how to split up 80GB HD?

[waylman]

Im going to be putting a new system together in a couple of weeks with an 80GB HD. The system will be used for some photoshop/dreamweaver and DVD ripping. However, it will primarily be a gaming beast. How should I partition the drive? I'm thinking
C: 7 GB's for OS
D: 33 GB's for apps and docs
E: 40 GB's for games

Does this make sense?

For those that want to know, machine is
EPOX 8RDA+
Barton 2500
2X512MB Kingston HyperX PC2700
80GB Special ed WD
Radeon 9500 PRO
Lite On 52X24X52
Pioneer 16X DVD ROM
Antec SLK3700AMB w/350watt PS

 

[ravedave]

one partition, there really isnt a befiti to splitting it up much.. just a waste of time, and a PITA


At most 2.
1 for OS+ programs + games
2) data (maybe ps scratch and cache)

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: waylman
Im going to be putting a new system together in a couple of weeks with an 80GB HD. The system will be used for some photoshop/dreamweaver and DVD ripping. However, it will primarily be a gaming beast. How should I partition the drive? I'm thinking
C: 7 GB's for OS
D: 33 GB's for apps and docs
E: 40 GB's for games

Does this make sense?

I think what you have is fine. You may want to make 1GB for temporary files, which I find to help is organizing

Also, personally, i would keep applications and documents seperate. This way, when you format next, you can just backup the documents folder and put it back. It'll save you pain from having to make sure you get all the important files otherwise you might forget something important.

 

[waylman]

thanks for the replies. how does everyone out there have their HD's set up?

 

[SpeedFreak03]

I have a 30GB drive. I have 13GB for windows and programs, 11 GB for data (mp3's, movies, documents, etc), and 4GB for linux. I don't like having too many partitions because for example if one drive (for movies) has 5GB free, but your games drive has 10GB free, and you need 15GB for movies, your screwed. Just my $0.02.

-SpeedFreak03

 

[Anubis]

i have 2 40 gigs and 1 120 gig

none of them are partitioned

#1 40 gig) XP Pro install - apps/games some random stuff
#2 40 gig) 20 gigs of MP3s, My Docs, All my Pics, All the Rurouni Kenshin episodes
#3 120 gig) installers, all video files, other random things

 

[JackBurton]

1 x 80GB drive - OS and installed apps (25GBs free space left)
1 x 120GB drive - apps, movies and MP3s (almost full)
1 x 120GB drive - scratch space (which is almost freakin' full too) :|

And all these drives are in one machine and I use one partition for each drive. No need to make things complicated.

 

[BD2003]

Nonsense. Partitioning your drive has several uses.

Mine is:

C) OS and Apps - 7 GB. At the front of the drive so it loads fast.
S) Swap Drive - 1GB Swap Drive, not really necessary, but I figured why the hell not while I'm at it. Keeps it from getting fragmented.
D) Games - 15 GB Second - Closer to the front of the drive, loads fast.
E) Storage - 15GB - Movies, Mp3s, Pictures etc. Has its own part of the drive, because it doesnt need to be defragged much.
F) Backup - Backup of system, program files, temps, downloads, workspace etc - 15gb - At the end of the drive cause it doesnt need speed, and doesnt need to be defragged often.

Set up this way I get max speed, and only have to defrag the parts that need defragging. When it comes time to reformat, all I have to reformat is drive C. Thats it. No need to back everything up just to reinstall windows.

