[kiyoshi]

hi, i just bought a asus g73jh-a1 laptop and it comes with two drives and i would like to know what is the best way to partion my harddrives for performnce can someone please tell me the best setup?

here are the comps specs:

Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Processor & Cache Memory Intel Core i7 Processor 720QM 1.60-2.80GHz, 2.5 GT/s, 45nm, 6MB, 45W
Chipset Intel HM55 Express chipset
Main Memory 8GB DDR3 1066Mhz
Video Graphics & Memory ATI HD 5870 1GB GDDR5, DirectX 11

Hard Drive Dual HDD: 1TB GB (500 GB x2) 7200rpm SATA


Im using this comp to run 3ds max and sometimes gaming (pre 2003) and programing with c++ & python. what is the best way to get an overall performence boost?

if there is any info missing just tell me and Ill post it asap

Edited by kiyoshi, 29 March 2010 - 08:09 AM.

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Hi and welcome,

If the computer lets you, setting both drives in RAID 0 would give you the best performance. The usual here - if one drive failed all the data would be gone.

Cheers

[Troy]

Hi and welcome,

If the computer lets you, setting both drives in RAID 0 would give you the best performance. The usual here - if one drive failed all the data would be gone.

Cheers

[Gouverneur]

For many years, I used Partition Magic for hard disk partitioning. I now use Paragon Partition Manager, which can process Win7 & Vista partitions. These applications will resize and/or move partitons containing data, which can be handy.

RAID 0 does not provided much (if any) noticeable increase in performance for ordinary applications. It is great for transferring huge amounts of data. If one disk goes, you have some serious problems (as indicated by Troy)

I keep the OS in one partition with all the installed applications & put Data files on my second disk. I use a third disk for the Page File & frequent backups of data.

Having the OS & applications on one disk with data on a second & the Page File on a third disk tends to minimize head movement, which provides some increase in performance & extends the expected life of the Hard disks. Head movement is mechanical: Minimizing it is a good idea. The electronics tend to last forever, but mechanical items are less long-lived.

I am not sure where to assign the page File for a 2-Disk system. Perhaps The OS partiton is the best place for it.

I use an external SATA Disk (1TB) for regular backups of the OS partition & the data partitions.

I backup to the External disk every 10-15 days, keeping the three most recent backups. I do not use any incremental backup/recovery software. I use Acronis True Image which makes byte by byte images of partitions, including Boot Sectors.

This type of backup protects against virus & worm infections. If a system gets infected with really vicious malware, nothing works other than reformat & reinstall everything. Making images of the OS & Data partitons will always allow recovery to a previously functional version of your system. Image software will run from a bootable rescue CD, allowing recovery even when your system is badly infected or trashed (as long as the hardware itself is functinal).

[Troy]

Good points, although depending on the RAID controller, setting them in RAID 0 should see a good increase in load times as well (such as starting up the OS).

Regardless, for 2 drives I would probably say to put OS and data on drive 1, and programs and page file on drive 2... I've been sitting here for a few minutes and that's what comes to mind as best.

I used to have just 2 drives in my system, I used 1 for OS and programs and the other for data and page file. Moving the page file gave me a noticeable performance increase. But thinking about it now I probably would have got better performance again swapping the programs and data.

Kind of thinking aloud here, really, but if it helps...

[kiyoshi]

thanks guys i think im going to put the os in one drive and the page file in another and ill see how it works

what do you guys think about this partion?

1st harddrive

20 gb for the os
480 for programs

2nd harddrive

8gb for pagefile
100gb for backup
and the rest for documents, music, fotos, etc

[Gouverneur]

It is my understanding that installing programs to any partition other than the OS partition still results in DLL files, registry entries, API entry points, & other program-related data in the OS partition.

If the above is correct, you should probably install all software to the OS partiton & put data in partitions on the second hard disk.

Installing data files to the OS partition will result in heads accessing the OS partition to move from data files to Program-related files & back to data files.

My 3-disk system has programs installed in the OS partition, data files in partitions on the second disk, the page file & backups on the third disk. I am pretty sure that this organization minimizes head movement. I am not sure where to put the Page File for a 2-disk system.

I have several partitions on the second disk so word processor & spread sheet files are in one partition, while other types of data are in other partitions. I tend to work with either word processers or spread sheets for 30 mintues to an hour, while using other applications (mathematical & game software) at other times. This organization tends to minimize head movement on my second disk.

As mentioned in previous post, it is a good idea to minimize head movement which is a mechanical activity (slower & more prone to causing equipment failure than electronic activity).

BTW: Multiple data partitions tends to cut down on the amount of file fragmentation & makes defragmentation more efficient.

[Troy]

For a two disk system, I definitely recommend putting the page file on the data drive - not the OS drive.

[DaffyKantReed]

@kiyoshi

I have created two paging files; one on an empty partition on physical HDD1 and a second on an empty partition on physical HDD2. This provides optimal performance, but not much better than a single pagefile on the outside of HDD2, again, on a partition which does not contain OS or data files.

[happyrock]

the fastest part of the hard drive is the outside...
with that in mind you put the OS on the first drive with the minimum swap file size allowed I think its 2 MB...
make it about 80GB...bust the rest up into smaller sections then have all your downloads go to one of the partitions
then on the second drive make the FIRST partition the 8GB and use it all for the swap file...the rest of the second drive can be busted into several partitions...1 for music...1 for video's...1 for documents...and any others like one for linux or another OS...
this settup makes backing up your data a much faster chore as you only backup the partition thats had the most changes and not the ones that have had minimal or no changes made for whatever time period you choose as your backup strategy ..
just my 2 cents worth...