setting up my first wd raptor....

xirokx

xirokx

xirokx

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Hi,

Just finished putting my new rig together, specs are as follows:

opty 170, dfi sli dr mobo, zalman 9500led, 2g gskill pc4000 ram, 7900gtx...

I also have a 150g raptor....

I use my pc to play games, watch videos, surf the net, photoshop etc...

Please can you recommend:

a) how many partitions i **** create on my raptor?
b) how many gigs i **** allow for windows?
c) how many gigs for games? i.e. cod2, oblivion, battefield, rise of nations2 + a few more
d) how I go about setting up the raptor itself?

BTW, I also have an 300g seagate

All advice would be most appreciated.....

Thanks in advance...
 
I'd partition your Raptor in 1 of 2 ways.

Option 1

Partition1 (10Gb-20Gb Max) - For Windows an O/S
Partition2 (50Gb+) - Games
Partition3 <optional> (Remaining Space) - Misc


Option 2

Partition1 (10Gb-20Gb Max) - For Windows an O/S
Partition2 (50Gb+) - Games
Partition3 (20Gb-30Gb) - Program Files
Partition4 <optional> (Remaining Space) - Misc

I went with option 2 pretty much....

Then just use your 300Gb Seagate for Documents, Pic, Music, and any other files you want to store :)
 
You should be able to specify ALL your partitions (and sizes) during the Windows Install.

OR

You can only specify the size of the first partition for the O/S - Install the O/S and then set up the rest of the disk from:

(NOTE: I wouldn't recommend trying to re-partition a drive if you have already assigned the whole drive to be one partition and installed XP on that partion already. If you have done this you MAY need to reinstall XP and this time select a particular partition size during the install - OR wait until someone confirms if you can use Disk Management to "reclaim" space and then re-partition, but I dont think you can)

Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management

You should find the Raptor listed as one of your installed Disks - with your Windows Partition already marked out - you can then partition the "unassigned" space from there.

Is that what you mean by "setting it up"?
 
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Why do partitions matter for such a small drive? OS+Apps on a single volume.

I don't see any need to have separate OS, Apps and "misc" partitions. Most installers default to C:\Program Files, and even if you do install them to another partition, it doesn't make them portable, they're still linked to the current installation of windows through registry settings.

Defrag and CheckScan regularly, keep the drive tidy and there's no problem having a single logical volume for OS, Apps and Documents.

The only reason I partition is to have multiple filesystems on a single drive, or to split up a very large drive into manageable chunks (400gig +).
 
I agree that it doesn't matter in terms of Programs and O/S, for the reasons you gave.

I just find that it keeps things a bit tidier with a seperate partition. Also it makes doing a defrag pretty damn fast if you have smaller partitions. I like to defrag my Games partition and the windows partition, more often that I'd defrag things like Programs.

The reason I suggested an Optional "Misc" partition is because a 150Gb drive is NOT a small drive. Not if you are just using it for Windows, Games and Programs.

You would struggle to use more than 30-40Gb for Windows+Programs

So that leaves 100Gb for Games!!! :eek:

If you think you'll use all 100Gb for games then feel free to make the games partition that big. I just feel that the drive is big enough that you DONT need to partition it all from the start. My 150G Raptor currently has something like 30-40Gb of Unallocated space.

It comes down to what your individual uses are - I tend to find that those two suggestions suit my needs nicely. Basically I was assuming that he won't be storing "files" on the Raptor, as he has the Seagate - and so it is actually a VERY big drive considering the tasks that it will be used for.
 
how do i install a raptor? is it SATA? sorry for the n00b question lol

once plugged in and I boot up what do I press when I get the windows screen from start?

is it f6 etc? has it got anything to do with RAID?

Please help this noob

thanks
 
I see no mention of the requirment for Backups :) Another good reason for partitioning the drive is to leave a convenient sized OS partition that can be ghosted onto another drive (your 300GB Seagate?). My routine is to make a complete image of the Windows partition once a week onto another drive, and cycle round 3 copies. This has saved my butt many times in the past...
 
Download the drivers for your SATA chipset - usually found in the drivers section, when you look at your motherboard's website.

When installing XP, press F6 to install drivers. IIRC, it's the very first thing that comes up when the CD loads.

I don't have a RAID setup on my Intel chipset based SATA, but I press F6 to install my SATA drivers.
 
have installed my raptor...

is it meant to be so loud?

the seeking noise is like something is scraping against it....

surely it cant be that loud?

any advice?

thanks
 
xirokx said:
have installed my raptor...

is it meant to be so loud?

the seeking noise is like something is scraping against it....

surely it cant be that loud?

any advice?

thanks
Click to expand...

I thought exactly the same.
I thought it was loose, but it wasn't.

I ended up sticking mine in a Scythe Silent box.

It fixed the noise problem, but they aint cheap and they are very deep.

They may make something better than that now.

Search this forum for raptor.
 
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Also have a listen to the files at the bottom of this page.

I expect you'll recognise "Western Digital Raptor WD740GD (Idle: 21 / AAM: 24-26 / Seek: 25-26 dBA/1m"
 
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