# OS partition size?



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

I know there is no right size and it would be like asking "how much should I charge", so I am asking only for opinions, personal preference, or what you got.

My new computer arrived Saturday. Dell XPS 8700 with 12 gb Ram and 1T HDD (will prolly put another 1T in it). Win 8.1

I've always been a fan of having a separate partition for the OS and program files in case something goes kaputski. Separate partition(s) for data, downloads, etc.

This older box has Win 7 and the OS partition is 124 Gb. I've used 72.4 since I installed win 7 last year. Many of my proggies are hefty. No games, but picture editing, Dragon, and a few other heavyweights. 

I also plan to upgrade to Win 10 when they make it available.

Any suggestions or recommendations from how you've partitioned yours?

At the moment, I'm thinking 150 gb should be comfortably enough - twice what I'm using now. 

(gee, remember when a new computer that came with 20 gig HD was HUGE??)


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

I like having around 500 gb for my os drive. If you are planning on adding another drive now would be the time. You can do a software raid and have some redundancy in case one goes bad you can replace it and rebuild the raid. 

This is three drives in a raid 0 set up, they are several years old and I did raid 0 for the performance. If I were replacing them today I would probably buy an SSD and put my os on that and set up the storage drives in raid 1.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

I use a smaller size for the op sys, I have 2t's and have 25 gigs for op sys, rest is storage. 2 drives 1 with [partition].


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

I build alot of high end gaming Rigs for people. I always tell them just buy a SSD for your OS. Right now i have 4 1TB HDD in my pc, as well as 120GB SSD for my OS. As a comparison my pc starts and fully loads from being off in 13.2 seconds. I have a program that times it hehe.

If you ever need any help in the world of PC's feel free to pm me.

Edit: Never buy a premade PC. You can custom order all your parts and get a shop to put it together for you for cheaper and you will have more power. Even less if u want to build it your self


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## DrakeB (Jun 6, 2011)

+1 on the buy an SSD opinion. The speed is nice, and they're finally in a decent place as far as longevity goes. I'd just get a 120-150 GB range one, the prices have gone down a fair bit. Then you don't have to worry about partitions (for that, at least) either.

Partitions annoy me. This coming from someone stupid enough to triple boot Windows/OS X/Ubuntu for a while.

I agree about custom purchasing/building, though I understand why it can be impractical for some people. Trusting your stuff to a little PC chop shop can be stressful. I build all my own, and while it's not terribly difficult if you're good at following, it is quite possible to brick a lot of expensive components by accident.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Woodford said:


> +1 on the buy an SSD opinion. The speed is nice, and they're finally in a decent place as far as longevity goes. I'd just get a 120-150 GB range one, the prices have gone down a fair bit. Then you don't have to worry about partitions (for that, at least) either.
> 
> Partitions annoy me. This coming from someone stupid enough to triple boot Windows/OS X/Ubuntu for a while.
> 
> I agree about custom purchasing/building, though I understand why it can be impractical for some people. Trusting your stuff to a little PC chop shop can be stressful. I build all my own, and while it's not terribly difficult if you're good at following, it is quite possible to brick a lot of expensive components by accident.


Yah, I probably SHOULD buy an SSD, I'll have to do more research about reliability, cost, etc.

And I would love to have the nerve, knowledge, and confidence to build my own, but these days so much depends on the mother board and processor variations. For the money, it always appears that for me buying a pre-built assures I won't end up with an expensive boat anchor. 

Hell, the other month when my graphics card schit the bed, it took me way too long just finding out if my PCI-e slot was 1, 2, 3 or what. And as much as all the cards say they are backward compatible, I read too much that they were not ALL backward compatible. There is too much fine tuning and exact matching for me to successfully build my own.


