So I'm finally making the jump from Vista 64 to W7, I plan to wipe out everything and start from scratch using NickN's guides. Here's where I need some of your opinions on my HDD situation. As it sits I have a 750Gb WD Caviar Green, I also have a 1TB WD Black on the way. I also have an older WD 160gb I use strictly for my photo-scenery. I understand that the VelociRaptor 300Gb is the recommended choice for the FSX but money is tight right now and I will have to wait on that. So for now I'm wondering what my best bet is. Would I be better off installing W7 64bit on my WD Green 750Gb and using the 1TB black for FSX and photo-scenery/add-ons? Is it better to have the photo-scenery installed on the same drive as fsx? Would I be better off installing W7 on the 1TB black and also put FSX on the same drive (out of the program files folder of course) and use the older Green 750gb for add-ons/scenery/storage? If you were me and had those 3 hard drives what would you do? I'm trying for the best set-up I can get with the drives I have and any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!Ty89m

The Caviar Black at 7,200 rpm is faster than the Green at 5,400 rpm, especially if you are getting the SATA 3 (6 GBit/Sec) version rather than SATA 2 (3 GBit/Sec), although the SATA speed differece would be relevant only to cached data.Cheers,- jahman.

The Caviar Black at 7,200 rpm is faster than the Green at 5,400 rpm, especially if you are getting the SATA 3 (6 GBit/Sec) version rather than SATA 2 (3 GBit/Sec), although the SATA speed differece would be relevant only to cached data.Cheers,- jahman.

I actually wasn't aware of the new version being 6 Gbit/sec ready, though my Asus p6t doesn't support that I don't think. So would you suggest using the Black drive for FSX and the OS with the Green? Or would I be better off using the black for both the OS and FSX/photo-scenery/add-ons?

TyPut FSX on your fastest and biggest drive - on its own if possible. (if your FSX install is around 120GB thats only 12% of the drive that is full - on a 300GB VRAP that's 40% full and performance mey soon start to wane).The system could go on the older drive - 750GB GreenThe older 160GB as it is now.(IMHO I would hold off from VRAP as SATA3 and USB 3 Drives are nearly here and may out-perform the older generation HDDs. SSDs will get cheaper and they are very good for FSX).RegardsPeterH

TyPut FSX on your fastest and biggest drive - on its own if possible. (if your FSX install is around 120GB thats only 12% of the drive that is full - on a 300GB VRAP that's 40% full and performance mey soon start to wane).The system could go on the older drive - 750GB GreenThe older 160GB as it is now.(IMHO I would hold off from VRAP as SATA3 and USB 3 Drives are nearly here and may out-perform the older generation HDDs. SSDs will get cheaper and they are very good for FSX).RegardsPeterH

Thanks for the input Peter, I think I'll go ahead and use the Green for the OS and Black for FSX. Do you know if using photo-scenery on a separate drive (the 160gb) would really make a difference, or would I actually be better off using a little extra space on the 1TB Black so both FSX and the scenery are on the same drive?

TyIMHO - the gain would be minimal That 1TB drive when defragged properly will be good for FSX and all of its associated scenery.Good LuckPeterH

TyIMHO - the gain would be minimal That 1TB drive when defragged properly will be good for FSX and all of its associated scenery.Good LuckPeterH

Peter, your input in very much appreciated. I'm about to start the tedious process of re-installing, a fresh start will be nice though. Thanks again for the help.Ty

I actually wasn't aware of the new version being 6 Gbit/sec ready, though my Asus p6t doesn't support that I don't think.

Do not limit your selection based on what your system can handle now. Hard Drives last much longer than RAM, Motherboards, and CPU's relatively. So its always good to future proof yourself especially when dealing with FSX.Also, Install Windows 7 x64. You said you used x64 with Vista... If you had a good experience with Vista 64, then you will LOVE Windows 7 x64. 95% of all x32 applications are compatible in Windows 7 x64.