Pros / Cons of 1 vs 2 Drives

[Rom]

Currently I have a 4/5 year old Samsung SM951 256gb M2 NVME, speeds are 2260/1260
This is my OS drive, and has 2-3 games I play the most on. 28gb free

I have a 500gb Samsung EVO 850, speeds are 540/520. This has a few more games on, and use for /documents, /downloads, /pictures etc. 120 gb free

Im not a huge user, I dont play many games at the same time, usually just a couple really.

Ive got a Sabrent Rocket Gen 4 2tb for my new build. That I was planning on just having as my main drive, all games programs etc. Then using the 850 EVO for /documents, /downloads, /pictures etc.

Would there be any benefit to using the 256gb drive as OS, and the Sabrent for games? Im guessing I should try and benefit from the speed the most, and use Sabrent.

I dont run any raids, backups, clone etc. I have nothing on here I couldnt live without.
From my experience, even if I run a separate drive, thats makes reinstalling OS 'easier'. Everything on the other drive would no longer work anyway? Sure id have to reinstall the games anyway.

The Sabrent will more than double my current capacity, of which, im not even maxing out. So to me, it seems like just having the Sabrent as main drive is the best choice.

Just wanted to run it by you guys who no doubt no more

 

[Rom]

Well Ive given my thinking.

I was just asking if there is something Im missing, some reason that running a separate OS drive is beneficial that I havent listed or thought of.

 

[Rom]

Thank you.

But am I wrong in thinking the games would no longer work?
If i reinstalled OS, the games which were either on a partition, or separate drive, wouldnt work anymore would they?

 

[Rom]

Can any one confirm, would games on a separate partition to OS, still work after OS was reinstalled? I dont think anyone has answered that yet, sorry if I missed it.

Im thinking Ive done this before but a separate physical drive, and the games wouldnt work. Although all the files were there, it wasnt 'installed' to the new OS.

 

[Rom]

No they wont straight away but you can make them work again, steam is easy just point it to where the games are.

Others origin ect i usually initiate the download to a new folder on the other drive then close the program then cut and paste over the files to the new folder, then reopen whatever program is downloading the games, it starts the resuming download but quickly zips to 100% and your good to go. i have read you can just point the installer to the location of the games and it should just do the resuming bit but have never tested it

We can't really definitively answer this because it depends on how the game installs itself.

Perhaps it would be better to ask, do you have so many games and reinstall your OS on such a regular basis that this is an important concern?

Thanks,

No, I dont have that many games for it to be an issue. But then that brings me back to why even partition OS.

Appreciate the input. Ill stick with my original theory, of using the Sabrent 2tb as my main drive for OS and games. Then the 850 for docs, pics etc.