 

[EeyoreX]

Windows XP Machine

120GB Maxtor 8MB cache
C: 20GB partition for Windows XP and programs
D: 70GB partition MP3 storage #1 (miscellaneous MP3s)
E: 30GB partition for downloads and temporary files

60GB Maxtor
F: 60GB partition for DriveImage backups

80GB Maxtor
G: 80GB partition Depeche Mode MP3/video storage

Windows 2000

2x13GB Western Digital in RAID 0 array
C: 10GB partition for Windows 2000 Server and programs
D: 16GB partition for temporary files

200GB Western Digital SE 8MB cache
E: 60GB partition for DivX movies
F: 120GB partition for DriveImage backups

200GB Western Digital SE 8MB cache
G: 160GB partition for DivX television series
H: 40GB partition for various data storage (documents, drivers, etc)

I always partition for a couple reasons. Easy storage and sorting of files, so I can keep track of things easily. Also, my OS and programs go seperately from my data. My OS and apps I can reinstall any time (from scratch of backup) My data I can't get back should I lose it somehow.

I don't like having too many partitions because for example if one drive (for movies) has 5GB free, but your games drive has 10GB free, and you need 15GB for movies, your screwed

As for this, I find Partitio Magice in invaluable tool, whether of not I resize partitions or for general maintenance. It is a great way to keep from being "screwed" and isn't so expensive at $70.00, plus you can likely find it cheaper online. Even without PM, I'd rather be "screwed" with poorly sized partitions than with no partitions and all my data lost.

\Dan

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: waylman
Im going to be putting a new system together in a couple of weeks with an 80GB HD. The system will be used for some photoshop/dreamweaver and DVD ripping. However, it will primarily be a gaming beast. How should I partition the drive? I'm thinking
C: 7 GB's for OS
D: 33 GB's for apps and docs
E: 40 GB's for games

I use almost the same setup as you or BD2003. I have a number of drives in my systems and not all are split the same. The 7g's you have for the OS is fine. Anything else is more of a personal decision based on what you use your computer for. In my AMD computer I have 6g's for the OS, 15 g's for applications, 15g's for games and a couple of partitions for downloads and media files. In one of my other computers I have a 1g partition as the D drive and use it for a static swap file. It reduces fragmenting in the OS partition if you need that sort of thing. I didn't do it here because I honestly couldn't tell the difference other than in the defrag time.

 

[JackBurton]

Nonsense. Partitioning your drive has several uses.

I'll tell you what use partitioning a drive has...wasting my time. No need.

Set up this way I get max speed, and only have to defrag the parts that need defragging. When it comes time to reformat, all I have to reformat is drive C. Thats it. No need to back everything up just to reinstall windows.

First off, NTFS doesn't suffer from severe fragmentation like FAT32, so you'll have to defrag less often. And when you do need to defrag, just schedule it to run when you are asleep.

As far as speed, the only speed you are getting from having smaller partition sizes is defragging speed and like I said, you can just schedule that at night. It is even more efficient that way since NONE of your productive time is spent waiting for system maintenance.

F) Backup - Backup of system, program files, temps, downloads, workspace etc - 15gb - At the end of the drive cause it doesnt need speed, and doesnt need to be defragged often.

And to back up everything to a partition on the same drive is just point less. I don't need to reinstall unless my hard drive goes bad, and if everything is on the same drive you are SOL.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

I have an 80 gig. First (primary) partition is for the OS, games, and other applications and is 50gig. Other 30 gig is for music, video, documents, downloads, just all sorts of my files.

I think if I ever switch OS's I can just reformat the first partition and not lose my data on the 2nd one (hopefully).

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: waylman
thanks for the replies. how does everyone out there have their HD's set up?

12 GB for Windows and programs.
2 GB for swap
20 GB for games
5 GB for one particularly large game
37 GB for data like movies, music, etc.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

80 gigs for everything

 

[Sid59]

80 gig = 8 gig C: / 66 gigs files and downloads
120 = i partition
120 coming soonm = 1 paritition

 

[grumm3t]

I split it up 15gb/60.

I don't like to put apps or installed games on a seperate drive because I don't think its good to lose all your registry and other saved files of applications when you format... just put all my data on D: and all apps/games/os on C:

 

[EeyoreX]

I'll tell you what use partitioning a drive has...wasting my time. No need.

