Selecting storage with Windows installation in mind

[B Poot]

Does anyone have some advice for selecting storage for a new PC build? Obviously it is down to how you use your computer, number of files etc, but I am thinking primarily about managing Windows installs/updates.

I saw the good advice about doing clean installs of Windows on a regular basis (e.g. every 6 months or so). In the olden days, having just one hard drive was the default option, but these days storage is (comparatively) cheap and well supported. A clean install of Windows would clear out your files and other programmes if they were all on one drive, so what is the best solution? I would welcome any advice. Some options that I thought of are:

1. Partition your hard drive and have Windows in its own partition
   1. Would this work, or would Windows get rid of any drive partitions when performing a clean install?
   2. How big should the partition be? I’ve seen suggestions that 32 GB is enough for Windows 10 Home Edition (64 bit) but how much do updates bloat this out?
   3. Do you need to allow extra head room in a partition to ensure it runs properly?
2. Have one hard drive for Windows and programmes, and a second drive for media (documents, photos, videos, music etc)
   1. You would have to reinstall your programmes each time you do a clean install of Windows
   2. When selecting storage size, you might know how big Windows and your other programmes are, but how much space is recommended to keep free on a drive for future programmes and to ensure that the drive continues to run well (e.g. 40%)?
3. Have one hard drive for Windows and another for everything else
   1. Would a clean install of Windows cause it to not be able to find your other programmes?
   2. Does having programmes on a separate drive to Windows cause any issues with running the programmes or updates?
   3. Would your programmes on the second drive still try to add save files etc to Windows directories?

In addition to the above, I recognise that we should also back up our data, and that this is best done to external hard drives and cloud storage, but I’ll leave that for another discussion.

Any advice/experience is appreciated.

 

[Martinr36]

A version of option 2 is the norm, with drives as follows:

A really fast M.2 such as 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) for the OS and programs
A fast M.2 such as 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W) for games to go on
An HDD such as 1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE for general storage of files that don't benefit from fast drives such as video, music etc

 

[ubuysa]

Is this for a PC Specialist build? It would help if you posted the full spec you're considering, as well as your intended use.

The storage for a gaming rig for example, is different from that for a video editing PC.


We really prefer to give advice on the whole spec since it's not just a bunch of components but a single build.

 

[B Poot]

Is this for a PC Specialist build? It would help if you posted the full spec you're considering, as well as your intended use.

The storage for a gaming rig for example, is different from that for a video editing PC.


We really prefer to give advice on the whole spec since it's not just a bunch of components but a single build.

Hi Ubuysa, yes it is. I posted about my specific build here:

New PC Spec - feedback welcome

Hi, I'm an electronic engineer but completely new to the world of spec'ing a PC, so I would welcome any feedback from those with experience. I have done some research so hopefully I'm not wildly off the mark. This PC is intended mostly for gaming, but I also do some photo and video editing...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

This is the spec that I am currently considering (mostly for gaming, but some photo and video editing):

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

The reason that I added this general post on storage is because I read the following post for prospective buyers advising on regular clean Windows installs etc:

Quick note to prospective buyers

We've had a few people recently who've gone ahead and ordered without getting advice and then come on after receiving it posting and asking what can be tweaked.... I know most of you will have some idea of components and their use and pairing, but for those that don't, seriously, get some...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

I am comfortable doing this, but it occurred to me that I have only ever had laptops with one drive and so I wasn't sure what the best set up for hard drives might be if you are regularly wiping the main boot drive! I thought that there might be others out there like me looking for some general tips on storage selection before starting their new PC spec.

 

[Martinr36]

Is this for a PC Specialist build? It would help if you posted the full spec you're considering, as well as your intended use.

The storage for a gaming rig for example, is different from that for a video editing PC.


We really prefer to give advice on the whole spec since it's not just a bunch of components but a single build.

Very true, my duel use editing/gaming desktop has drives sprouting all over the place, in fact i can't remember exactly what its got, I think its about 8 or 9 in total