Recommended 2nd drive for G74SX-XA1

Hello all - newby here and not really strong on computer stuff. I just bought an Asus G74SX-XA1 from Amazon and it comes with 12 gig stock ram. I ordered a 4 gig memory card to max that out to 16. Now, I'd like to order a second hard drive. I'm guess around 500-750GB but for max speed and reliability. Oddly enough, I am not a gamer but do a great deal of Photoshop work so its processing speed and memory I am looking to maximize. Any recommendations?

 

No doubt you should look into the Momentus XT , 500 GB hard Drive and 4Go SSD inside it for better speed.

But , if you'd like ultimate power , i can't tell you not to take an SSD. You'll get an amazing boost for Photoshop imo ( never try , but i'm nearly sure of it ) , but if you want a 500 GB SSD , just say goodbye to your wallet , you're about 1000$ for sure.

You should buy an SSD like 120-160 Go wich is more than enough to save the current project you're working on ( and way more affordable ) , on the SSD , letting all your other project on the second Hard Drive

 

If you're looking to add a second drive just for storage get a 750gb 7200rpm drive. That will give you all the speed you need for storage. You could go 1TB but those drives are typically 5400rpm so things will pull up slower. For you, you'd really notice it when looking at thumbnails of your pics.

The best thing to do is get a SSD drive and use it as your primary drive and use your current hard drive as a secondary storage drive. You'll get a huge increase in boot time, Photoshop will start much faster for you, especially if you use alot of plug in filters. If you go this route get a 120-160gb as Catzoo suggested.

 

I like this idea but I am abit intimidated by whats involved. Would I clone the stock drive image to the new ssd drive, then install it in bay 1, put the initial stock 'old' drive in the 2nd bay and then format it? (I'm assuming the new computer will come with a windows 7 disc to install should this be the way to go)...

 

The best thing to do when you get a SSD is a clean install. You can grab a windows 7 iso here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html. I'd use ABRbeta to backup the windows activation, the method is explained in the post.

You can get the drivers and utilities you need here: G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference. Courtesy of the G series queen/goddess Chastity .

On top of having the certitude of an aligned SSD, you have a bloatware free installation of Windows. Guide for the Asus bloatware and utilities here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/380681-asus-utility-bloatware-guide.html. That way you'll know what you want to keep or trash. For a second Data drive if you find the stock drive too small at 500GB, i recommend the hitachi 7K750.

EDIT: Installing windows 7 to a SSD from a USB drive formatted using the windows 7 usb/dvd download tool should take around 10 to 15 minutes to finish the installation. You can then move to drivers and utilities. If you have the money for it, i'd get a 256GB SSD like the crucial M4 or the Intel 510.

EDIT2: Forgot to mention that on my G73, it takes about 20 secs from the time i turn the laptop on and i'm ready to browse on the internet, that inscludes POST, Windows splash screen, me typing my password and opening my browser. Pure awesomeness .