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Question

I have 3 Hard drives, help me choose the best 2 combination

Oct 5, 2015 11:13AM PDT

Hi guys & ladies,

I need some advice. Here's what I have:

1: 120GB SSD Sandisk Ultra Plus

2: (Installed) Toshiba Dt01ACA200 - attached via SATA and has 2TB capacity

3: (New) Seagate desktop SSHD Internal 2TB SATA harddrive


Here's what I do:

Mostly I play online games- MMO's or classic RTS's. Other than that I stream and sometimes download movies/music etc.

What I want from my comp is Performance for gaming.

Please advise me on what the best combination of these I should go for....Is it even possible to use all 3?

Any guidance to help this hardware loser out would be most welcome and grateful.

JB

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Desktop?
Oct 5, 2015 11:24AM PDT

Funny how you gave all this info without saying whether this is a desktop or laptop. Assuming you have a desktop, I'd install the 120 GB SSD to put Windows on and then the Toshiba 2 TB hard drive. Seagates have a very bad reputation these days, so I wouldn't put that one inside the covers. You could put it in an enclosure and plug it into a USB port. I'd be prepared for it to fail though because of the very bad reputation Seagate has for the last 2-3 years.
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Good luck.

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Thanks for the fast response!
Oct 5, 2015 12:12PM PDT

Mr wpgwpg

Cheers for the advice pal. Yes correct its a desktop, I'll save the seagate for a rainy day then.

Mucho appreciado amigo!

JB

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Answer
I agree.
Oct 5, 2015 11:28AM PDT

Ignore the Seagate and use it sparingly as backup.

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Answer
A Suggestion
Oct 6, 2015 11:24PM PDT

Hi mate.

There are actually few other ways to setup your storage besides what wpgwpg suggested.

The only sure thing is that the SSD is the best option for a boot drive because the OS will boot up faster with a SSD. Any operating system related task that needs to retrieve data from the drive will be faster then if your OS was on the HDD.

As for the hard disks, you can use them as a separate independent storage locations where, for instance, you can use one for the non-demanding programs and games, while the other will just provide an additional storage capacity for movies, music, etc.

On the other hand, you can setup RAID 0 because it will provide you with a better performance, but the biggest con of the option is the bigger chance to fail and the fact that this array offers no redundancy. This basically means that if one of the drives fail, you lose everything stored there. So if you decide to build this RAID make sure that all the important information is backuped on a different location.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Cheers! Happy

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Great option
Oct 7, 2015 5:53AM PDT

Hi there

Thanks for your response.

I see no reason not to try it out, nothing lost nothing gained if by chance i do fail as 4tb is way beyond my needs.

Ill have a look this weekend once my new graphics card arrives and if i get time try and attempt that!

Cheers

Jon

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External Storage
Oct 9, 2015 11:21PM PDT

To piggy-back this option, put your SSHD in an external case.
Personally, I'm leery of SSHDs, but it should work as an external backup. Just be sure to "eject" it before turning it off - unless, of course, you first shut down the computer.
I have 8 Sabrent cases that work very well. Two have 2T HDs, and another two have 1.5T HDs - all 4 are Seagates. In the past 7 years I've only had one case fail, and that was due to something I did.
The ones I have came from TigerDirect.com, Item # M501-1178 for $25. This is not a promotion for the product or source, just a comment on what has worked well for me. I'm sure others would have different cases they prefer.

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Answer
Easy Peasy
Oct 10, 2015 4:39AM PDT

Operating System(OS) onto the SSD. Toshiba split into two partitions - one for Installing programs, one for backups of folders and files. The SSD is quite small, so I'd Install everything (other than the OS) onto the first partition of the Toshiba. Doing this won't slow a decently fast system. (This is how my own systems are set up.) My reasoning is that my backed up game-save folders for heavily-played games, such as Half-Life2 series, Doom 3, Quake 4, FEAR, Crysis, etc., are between 500MB and 800MB in size. You'll only lose about 20GB to the OS, so if you ONLY play games, then, go ahead and bung 'em on the SSD, and enjoy the faster Load times. By the time you fill it up the prices will have dropped to very affordable - probably.
I've not had any particular problems with Seagate drives, but I am aware of their poor reputation. But, rather than just leaving it to gather dust, you could set it up in a RAID 1 with the Toshiba, which simply makes each disk contain exactly the same content - safer. Or you could put another OS on it, such as Linux Mint for when Windows becomes too controlling and intrusive for comfort.
You can install as many Drives as you can fit inside the case and supply power to. My Motherboard has 6 SATA connectors, but that's not the limit as you can get Cards to provide more SATA, IDE or SCSI connectors. The alphabet is not the limiting factor as drives can also be mounted as Directories. Then, of course, you got your USB external drives, and your chained SCSIs. Get that far and you'll enjoy very warm winters. Happy

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No simple answer
Oct 10, 2015 6:14AM PDT

Using the ssd as a boot drive is a no brainer. Most current desktops can support no more than two physical drives internally, so that may be an issue with any raid configuration. Most external drives are USB not eSata therefore it would be, to say the least interesting, to set up Raid between an internal and external drive, if it is even possible. I of know no documented support for claims of Seagate drive problems. Raid 0 is for performance not redundancy, that is raid 1's forte'.