What to do about partitioning

[squads]

I am putting together a new system with a new 250gig hard drive. I plan on partitioning it out before i put together the system. So I planned on partitioning like this (listed in order from the fastest part of the drive):

10gig OS
4gig virtual memory (only using 1536mb now, but need 3gb if i upgrade to 2gb ram)
50gig games
50gig mp3/ipod
75gig video/movie
whatever is left would be used for random downloads and stuff

but I was wondering if I should run a seperate drive for the virtual memory (microsoft recommends this)? Also, would having games running off of a seperate drive help performance?

Oh yea I also was wondering if I needed to use any jumpers on an SATA drive (IDE you need Slave/Master)

[Quailane]

What is the point to all the partitions? In my experience it just really slows it down when doing stuff off of multiple partitions. The only thing I can see is running the OS and everything else off of separate partitions so that you can reinstall the OS without losing anything.

No jumpers on a Sata drive by the way.

[twoeyes]

O_O i think you should use a feature called FOLDERS instead of making hundreds of partitions

[Enablingwolf]

I like to not use partitions if possible. Unless I am including backing up and I reinstall Windows alot. The head will have to move over a large platter to read the data. You will take a hit doing so many partitions. I could see putting a few gigs for an image, then hiding it. Then make a large chunk and them make it your my docs folder. Other than that, having your pagefile on a different partition and on the same drive is asking for slowdowns.

Partitions are sometimes overused. It is still the same physical drive. Your best bet for increse in speeds is to get another drive. Then move the data you would like to save onto that. If a smaller and faster second drive is not possible. Just make two partitions. One that is stable storage, and the other for your windows install and program folders. I think it is best to keep program files in the same partition as the OS. If you want create some reg keys, then when you move the backed up programs files folder you batch the reg keys into the locations you want. Loads easier and faster then having 6 partitions on a drive.

The only other reason for more then 3 partitions is if your going to dual boot. Having files in a FAT partition, will make them accesable in Linux.

I have 3 drives. Two are in RAID1, and the normal drive is split for imaging purposes. Also mapped for network shares. This is my I don't care partition. Since Windows cannot see the image location. I image via hardware.
C: & E: are one drive. D: is a ATA100 setup in RAID1.

[squads]

oh ok, I think there are some advantages to using partitions. As follows:

1) having an OS partition on the outer edge of the drive allows for the quickest boot time while also allowing OS reinstalls without having to backup other data
2) Microsoft recommends not having the pagefile on the same partition or drive as windows install
3) I can defrag specific sections of my hdd and keep similar files (game files for example) in a much more condensed section of the drive.

I could see how multitasking with different partitions could result in lower performance. In any case I'm going to use an OS partition.

I do have an old 40gig drive which would probably do well for holding MP3's though.