Partition Layout

[[L]imey]

Hi guys,

I just installed Win7 Home Premium, up from Vista Home Premium, and I've noticed that my programs and the OS in general are less responsive than they used to be. I find this odd because alot of the things I've read touted 7 as much snappier.

The other major change I made while shuffling stuff around was that formerly (while running vista) I had partitioned off about 150 gigs on my 640 WD Caviar black to serve as the OS/App drive, and then I utilized the rest of the drive and my 320g seagate for storage.

This time around I simply installed Win7 on the 640 without partitioning it, so OS and Apps would have more space ( I was running out before, Vista was taking up a ton of space.)

So with the noticeable slowdown, I want to redo this setup again before I spend too much time tweaking the OS and installing all my apps again.

Can someone with some experience here please tell me the best route to take? I want my OS and primary applications (Games, Visual Studio 2008, Photoshop) to be as fast as possible given my setup, I'll need at least 200 gigs of space for this (I like to keep alot of games installed at once).

As I see, the options are:

A.
640 -
Partition 1 ~200 gigs - OS, Apps
Partition 2 ~400 gigs - storage
320 -
Storage

B.
320 -
Partition 1 ~200 gigs - OS, Apps
Partition 2 ~100 gigs - storage
640 -
Storage

C.

320 -
Partition 1 ~320 gigs, OS, Apps
640 -
Storage

??

EDIT - Or is there any value in putting the OS one one drive, the apps on the other, and using 4 partitions: HD1: 1 OS, 2 Storage, HD2: 3Apps, 4 Storage

I'm open to any other suggestions, I'm just annoyed that it got slower with the 7 install.

Thanks much in advance for any suggestions and feedback.

Limey

[Menelmarar]

Too much headache, I like my setup:
1x 150GB OS/App installs
Then extra drives drives for storage/incremental backups. 2x500GB and a 1TB.

I relocate my windows profile to one of the storage drives so I can reformat at will without hassle. Just OS install, App installs, re-point profile locations.

8-12months ago, 150GB was getting tight for me. I found myself cycling through game installs. Occasionally I would have to wipe out an install or two for a new game. I don't really play games much anymore, Without gaming, 150GB is more than enough. You just have to weigh how many applications/games you like to install.

With what you've got, Option A.

Better option? 640GB drive solely as OS/App, then pick up a TB drive or two, maybe the WD Green series for storage. Retire the 320GBer, or put it in an external enclosure and run incremental backups to it of any critical data, family photos/email/documents/projects/etc.

[[L]imey]

So you'd contend that based on my size requirements, I should just use my 320 seagate as the OS/Apps/Games drive and then my 640 for storage?

Will i see snappier response using the smaller drive? Or will I still be left wanting from how it was before? (with the OS/Apps on the outer ring of the 640 on their own partition?)

[Menelmarar]

imey;1034525598']So you'd contend that based on my size requirements, I should just use my 320 seagate as the OS/Apps/Games drive and then my 640 for storage?

Will i see snappier response using the smaller drive? Or will I still be left wanting from how it was before? (with the OS/Apps on the other ring of the 640 on their own partition?)I edited my post at the same time you read and responded. Not sure what changes I made, but my original must have led you down an unintended path.

I'd use the 640 for OS/App, since those are fast drives.

I've been wanting one myself to replace the 150Raptor due to noise (raptors chatter real loud). Space has stopped be an issue for reason mentioned above, and noise too because pc is in common area now instead of bedroom.

[[L]imey]

Right now, I have it setup your suggested way, the 640 is only OS and apps, but it feels slower even though there's no storage on it. I'm aggravated because it's substantially less responsive than the old setup. Now it could just be windows 7, BUT I've not heard anything that would lead me to believe this.

It really feels like having the outer partition of the drive hold the OS/Apps made a difference.