Hard Drive Config For New Computer

[Alexjrc]

Hey I'm building a new pc, and for the first time I've realised the one thing I've never really gotten to grips with is HDDs. So I thought I'd see if anyone here could maybe part with some knowledge

- Which is faster? 2 old(ish) 500GB Barracudas in RAID config, or a 1TB WD Caviar Black.
- What is a good partition size for a windows vista 64 installation?

I basically have 3 500GB Barracudas and a 1TB Black and I was wondering what the best setup will be. Right now I'm thinking the 2 500's in raid with a 60GB partition for windows and the rest for games ect. With the 1TB as storage/scratch disk (I want to edit HD video so I need it to be fast ).

Thanks to whomever doth reply.

 

[CaptainCrash]

- Which is faster? 2 old(ish) 500GB Barracudas in RAID config, or a 1TB WD Caviar Black.

At a guess, I'd say they'd be about equal in STR (maybe the RAID would edge out the WD, depending on the platter density), but in real terms the WD should be faster (newer, better mechanicals, better firmware etc).

- What is a good partition size for a windows vista 64 installation?

I basically have 3 500GB Barracudas and a 1TB Black and I was wondering what the best setup will be. Right now I'm thinking the 2 500's in raid with a 60GB partition for windows and the rest for games ect. With the 1TB as storage/scratch disk (I want to edit HD video so I need it to be fast ).

Thanks to whomever doth reply.

That seems a decent plan for your intended use, except perhaps I'd make the OS partition a bit bigger - 100GB would give you more future wiggle room, as Vista installations have a habit of growing despite your best of intentions, and it also likes plenty of free space to perform to the best of its abilities.