I suppose that it is true, you don't need to partition your drive. I think for the most part you will find people partition, especially when they are a position similar to the original poster who does not have three hard drives (which, incidentally the way you say you use your three hard drives is nearly the same thing as partitioning. You have one drive for your OS and apps, and others for data. EXACTLY what several people have suggested he do. Only, as I said, he doesn't have the luxury of three seperate hard drives). As you can see from my previous post, I do a combination of partitioned and non-partitioned drives. So, in order for this person to do something similar to what you and others do, he {i}needs[/i] to partition.

\Dan

 

[optimistic]

For my comps with one hdd I try to leave 20gb for OS & apps and the rest for docs (MP3s & files).

30gb comp
15/15

45gb comp
20/25

60gb comp
20/40

main comp 2hdds
80gb os/apps
40gb docs/music

 

[yodayoda]

partitions are a waste--go to the FS/T forum and pick up a decent size drive for a couple of bucks instead. you've get better performance, more space, and portability too.

 

[yaethom]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
I have an 80 gig. First (primary) partition is for the OS, games, and other applications and is 50gig. Other 30 gig is for music, video, documents, downloads, just all sorts of my files.

I think if I ever switch OS's I can just reformat the first partition and not lose my data on the 2nd one (hopefully).

I think this is one of the only reasons I'd even partition a drive. So I can reformat the OS without losing a bunch of data. Although if you have two harddrives, then there is no need to partition.

(I'm with the 'NO PARTITION' group here)

 

[Confused]

When i had a single 80gb drive, I had it as follows:

C: 30GB, WindowsXP plus all apps/games
D: 55GB (well, the rest), Storage - music, videos etc

I got down to about 2gb free on C: and about 5GB free on D: with that, having Windows, Office, plus the 5-6 games I play regularly installed (Carmageddon 2, UT, UT2003, Mafia, BF1942, Splinter Cell, SimCity 4 plus a couple more demos).

I now have another 80gb, and in a Raid 0, I have 40GB for OS/Apps/Games, 1.2GB Swap file, then the rest for storage.


Confused

 

[BD2003]

But youre glossing over the two main points.

So you say defragging isnt a big deal with ntfs. But unless you partition it, you are going to have your data all over the place, albeit in smooth contiguous files. The transfer rate of my Mp3s and temp files is practically meaningless, which is why its near the last partition on the drive. Its not so much a problem of keeping things together, but keeping them in the right place. Sure speed disk will do some sort of rudimentary sorting, but its simply faster this way. And the difference is absolutely noticible.

Second, would you rather just reformat a small 5gb partition for your OS and leave your data where it is, or back everything up to CD (or another hard drive for that matter), format the WHOLE thing, reinstall, and then recopy back? That is just a royal waste of time, not to mention risky. I never said keeping a backup in a seperate partition is foolproof, certainly not if the drive goes bad, but windows screws up quite a bit more often than my drives do. That why I backup on CDs anyway, but its there when I need it.

Also, take drive imaging into account. No need to image anything but the OS.

But the biggest reason why you should partition: Why not? No reason not to, unless you're using 3 drives.

 

[Texun]

I'll explain my main reason for partitioning - My OS gets hosed much more often than anything else on the drive. Once I have my OS tuned and my apps installed I ghost it to another partition, or at least I used to do that. I now copy the image to a small file server. In either case, when I had a ghost copy of my OS partition I could restore it in about 20 minutes, then only had to add any patches or recent apps that were not installed during the first ghosting. It can be a PITA but I would much rather do that than format an 80 or 120 gig drive and reinstall everything over. Sure, if you have your backups stored on the same drive and then have a mechanical failure there are no two ways about it... you are screwed.

At first I was pretty nuts about this. I had way too many partitions and they were more of a pain to manage than they were worth. I keep it to three or four at the most, which is probably still more than necessary but it depends on the use. NTFS is why I no longer have a single partition for the swap file. No need for it now.

 

[BeauJangles]

My partitions are much like BD2003

 

[Oldnewbe]

How do you define the partitions? primary, extended, or what