1 or 2 Hard Drives for Desktop

[juliust9149185]

I am needing to purchase a new computer since Windows 10 is going bye-bye.

My question is: With Windows 11, is it best to have 2 hard drives on a desktop computer, or will Photoshop run efficiently with just 1 hard drive? (I did look at the recommendations for running Photoshop on the Adobe website.) Please note: I am not a business, but as I get older I enjoy Photoshop as photography keeps my mind and body active. I also don't want the frustrations of a new computer having issues related to the computer system.

Thank you,

Julius

[MarekMularczyk]

I don't see why you would need two hard drives. One SSD would be perfect 😉

[juliust9149185]

Marek,

Thank you for your input. Right now I am deleting files that I will never get around to editing, but I am saving some in the event I can't get out to do photography. I do have a Samsung 2TB External SSD which I am using as a primary backup. I will also have a second and third backup with priority on the SSD.

[MarekMularczyk]

You mention photography. I would recommend keeping all your photographs on an external hard-drive (Samsung makes amazing portable SSDs, I've been using them for years and highly recommned them) and load all the images from the external hard drive into Photoshop

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

As long as you don't open and save directly to the external drive. That is not recommended:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/networks-removable-media-photoshop.html 

Copy to your local drive to work on them, then copy the finished file back.

One or two drives doesn't matter - but it makes maintenance a lot simpler if you have one system drive for OS and applications, and another for your image files and documents. Put the Photoshop scrach disk on your system drive.

[juliust9149185]

Mr. Fosse,

Right now I have 2 hard drives, one for programs, etc, and the other for files of all types. I agree with you, but I am also looking at cost at this point in my life since I am not a professional making money from photography. I'm just now starting to get quotes. Thank you sir!

[Bojan Živković]

It's okay to have two drives; I have three, but keep in mind that Photoshop requires a scratch disk because no amount of RAM is sufficient for complex operations. To put it simply, buy one fast SSD with at least 500GB (1TB is recommended) for programs and to use it as a scratch disk and another for files. If you have a lot of images, especially if you shoot in RAW, then consider getting another large HDD, which is cost-effective for storing a large number of files. That's my opinion on what someone in your situation should do.

[juliust9149185]

Bojan,

Right now I have no problem with the set up I have which is a 250GB Boot Drive, and a 1TB for storage. I always shoot in RAW, and have no problems with speed, or crashes/etc. while using Photoshop, and my current computer was built in 2019! In addition, all my programs/apps are up to date as are Windows Update and drivers. Another thing I do is to make sure that the "Cache" is purged in Bridge & and I also use "Disk Cleanup" on my main drive...again, no problems!  Sometimes I think that people push what's needed way beyond being practical, but I do understand what you are saying. In my situation, if I have a custom-built unit as my current desktop is, why get talked into something that's just going to cost more money when it's not really needed (more profit no matter who builds the computer...custom/Dell/etc.). Is there something about Windows 11 that dictates I need 1TB & 2TB internally when my 250GB & 1TB is working effeciently, and smoothly? I hope everyone who has looked at, or contributed to this discussion reads everything I've stated here, and uses the tools on your computer and Photoshop that keeps a machine running smoothly. In the end, all comments are appreciated!

Mr. Fosse, would you agree with what I've said here?

[ExUSA]

Its always a good idea to have an additional drive for backup purposes. This can actually be a spinning hard drive, as speed is not an issue with backups.

[Trevor.Dennis]

With my last system, I found that Photoshop rarely used anything close to its allocated memory, so I stuck with 64GB again for my current build.  What it does do is create substantial temp file on your scratch drive, so it seems reasonable to do what you can to maximise drive performance to read and write to thos temp files. My current build is two years old, and the 980 Pro were a good option at thge time. 

It doesn't seem that long since HDDs were doing 120MB/s sequential.

...but drives are twice as fast now.  The 2TB 980Pro is a bit over $200.  The highest rated drive with a price against it is $409 for another 4TB drive.  I will absolutely be giving drives priority again the next time I update.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I didn't answer your actual question, did I?  Yes, I would definitely want to uber fast 2TB drives rather than a single comparable 4TB drive.  Your MB will have lanes enough to read and write to both at the same time (that's why raid 0 are so fast)  so it makes sense to have OS and application running on one, and data and temp files on another.

[Conrad_C]

The simplest solution is one volume, which today is a solid state drive or SSD. Photoshop works fine on that, as long as there is enough unused space. If your photos are of a modest size, as long as the SSD inside your next computer consistently has at least 100GB of free space on it, Photoshop and Windows should have enough room for their temporary files (that are freed up when you exit Photoshop) and should work fine.

If you do advanced work with large photos, Photoshop might need more than 200GB of free space on the internal drive, for its temporary files.

10 or 20 years ago, it was more common to use multiple drives for Photoshop because drives back then were a lot slower and smaller. But today, SSDs are so fast that if you can afford a single SSD large enough to store files and leave enough free space for temporary files, one SSD is fine.

It’s also OK to use the internal drive for the system and Photoshop, and store the images on a separate SSD or hard drive.

[Awais_Jabbar5220]

If you’re mainly using Photoshop for personal projects and not dealing with super large files or heavy workloads, a single fast SSD (preferably an NVMe SSD) should be enough for smooth performance. However, having two drives can be beneficial—one for your system and programs (SSD) and another for storage (HDD or a second SSD). This setup helps keep your main drive from getting cluttered and can improve performance when handling large files. Since you’re looking for a hassle-free experience, I’d recommend at least 16GB of RAM, a solid-state drive (SSD), and a decent processor (like an Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7). That should keep Photoshop running smoothly without frustration!

[juliust9149185]

My sincere thanks to all that commented on my post as it was very helpful.