New System Build with NVME Drive coming from a HDD need Advice?

lloydcars18

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Hey Folks so Basically using a P5Q-E Board atm with 2 1TB Drives first one is a 8 Year old Samsung Spinpoint F1 which has 2 Partitions on it one with OS/Programs other is Storage then have a WD Blue 1tb Which i purchased a few months ago will be keeping this it just has a System image/Back-up on it atm but will prob Format it.

Never had a SSD So im skipping a Generation and getting a Samsung 960 Evo M.2 NVME 500gb drive :)

Can you still Partition when Installing Windows i currently have 7 but will be getting 10 for my new System as want to Partition My NVME drive for like 400gb For Games/Programs then the Rest Just for the OS?

Also Think Il pick up another WD Blue 1tb and run it in Raid 1 With my other Drive also what would be the best way to get all the Data i Wish to Keep Pictures/Videos etc from my old drive to the new one and should i set up the Raid Array first?
 
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mattyfez

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Might have to do some command line stuff before installing, might be easier just to do the partitioning from within Windows once it's installed?
 

mattyg

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I've just done that. Without the partition but I'm sure it asked me. As long as BIOS sees it you can use like a normal drive
 

Maundie

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lloydcars18 said:
@Maundie I Could but as this System is going to be for the Next 5+ years would be easier having Windows on a Separate partition so when the next one comes out it will be easier to Install it.
Click to expand...

Seems a bit pointless, I have a M.2 drive and have just installed Windows on it and have separate drive(s) for games and storage, if you upgrade to a new version of Windows it's not guaranteed to link to the partition with games/apps installed as the links will be removed and you'd have to re-install anyhow.
 

GWANGY

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there never will be a new version of windows :fact:
in 8-14 years Msoft will have reverted to 50% blockhain and 50% OS company,
Its actually quite a good idea to have windows and dat seperate . esp as you can backup your installation very easily that way.
I presume you dont need backups of your games as either on CD or steam.
treat your m2 drive just like any other drive format and partition to your hearts content......
 

lloydcars18

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Yea my Games are on Steam etc and have 2 1tb Drives in RAID 1 For Storage :)

If i Was to get a 250gb M.2 and 250gb SSD Would cost the same amount so may as well get the M.2 as it can Almost half Game load times as well.
 

Big.Wayne

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lloydcars18,

there's a lot of questions in your posts so I'll chip away at them.

So yes it should be fine using an NVMe drive with Windows 7 and yes you can partition during a fresh installation should you choose too. As Window 7 doesn't include native NVMe drivers make sure you not only obtain these drivers before you begin but that you test them too. I've seen quite a few folks run into headaches because they don't do a test run with their NVMe drivers before diving into an installation. All I did in a similar situation was to manually create a folder on the Windows 7 USB thumb drive, copy the driver files into this folder and then reboot the machine and began a dummy windows installation. When you get to the select disk screen and nothing is there all you should need to do is press F6 and point windows to the folder on the usb drive containing your NVMe drivers. It's so simple but yet a ton of people have run into issues here but I don't know why.

Secondly, I see where you are coming from with partitions but I'd have another think about it. I'm not a hard core gamer and typically wouldn't have more then 2-3 games installed at any one time so I have just a single O/S partition on my NVMe and everything gets installed to that. I don't see the sense in installing your games to a separate partition? it just sounds like faff to me but maybe I am missing something?

Thirdly I'm not really seeing good use of your RAID-1 set-up apart from basic real time data redundancy but it won't help you to recover accidentally deleted data. I've got a similar setup to you in 1x NVMe and 2xHDD drives but I have them setup differently. The NVMe is a single partition O/S drive (256GB), the first HDD is a 1TB WD Blue used as a Data drive ("My Documents" basically) with all my Windows user folders mapped to that so its seamless, and the second HDD is a 3TB WD Green which is a dedicated backup drive. The last piece of the puzzle is just some decent backup software which you configure to automatically backup your O/S and your data at intervals defined by yourself. You could create a similar setup with your existing disks, just use the newer HDD drive for Data/My Documents and assign your aged HDD to backup duty (obviously making sure it passes all diagnostics first!).

In closing I would say the way forward is to have an SSD/NVMe *only* system and to get rid of regular HDDs. I would prefer a 256GB O/S NVMe + 500GB/1000GB Regular SSD for Data than a 512GB O/S NVMe + any mechanical HDD.

Some food for thought . . .
 

lloydcars18

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Thanks for the Reply Im Changing to Windows 10 for my new Build so the drivers shouldn't be a Problem.

I Was Just thinking like 2 Partitions for the NVME 1 For all the Windows stuff then the Second for Games/Programs.

in a Ideal world nobody would use a Mechanical drive but were not all rich so that's why the 2 Drives in Raid 1 for my Documents etc seem the safest bet as a Backup but could be wrong.
 

Big.Wayne

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lloydcars18,

For the system you are proposing and with the reasons you have given so far it doesn't make any sense for you to partition your new NVMe drive. If you want to add an additional layer of complexity to all your program and games installation then by all means partition away but I don't understand what advantage you would gain from this?

We agree that in an ideal word a mechanical hard disk is second rate compared to SSD but you just bought a 1TB WD Blue mechanical HDD and now you are thinking of buying another 1TB WD Blue mechanical HDD . . . . wouldn't you prefer a standard 1TB SATA SSD for all your data/My Documents?

I've only used RAID-0 in the past and never RAID-1. I don't think RAID-1 is the safest bet as it only protects your data from hard disk failure and does nothing to protect your data from accidental deletion or infection. Getting some backup software to automatically take a snapshot of your data and sending it for storage to second backup drive gives you more safety.

Can't think of anything else apart from hope it all goes well and enjoy your new system! :)
 

Big.Wayne

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No worries. I'm not really an expert of backup software and just use the free Acronis True Image that came with a Crucial SSD a few years back. I think they are all probably much of a muchness so just see what you can get your hands on. It doesn't take long to configure a backup routine and its pretty much set and forget. You can make separate backup routines for both your O/S and for your Data giving you more robust protection than your previous RAID-1.

Should be a great system when it's all done, you may be able to make some money back on your old "antique" kit too . . . . enjoy! :)
 
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