Hello Everyone,

I just got a new custom built DAW, and was wondering, given my setup, what is the best way to split up my drives?  I highlighted my disks in blue.  I will also use this as my main gaming and all purpose desktop.   Any reason to dual boot and have a seperate "Music Studio" environment?

-Thermaltake Armor A60
-PC Power & Cooling 950W Silencer Series
-ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Mobo
-Intel i7 2600K
-32 GB (4 x 8GB) G.Skill DDR 3 - PC 1333
-6 X 64 GB SSD (Microcenter Rebranded ADATA 596)
-2 X 240 GB SSD (Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe)
-4 TB 7200 RPM Drive (For Storage)
-Scythe Kaze Master 4 Channel Fan Controller
-Cooler Master Hyoper 212+ CPU Cooler
-EVGA GTX 670 4GB Superclocked GPU
-6 Noctua Case Fans
 
 
I was thinking 2 thoughts:
 
THOUGHT #1 (the split up but complex way)
 
C: - 64 GB SSD (Windows 8 Install)
D: - 128 GB SSD (Program Files)
E: - 128 GB SSD (User Profiles/Downloads)
F: - 60 GB SSD (Cakewalk Sonar Projects - Currently Active Projects)
G: - 480 GB SSD (Samples, Soft Synth Libraries)
H: - 4 TB - 7200 RPM Spinner (Used For Archive and Finished Cakewalk Sonar Projects)
 
 
THOUGHT #2 (easier)

C: - 64 GB x 5 (IN RAID 0) = 320 GB Volume (Used for Windows 8, Program Files, User Profiles, Downloads, etc....)
D: - 64 GB SSD (Used for Cakewalk Sonar Projects - Active Projects)
E: - 480 GB SSD (Samples, Softsynths)
F: - 4 TB - 7200 RPM Spinner (Used for Archive and Finished Projects)
 
 
Basically, in thought #2 I am combining OS, Apps, User Profile Data) into one RAID 0 SSD array.   This should be OK right?   I know Sonar recommends OS & Program Files to be on different volumes, but in a SSD RAID 0 i should be fine, right?

Also any thoughts on dual boot?
 
Thanks in Advance,
Adam
 

I'm not sure if raid makes sense in the context of a SSD...
 
Anyway, my inclination would be to group all the SSD's under a single spanned volume. That way, they'd all (togther) appear as a single drive. Then, you can install whatever you want to that drive letter, knowing that anything there is on an SSD. It simplifies things a bit that way.

C:/ drive should be for programs only
D or E:/ drive is for audio only
F:/ drive are for samples from soft synths with big libraries
G:/ drive is for CWP and per project back ups and any other back ups you may want
CJ

+1 and SuperG is also correct. You don't need RAID with SSD. RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). The only real benefits you see from RAID are for databases, imo. And many raid arrays come with 12 or more disks to make them really redundant. I would just make sure you have at least two offline backups of your session work, one off-site. That should be fine.
 
Good luck with the SSD's! I'm hoping to hear how well they perform for you.