Back to the master race...

Its been awhile (close to 10 years) and ive been out of the loop! So let me first get started off with my specs and questions will follow. And im sure after those have been answered, more questions are sure to arise haha!

Alienware 17

Processor:
4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710MQ processor 2.5GHz (6MB Cache, Turbo up to 3.5GHz)
OS:
Windows 8.1 Home x64
Display:
17.3" WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display
Video:
AMD Radeon R9 M290X with 4GB GDDR5
Memory:
16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
SSHD
500 GB Solid State Hybrid Drive with 8GB Flash

First off this will be my first Alienware PC and I am very excited for it. I feel I got a good deal on it even though I tend to shy away from refurbs. (9 mos left on warranty) My beautiful piece of mobile gaming hardware arrives Thursday but preceding that I will be receiving an EVO 850 (non pro) 500gb ssd. Now i've searched and searched and have seen multiple ways to do and not do, so if anyone could point me in the right direction i would greatly appreciate it. If not I could defiantly use some help to better optimize my rig. So, here come the questions!

1. I want to keep my hybrid for storage of large files ie: music, movies, photos ect....So is it prudent to have my ssd as my boot up and game drive, and is that possible with the hybrid drive? Would I somehow have to deactivate the caching on the hybrid or will that still function as normal as per what was on that drive?

2. If the above is possible what steps what I take to make that happen? Cloning or fresh install? The hard drive in the AW17 will be clean aside from the OS and whatever AW stocks it with so I am thinking fresh install...?

3. If both of my above assumptions are correct in what the correct order being in installing/uninstalling components and software (pretty sure the hardware wont b an issue for me but the software is whats gonna get me, not well versed in bios and such!)

4. If this is explained in another thread specific to my configuration could you point me in the right direction? I dont want to create duplicate threads as im sure this has been hashed out somewhere buy you fine, intelligent peoples of the page! (flattery gets me everywhere!)

 

NewbieGonz, you can use SSD as OS drive and SSHD for data, you don't need (and can't anyway) deactivate SSD cache on SSHD, cloning will do (however, fresh install never hurts). You'd better create single partition on your SSD, and don't forget to overprovision at least 10% of it (leave unformatted), or even 30% for max speed. Others will fill you in on specific software details.

 

Why is that exactly? Just asking out of technical curiosity, a link that explains it would be appreciated.

 

I've never Oped my SSD's and honestly see no need to.. This is with my Sandisk Extreme II SSD and Crucial C300 SSD.. Performance was fine for me always and honestly didn't notice anything wrong..

Also hybrid drive is just a HDD with built in flash so it just runs faster.. The flash isn't seperate.. I would do a clean install on the SSD and not clone or anything to save yourself any weird problems..

 

I agree. Clean install all the way.

 

Thanks for your replies fellas. After reading about 50 different posts on the subject I think I've got it figured. Now the hard part in waiting 2 more days for my laptop!

 

HAHA the wait always sucks.. However once you get it though.. Well then it's fun times