Built new PC - wondering what to put where.

[BrianG_Photography]

I built a new computer ground up to replace my last photo editing machine. My question is where I should put the software and photos. I have two sata drives that are running Raid 0 and I also have 2 nvme drives running in raid 0. I am wondering what would be better for storing the photos that I will be working on. When I edit photos I am pulling out the file and editing it in ram correct? I am just asking because I would like to put all my programs on the nvmes because of speed and use the cheaper sata ssds with higher capacity to store the photos until I am done working on them and move them to an external and cloud. I am z7 so files are big, hence the reason new computer, and I want to make editing the fastest it can be. I dont want programs and photos on same raid 0 array. Will sata be a lot slower than the nvmes or does it really matter for the photo storage? What will speed up processing the most? Programs or photos on the fastest array. Thanks.

[JP Hess]

Your images can go to the external drive to begin with because Lightroom doesn't really access those images even during the editing sessions. All of the editing takes place in the catalog. All of the changes are stored in the catalog. Lightroom just needs to know where the image is located. It's a good idea to have the program and the catalog on a fast hard drive, but speed is not critical as far as where the images are located.

[BrianG_Photography]

Thanks very much for the response. Exactly what I was looking for.

[BrianG_Photography]

How about when working on in PS? I forgot to mention that in first post.

[JP Hess]

If you're working with raw images Photoshop will always create a new image at the end of the editing session. If you're working with JPEG images you'll have the option to work with the original or a copy. I think the best plan would be to have Photoshop installed on a fast drive, images could still be installed wherever. If everything is running properly you shouldn't see any performance issues.

[BrianG_Photography]

Thanks again Jim, I appreciate your help 

[Jon-M-Spear]

I'm intrigued why you're raiding your NVMe chips.  Are you editing multi-layer 4k video?  I have 2 NVMe  EVO 960 drives running in isolation.  Processing 45mp raw files in Lightroom CC is blisteringly fast.