Using WD Caviar Black for OS over SSD?

I just purchased a used WD 1TB Black HDD off of another member here and got it today. I am most likely going to install it over the weekend. I was going to use it primarily as data storage since my OS and Games are installed on my SSD. However, since my SSD is only 128GB, I am already out of space between Win7 and the few games that I installed on it. I'd like to install Win7 and all of my supplemental programs onto the HDD and keep the SSD strictly for games. My questions is, if I install Win 7 onto my new WD Black HDD, will it make my life miserable afterwards being that the OS is now running off an HDD and not an SSD?

I remember how slow it was (2-3min bootup times) prior to getting my SSD a couple years back but my old HDD at the time was an older SATA 3.0GB/sec that was about 5 years old. I have no experience with the SATA 6.0GB/sec Black HDD's.

the SATA spec wouldn't be holding the HDD back... however the type of course will. The WDC Black drives are pretty speedy.

As far as space goes, did you shrink your page file? Reduce the amount of space that hibernation and restore can use? that may gain you several GB back depending...

No I haven't tried that. Can you tell me how to do those on Win 7?

I googled and snagged this: http://www.overclock.net/t/887334/guide-basic-tips-to-save-disk-space-in-windows-7

Have you performed an inventory? That is, what programs and applications you want to keep on the SSD vs. the HDD, listed by size and type so that you can make a really informed decision. I'm typing this only because you used words like "few". It makes me think you're emotionally invested in the idea but haven't really vetted it. You may find you have plenty of room on the SSD by shuffling some relatively unused programs and files onto the HDD and not have to sacrifice boot performance, amongst others.

EarthDog said:

I googled and snagged this: http://www.overclock.net/t/887334/guide-basic-tips-to-save-disk-space-in-windows-7

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Thanks ED!

Robert17 said:

Have you performed an inventory? That is, what programs and applications you want to keep on the SSD vs. the HDD, listed by size and type so that you can make a really informed decision. I'm typing this only because you used words like "few". It makes me think you're emotionally invested in the idea but haven't really vetted it. You may find you have plenty of room on the SSD by shuffling some relatively unused programs and files onto the HDD and not have to sacrifice boot performance, amongst others.

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I personally don't want to have to move anything around if I can help it. Formatting the SSD, Reinstalling the OS, reinstalling the games, windows updates, patching, etc. does not appeal to me lol. At the same time, it gets annoying when I want to try out a new game (or reinstall an old game when I am feeling nostalgic) and get an insufficient disk space error.

My post was meant more for those who have (or still do) run their OS off of one of these Black drives and can give me their opinion on how speedy it is vs an SSD if I did end up switching. I will definitely try to do some cleanup first (As ED suggested) of what I can and see where I end up with as far as free space. Last time I checked, I think I was hovering around 15GB free.

It is no comparison to an SSD. None. You should not see 2 minute boot times, but it will not come close to the boot up and snappyness of an SSD.

I personally don't want to have to move anything around if I can help it. Formatting the SSD, Reinstalling the OS, reinstalling the games, windows updates, patching, etc. does not appeal to me lol.

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You need to spend some money or look up imaging software...you have been around here long enough to know that exists!!!

EarthDog said:

It is no comparison to an SSD. None. You should not see 2 minute boot times, but it will not come close to the boot up and snappyness of an SSD.

You need to spend some money or look up imaging software...you have been around here long enough to know that exists!!!

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I have been a member here for 6 years but really have only gotten into enthusiast computing over the past 6 months or so. Heck, I just went back and looked at my old posts and there is a 5yr gap (Jan '08 - Feb '13) where I was completely inactive! lol.

Just giving you a hard time, but yeah, you need to look into programs like Acronis that image your installation so if you blow it out of the water you restore the image...

I take a base image (fresh OS install + basic drivers), then a 'completed' image and basically restore from one of the two depending on my needs at the time.

Acronis works great, I use it to take backups of my SSD before I run updates.

I also have a 120GB SSD, but I only use it for Windows; I use a storage drive for games/media etc... I suppose you would have faster load times installing on an SSD but I have no complaints running games off of a WD Black

You would be much better off keeping your OS and general programs on the SSD and install the games on the HDD. You will be very disappointed with performance if you go the other way around.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

You would be much better off keeping your OS and general programs on the SSD and install the games on the HDD. You will be very disappointed with performance if you go the other way around.

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^ This.


And backups will be a breeze. Just image the SSD and backup your other data.
Then if all fails, re-imaging the SSD will be super fast.

Silver_Pharaoh said:

^ This.


And backups will be a breeze. Just image the SSD and backup your other data.
Then if all fails, re-imaging the SSD will be super fast.

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Excellent points. I image my SSD (OS and Programs) with Macrium Reflect Free (here is a good tutorial on how to use Macrium Reflect). I can easily restore an image if something ever goes wrong and I need to roll back. In fact, it works so much better than System Restore, I turned it off.

To backup my data, I use FreeFileSync, a folder/file syncing program. Syncing is much faster and requires less room than imaging. It's perfect for backing up data but cannot be used to backup an OS or Programs (which is why I use imaging there).

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Excellent points. I image my SSD (OS and Programs) with Macrium Reflect Free (here is a good tutorial on how to use Macrium Reflect). I can easily restore an image if something ever goes wrong and I need to roll back. In fact, it works so much better than System Restore, I turned it off.

To backup my data, I use FreeFileSync, a folder/file syncing program. Syncing is much faster and requires less room than imaging. It's perfect for backing up data but cannot be used to backup an OS or Programs (which is why I use imaging there).

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+1 for those programs. LadyFitzgerald set me up with freefilesync. I wish I knew about it years ago! A breeze to use

Agreed with everyone else to keep your ssd as the is drive. If most of your games are from steam you can use steam tool to have it copy the data for the games you are currently playing to your ssd then move back to the HDD after you are done but to keep the installation.

I have done SSD vs HDD in the past with a Raptor and 840 EVO. If you use your HDD for the OS when you boot it will take longer when you open programs for the first time they will be much slower with the HDD. When you open your web browser the first time it will be slow opening, then when you are using the web browser it will run from system memory vary fast. If you use all your system memory on different games then the browser will open slowly again running the HDD as the OS.

Here are some times I did with a stop watch and each test I did 4 times.

All test were from system boot up.

HDD Raptor AHCI
PC startup 50 seconds to active.

crysis 3 startup 1:07 minute.

crysis 3 loading multiplayer map 41 seconds.

BF3 loading origin and web browser 44 seconds.

BF3 loading multiplayer map 1:40 minute.

Battlefield: Bad Company loading multiplayer map 19 seconds.

Samsung 840 EVO SSD AHCI
PC startup 30 seconds to active.

crysis 3 startup 46 seconds.

crysis 3 loading multiplayer map 25 seconds.

BF3 loading origin and web browser 14 seconds.

BF3 loading multiplayer map 37 seconds.

Battlefield: Bad Company loading multiplayer map 16 seconds.