How Many Storage devices do I need in my pc?

Ben May · 22 Jan 2022 at 12:37

Hi I am looking to build a new pc and the only thing I am stuck on is whether one m.2 SSD (512gb) is enough. I do also have a 1TB external hard drive.

Thanks.

hartgeh3 · 22 Jan 2022 at 12:39

I got
1TB Windows
2TB for games
4TB external for backing up all that crap lol

Edit this should be posted in the storage section i think

Dg834man · 23 Jan 2022 at 18:04

256gb and 512gb m.2 drives are poor value and they waste m.2 slots, 1tb drives are nearly always best capacity/value.

MissChief · 23 Jan 2022 at 18:10

I have a 1TB NVME, a 480GB SATA SSD and a 2TB mechanical hard drive for po..... Storage.

Regularly played games on the NVME, Less regularly on the SSD and everything else on the mechanical.

Guest2 · 24 Jan 2022 at 11:29

I've got the following

C - Samsung 980 PRO - OS. 500GB (nvme m.2 pcie 4)
D - Sabrent M2 - Games. 2TB (Sabrent rocket nvme m.2 pcie 3)
E - Samsung EVO - OS IMAGE. 120GB (EVO 850 SATA)
F - Samsung EVO - Software, Docs. 250GB (EVO 850 SATA)
G - Samsung EVO - OS clone. 500GB (EVO 850 SATA)

Macrium OS clone from C > G comes in very useful. I used to use Windows backup and restore to create a system image, but this screwed me over once as I restored a corrupt image.
Once the OS clone is complete I should really disconnect the drive but never do as its a faff.
A 500GB OS close takes 3 mins 15 even to the old EVO 850 SATA drive, though drive is only 70GB full

I would highly recommend having a seperate OS to games drive then backup stuff.

External wise, I also
2 TB Samsung portable SSD T7
1 TB mechanical WD Mybook with photos on
1 TB WD drive which I've had for years connected to a WDHD TV

Syore · 24 Jan 2022 at 15:09

It really depends on mainly what you use your PC for. As previously said you better off with a 1TB nvme as they are cheap right now and can be useful in a future build (like a scratch disk).

Ben May · 24 Jan 2022 at 22:06

Guest2 said:
I've got the following

C - Samsung 980 PRO - OS. 500GB (nvme m.2 pcie 4)
D - Sabrent M2 - Games. 2TB (Sabrent rocket nvme m.2 pcie 3)
E - Samsung EVO - OS IMAGE. 120GB (EVO 850 SATA)
F - Samsung EVO - Software, Docs. 250GB (EVO 850 SATA)
G - Samsung EVO - OS clone. 500GB (EVO 850 SATA)

Macrium OS clone from C > G comes in very useful. I used to use Windows backup and restore to create a system image, but this screwed me over once as I restored a corrupt image.
Once the OS clone is complete I should really disconnect the drive but never do as its a faff.
A 500GB OS close takes 3 mins 15 even to the old EVO 850 SATA drive, though drive is only 70GB full

I would highly recommend having a seperate OS to games drive then backup stuff.

External wise, I also
2 TB Samsung portable SSD T7
1 TB mechanical WD Mybook with photos on
1 TB WD drive which I've had for years connected to a WDHD TV

Cheers that’s really helpful, looks like I will go with 2 storage devices + my external

Guest2 · 24 Jan 2022 at 23:06

Ben May said:
Cheers that’s really helpful, looks like I will go with 2 storage devices + my external

No probs. It's worth having a similar sized cheaper SATA drive for cloning your main.
This way, if things go **** all you need to do is go into BIOS and switch drive order to boot from the clone, then clone back to your main. Windows backup and restore have worked for me for the most part

Semple · 25 Jan 2022 at 08:03

hartgeh3 said:
I got
1TB Windows
2TB for games
4TB external for backing up all that crap lol

Edit this should be posted in the storage section i think

Why so much for windows? Or are you using that also for installing apps/programs on? Seems a real waste if not, I'd bet Windows would barely be using 20% of that space even with updates cached.

Fluffybob · 25 Jan 2022 at 09:59

1tb SSD OS
2TB SSD Games
3TB HDD Backup and shiz

Guest2 · 25 Jan 2022 at 16:08

Semple said:
Why so much for windows? Or are you using that also for installing apps/programs on? Seems a real waste if not, I'd bet Windows would barely be using 20% of that space even with updates cached.

I know. My 500GB main OS drive is 70GB but has a load of software installed. Windows is 'only' 20GB (not like the good old days of Windows 98 taking ~200MB)

hartgeh3 · 25 Jan 2022 at 20:10

Semple said:
Why so much for windows? Or are you using that also for installing apps/programs on? Seems a real waste if not, I'd bet Windows would barely be using 20% of that space even with updates cached.

I usually have some other media on there, plus it wasn't all that much more compared to 512gb