SSD for c: & software only

[DeonH]

Hi and thanks for your help.
I have a 2-year old PC with 24GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit & 2 x 1TB HDD's.

BUT, it feels as if it takes forever to boot. I am considering to buy a ±256GB M.2 SSD for system & software files only and a 1 TB SATA SSD for data only.

Will the 256GB be large enough? I have just checked the following folders for size:

• Program files
• Program files (x86)
• Program Data
• Windows

All added together is 70GB. Are there any folders I missed?

Thanks.

 

[OCP]

256GB will be plenty for boot drive.

The big ticket items should allow you to choose install locations.

 

[B-1]

I would go a bit bigger. The price for the 380-512GB ssd's are not too much more over a 256.
Is it a pc or a laptop since m.2 and pc's dont usually go together.

 

[Lupus]

Hi and thanks for your help.
I have a 2-year old PC with 24GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit & 2 x 1TB HDD's.

BUT, it feels as if it takes forever to boot. I am considering to buy a ±256GB M.2 SSD for system & software files only and a 1 TB SATA SSD for data only.

Will the 256GB be large enough? I have just checked the following folders for size:

• Program files
• Program files (x86)
• Program Data
• Windows

All added together is 70GB. Are there any folders I missed?

Thanks.

I run my OS on a 256GB

 

[Arthur]

My C partitions are typically 100GB. Data, including local copies of sync'd cloud files (such as 600GB of OneDrive), are on another partitions.

 

[Rickster]

@DeonH

You going for a SATA M.2 or a NVMe?

 

[DeonH]

I would go a bit bigger. The price for the 380-512GB ssd's are not too much more over a 256.
Is it a pc or a laptop since m.2 and pc's dont usually go together.

Thanks. I forgot to mention: PC

 

[DeonH]

@DeonH

You going for a SATA M.2 or a NVMe?

SATA. M.2 and NMVe a bit more expensive than what I want to spend.

 

[Lupus]

SATA. M.2 and NMVe a bit more expensive than what I want to spend.

NVME isn't that much more, go look at Wootware

 

[The Voice]

Hi and thanks for your help.
I have a 2-year old PC with 24GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit & 2 x 1TB HDD's.

BUT, it feels as if it takes forever to boot. I am considering to buy a ±256GB M.2 SSD for system & software files only and a 1 TB SATA SSD for data only.

Will the 256GB be large enough? I have just checked the following folders for size:

• Program files
• Program files (x86)
• Program Data
• Windows

All added together is 70GB. Are there any folders I missed?

Thanks.

Welcome to 2021!

I'd go with 500GB as a minimum. Software eats up storage quicker than you'd realise, and I'd rather have a bit of headroom and not need it than stuck with a full drive. If you've never used an SSD, don't even bother with an NVME, etc - you wouldn't notice the difference anyway.

 

[ponder]

SATA. M.2 and NMVe a bit more expensive than what I want to spend.

Price difference is not that significant. What's your budget?

 

[PatchTuesday]

The higher the capacity the faster the drives I think

 

[TrueSeeker]

256GB is probably enough to get by. If you really need to, then you can always install apps on a different drive than C. And personally I always install Steam on a separate large drive. Steam just adds up too quickly. On the other hand some games really benefit from an SSD which is why I have steam on a dedicated 1TB SSD. But before that I was running a 256GB SSD with Steam on a 2TB HD for a looong time. And it was fine.

I would however recommend a 480/512GB drive for a bit of staying power and convenience though. On the cheap end the difference in price is only about 200 bucks, and if you don't want to get the absolute cutting edge in performance, then the cheap end is fine. The difference in bootup/appload speed will be night and day whether you go high or low end SSD. NMVe is great and all, and if your mobo has the slot, then it sure simplifies your physical build a butt load, but it's also not absolutely essential to get a massive boost from solid state.

The first time I used NMVe was just the other day in a new AMD RYZEN 5 4650G PRO APU system I got. It definitely performs quite well, but the main appeal to me was the simplicity of the build. In the end the build was just a small mobo, the APU, ram, PSU and a few wires that ran from it. As somebody who have grown tired of building PCs long time - I absolutely adore it. I would go as far as saying it's cute. But, I digress.

NB: If you can wait at all, then just get a sense of the prices now, and wait for Black Friday. It's little more than a month away.

 

[DeonH]

256GB is probably enough to get by. If you really need to, then you can always install apps on a different drive than C. And personally I always install Steam on a separate large drive. Steam just adds up too quickly. On the other hand some games really benefit from an SSD which is why I have steam on a dedicated 1TB SSD. But before that I was running a 256GB SSD with Steam on a 2TB HD for a looong time. And it was fine.

I would however recommend a 480/512GB drive for a bit of staying power and convenience though. On the cheap end the difference in price is only about 200 bucks, and if you don't want to get the absolute cutting edge in performance, then the cheap end is fine. The difference in bootup/appload speed will be night and day whether you go high or low end SSD. NMVe is great and all, and if your mobo has the slot, then it sure simplifies your physical build a butt load, but it's also not absolutely essential to get a massive boost from solid state.

The first time I used NMVe was just the other day in a new AMD RYZEN 5 4650G PRO APU system I got. It definitely performs quite well, but the main appeal to me was the simplicity of the build. In the end the build was just a small mobo, the APU, ram, PSU and a few wires that ran from it. As somebody who have grown tired of building PCs long time - I absolutely adore it. I would go as far as saying it's cute. But, I digress.

NB: If you can wait at all, then just get a sense of the prices now, and wait for Black Friday. It's little more than a month away.

Thanks or the advice.
I have already bought the 1TB SSD SATA3 which should be here any day now. I will use this as my data drive and then buy a 512GB M.2 since my mobo has a slot or it. Will start looking or prices or the 512GB.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

You don't need an NVMe drive. A regular 2.5" SATA or M.2 drive will suffice, M.2 drives are nice if you have the slot on your motherboard as you don't have to worry about cabling.

 

[DeonH]

I had this for ages. Stuck all my data on a platter drive but installed software and OS to the SSD. Makes a huge difference.
NVME is worth the spend if your machine supports it IMO.

Thanks. It doesn't look like my machine supports NVMe. I will have to go with straight M.2 ... but please correct me i I am wrong,

Thanks again.

 

[DeonH]

M.2 is the form factor - related to the physical shape of the device. NVMe is not supported on all machines, but if that's your machine (Lenovo-V530) then NVMe is supported according to that image. Some M.2 drives are SATA.

NVMe vs. M.2 vs. SATA – What’s the Difference?

Do NVMe SSDs differ from standard SATA drives? And do all M.2 drives classify as NVMe? We break down NVMe vs. M.2 vs. SATA here.

www.velocitymicro.com

Thanks. Sorry for all the questions. I noticed about the shape ... but how will I know which to order? Will I have to open the machine to look.
Here is a screenshot from a video I watched earlier ... but how will I know?