HDD's and OS. (Question)

[Refreshment]

Hi Atech forums

Let's say we have two HDD's and there's an OS in each one (it could be the same OS doesn't matter). We are running a heavy program in which timing and access speed is important, a game fits this criteria perfectly.

So what is better:
1-) Use the OS in one hard disk and install the game in the other.
or
2-)Install the game in the same drive the OS is held.

The other important factor, i imagine, is if the 2 HD's are the same or different. Let's assume both cases.

Hope i can get some answers for the above ideal cases. As for my reality, one HD is a WD green, as you probably know, it mostly speens at 5400 RPM. The other is an old Maxtor 160 GB drive, which i asume spins at 7200 RPM. What´s the best way to install a program according to the answer related to the above cases?

Thanks for any answers or recomendations.

 

[mlc]

If you use 2 physical drives, one for each partition, then I'd want my os installed on the faster spinning drive... no doubt....

If u have 2 partitions vs 1 partiion (with os and game), on the same physical drive.. it wont matter....for performance.. Folks usually go this route for ease of maintenance, as they occassional reformat and reinstall the OS from time to time..

 

[jamesmcuk]

I agree with the above with putting OS on the faster drive and putting the game on a separate drive.

 

[Refreshment]

Really interesting MLC.

Is there a way i could measure drive throughput? Like i said the old drive, i think is faster, but also is older than the green one. So i don't know how big could the difference be.

Also do you happen to know how much difference could a defrag make? And if you can defrag in multiple tries because big drives take a lot of time.

 

[mlc]

I guess there can be conditions under which the slower spinning drive could be faster..depending on the differeneces in capacity and cache.....

I would simply look up the specs for each.. but there are software tool (e.g. Sisandra, etc.) that will measure and compare throughput to give you a sense...

 

[Refreshment]

Thanks James and mlc.

Does Sandra have a free trial?

 

[mlc]

SiSoftware Sandra Lite.. i think is the free version.. you can download.. just google it

 

[Refreshment]

SiSoftware Sandra Lite.. i think is the free version.. you can download.. just google it

Will do

Also there was HD tune recomended to me. Any good?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I agree with the above with putting OS on the faster drive and putting the game on a separate drive.

But faster spinning doesnt always mean faster performance, dont forget advances in drive tech such as data density. Thats why the older 36-74GB raptors dont fare quite so well against todays 2TB monsters.