Which hard drives for windows and FSX? or both on the same Hd?

[Darren1 2]

Hi

I've recently done a major hardware upgrade to my rig, mobo, cpu, gpu, ram and an ssd.

I'm going to reinstall windows 7 64bit and then fsx with the handful of add-ons I have.

 

The big question I've got is just how important is it to have windows and fsx on separate drives?

 

Is it a necessity, very important, important or would it simply just be the ideal thing to do?

 

I currently have an ageing slow seagate 500gb hdd and a Samsung 840 256gb ssd.

 

Due to having spent up upgrading my rig, another ssd is out of the question for a couple of months till funds have been replenished when hopefully I will be purchasing another 256 gb ssd or possibly a 512gb when I will be doing a bit of moving things about.

 

I really want to have windows booting and running quickly and also the same with fsx so very tempted to put them both on the ssd but I shall wait for more knowledgeable people to me to respond.

 

Waiting is also not a option as my rig has been apart for a week and I'm having fsx withdrawal symptoms.

 

As mentioned earlier my fsx is very small and not likely to grow too much in the next couple of months.

 

So, for now, do I

 

a, install both windows and fsx on the ssd and then split them when I can afford another ssd

 

b, install windows on the ssd and fsx on the hdd

 

c, install windows on the hdd and fsx on the ssd

 

Many thanks in advance,

Darren.

[dazz 69]

You can install Win 7 and FSX in the same SSD provided that you make sure AHCI is enabled in the SATA controller. There's no problem with that setup and no reason to split them. It makes some sense with mech drives, not at all with SSD's,

Some people keep insisting you need to do that always just because it used to be one of those FSX mantras back in the day when there were no SSD's around

[Darren1 2]

Thanks for the quick reply Dario.

 

It has always been stuck in my head that windows and fsx MUST be put on separate drives so I thought I would ask the question.

 

I shall get on on with my install

 

Many thanks,

Darren.

[voodoo101 21]

Hi Darren,

 

I have never used an SSD for FSX so I don't know if it is true or not but I read that an SSD makes no performance benefit to FSX only initial loading time. Seeing as an SSD is still quite expensive per GB and FSX can take up quite a few GB once you have meshes, scenery, aircraft and weather textures, why no buy a WD Velociraptor. You could still have Windows on the SSD but the Velociraptor will be cheaper per GB.

 

Also if you use a weather program such as REX or Active Sky, doesn't that write new textures and doesn't an SSD only have a limited lifespan with writes.

 

Like I said, I have never used an SSD, infact I don't own one yet but I would be interested to hear other, more knowledgeable people thoughts on this. 

[Darren1 2]

Hi Craig

Thats an interesting point about an ssd only having a limited lifespan with writes as I do use REX weather. It isn't something I was aware of so I'd be interested to know the answer to this.

 

I'll probably put them both on the ssd for now but when I get a better second hard drive be it ssd or high end hdd I'll move fsx across.

 

You are right with the price of ssd's but they are slowly creeping down. Samsung are doing a cash back offer at the minute on amazon in the uk so that tipped the balance for me.

[dazz 69]

No need to worry about the writes limit. Even at huge write rates they're rated to last decades.

 

An example: http://www.intel.es/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/technology-briefs/ssd-710-series-het-brief.pdf

 

500 - 3000 TB depending on the model and write size. My Vertex 2 is currently at 8TB after some 3 years of use

[SAAB340 28]

Don't worry about lifespan of the SSD. An FSX computer will never come close to wearing it out.

 

When it comes to installing FSX on an SSD it's just as Dario said. There is no need to have separate disks any more. Keep FSX and Windows on the same SSD as long as you wish.

 

Regular HDDs can cause stutter if they have slow access time. That's also the case even if its just the OS running on a slow access time HDD and FSX is on a blistering fast SSD.

 

Slow access time HDDs can also cause blurry ground textures.

 

Yes it's true that Velociraptors are an option IF you require LOADS of storage for scenery. But SSDs have fallen so much in price recently so they are generally a much better buy. Remember that you don't need to defrag the SSDs.