Optimum hard disk configeration [Resolved]

[SLH]

At the moment i've got one 80GB harddisk with NTFS running at 5200rpm.

I've ordered a 250GB 7200rpm HD and was wondering how i could setup partitions/file systems etc. for optimum performance when playing 3D games, and using general windows applications.

Should i put windows on the fast HD, and games on the other, visa versa, should i have a seperate partition for the page file....

What's your opinions?

[Ideas Man]

I'd recommend strongly leaving it as it is now, and putting the pagefile and games on the second HDD. Games thrive off faster HDDs and putting Windows on it will slow it down a tad. If you put the page file on it, it should also increase performance slightly too. I like to put the page file in it's own partition (1GB) and leave it static so it doesn't fragment and slow down.

If you believe in backing up, it is always a good idea to leave the drive Windows is installed on on the smaller of the two, that way, you can do a full drive backup onto the bigger drive w/o loosing anything.

Use NTFS as the file system. FAT32 does not provide any real benifit and if you leave it as one big ~250GB drive, then NTFS will be the only file system that will work.

And when it comes to partitioning, use the built-in utility in Windows todo it for you, it's dead easy to use. It can be found in the Disk Management snap-in.

[SLH]

Thanks for the advice, i thought that would probably be the verdict.

One question though, is NTFS a lot slower than FAT32, or is the difference too small to notice? Would it be worth dividing up my 2nd HD fo i can use FAT32?

[Ideas Man]

No, I wouldn't consider it worth it. The speed difference sould be so small it's not worth it. FAT32 is old and starting to show it's age. I'd keep the drive as one big drive (w/ another partition for the page file) and use NTFS. That way you can prepare for digital video editing if you wish too.

[SLH]

Ok, thanks for the help Ideas Man - i'm gonna go with your suggestion.