I wanted to have a smaller drive so the OS can be on its own than I have another drive for games, videos, pictures etc. and as I stated the smallest SSD I can find is 32 GB and is over 40 USD and I just wanted to have  cheap small flash drive that I can mount inside the case to work, if any of that makes sense.

[Murasaki]

If you have a spare USB connector on your mobo you can use this:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Motherboard-4-Pin-Header-USBMBADAPT/dp/B000IV6S9S

[Hekoki]

you'll also need space for programs on your boot drive, 1, to benefit from having an ssd in the first place, and 2, some programs dont seem to play nice when not installed on the boot drive.

 

you can get a 120GB SSD for like $50-80, so i dont see why you wouldn't go with that. there's also the consideration that the flash used on thumb drives does not have the same lifespan as the flash used in proper internal drives (they arent designed for constant load after all), so potentially, you might have to replace the thumb drive several times for the lifetime of one SSD, making the initial savings completely void.

 

personally, i'd spend the extra money now to get a reliable SSD.

[Pyramiden]

Honestly, it doesn't really make sense. USB sticks are slower then most harddrives. The quality of the controller and the memory is also much, much worse than that of a SSD.

Sometimes USB sticks or SD card are used in small computers, like a Raspberry or as a bootloader in a server, but even the SD's in Pi's are known to fail a lot.

Just save for an SSD, and get one bigger than 32. I think 64 is the bare minimum for a Windows 10 installation if you want to use it longer than 3 weeks.

[Pesukarhu]

If your mobo has a usb 3 header, you can probably get an adapter, but then your front usb 3's wont work... Usb 2 might be fine, really depends how much speed you want to sacrifice. Usb drives are also much less durable than ssds, thats why they are cheaper.
 

You should keep in mind that games and apps use other frameworks/runtimes to work, some of which can only be installed on the C drive. 32gb is the absolute minimum for normal use even if you have a second drive.

 

From the windows 10 system requirements:

Quote

Hard disk space:	16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS

 

Please get an ssd. I mean, you can get 240gb for 70€.

[TurnerTech]

Are you saying that programs (as in web browsers, or video editors) work better if they are installed in the boot drive with the OS?

[Pyramiden]

Not per se in the boot drive. But they work faster if they are installed on a faster drive (this is generally speaking the boot drive, unless the second drive is also an SSD).

He means that you will probably need a bigger SSD if you want to properly use the increased performance of such a disk. If you get a small disk then you will not be able to install anything except the OS.

[TurnerTech]

Yes, and I took what you had said into consideration and I'm getting a (I believe) 120GB SSD for the boot drive and main applications, then I have a 1 TB 10,000 rpm barracuda hard drive for files and games etc.

 

Thank you for your help.