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## DrakeB (Jun 6, 2011)

daArch said:


> Yah, I probably SHOULD buy an SSD, I'll have to do more research about reliability, cost, etc.
> 
> And I would love to have the nerve, knowledge, and confidence to build my own, but these days so much depends on the mother board and processor variations. For the money, it always appears that for me buying a pre-built assures I won't end up with an expensive boat anchor.
> 
> Hell, the other month when my graphics card schit the bed, it took me way too long just finding out if my PCI-e slot was 1, 2, 3 or what. And as much as all the cards say they are backward compatible, I read too much that they were not ALL backward compatible. There is too much fine tuning and exact matching for me to successfully build my own.


There is a fair bit of research required, especially if you want to upgrade rather than buy new. Luckily, most of it is more about intelligence than foreknowledge; I'm sure you'd be fine in the end. There's a lot of useful guides out there to get you started. Either way, much like the OS question, it's all about finding something that works for you.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

here ill lay some team work on you. Tell me your budget for your pc. Ill build you 1 online send you a link so you have a rough idea of want you will get and the cost. Free to do do it all the time for people. Also do you require a GPU (graphics card) not just for gaming but to plug your pc into your tv. i do this with my 50 inch tv to look at blue prints i price. Im on my tv right now lol


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

AlphaWolf said:


> here ill lay some team work on you. Tell me your budget for your pc. Ill build you 1 online send you a link so you have a rough idea of want you will get and the cost. Free to do do it all the time for people. Also do you require a GPU (graphics card) not just for gaming but to plug your pc into your tv. i do this with my 50 inch tv to look at blue prints i price. Im on my tv right now lol


Thanks Alpha. But where were you two - three months ago ??? Your proposal WAS just what I was hoping for. Someone to tell me WHAT to buy. But I've bought a Dell XPS 8700 with as much speed, memory, & storage as I will need - for a couple of years . 

The graphics card in the old Inspiron 531 was to run dual monitors. No gaming, just extended display. The new 8700 has a dual monitor capable card, so the Inspiron will become my Linux box. 

Although, I may want to use it for watching mkv, mp4, avi, etc on the TV while the monitor is in use. The PCIe x16 slot is v1. The origin card was NVIDA 8300 GS 128 mb . It had a vga, & a DVI outs. (and I think S-vid). But I'm thinking of just getting an inexpensive vga splitter/amp. The monitor and TV only need to be clones.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Android TV boxes are becoming pretty popular little devices for streaming stuff off the interweb and from the drives on your PC. We picked up one this year and so far we love the bloody thing. Since we got ours, we've cancelled cable TV and likely will never go back.


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## DrakeB (Jun 6, 2011)

I cancelled my TV service and didn't have it for three years. I never missed it; my woman did. So now we have cable again. Shame.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

IMO Android boxes and all of those types of things are useless. If you plug in an external hard drive to watch movies or TV over half the files they wont read. Im an avid movie and series watcher. If you want to watch all those formats i would just download the proper media player and codec package. Also buy a low end graphics card. This allows you to run an HDMI cable from your PC to your TV. SO say your on the PC talking to us on the forums and your GF/Wife wants to watch Netflix or some movies or series you downloaded just drag them over to the TV and click play. She is now good to go.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

I dunno, the one we got (Matricom Gbox Q) plays every single file we've thrown at it. Including every file type Bill mentioned. Via streaming however, I haven't downloaded a single file since about a week after we got it.

We can pretty much watch every single TV show that's ever been on TV and listen to pretty much any music you can think of.

We used to run a WDTV live box for streaming stuff from my computer, but that hasn't even been turned on since we got the android box.

Wife still likes Netflix for the fact that it recommends shows based on your viewing habits.


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

Wildbill7145 said:


> I dunno, the one we got (Matricom Gbox Q) plays every single file we've thrown at it. Including every file type Bill mentioned. Via streaming however, I haven't downloaded a single file since about a week after we got it.
> 
> We can pretty much watch every single TV show that's ever been on TV and listen to pretty much any music you can think of.
> 
> ...


I've been following Gbox on FaceBook, and doing a bit of research here and there but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Do you like it, love it, or is just okay? 

We're running Netflix and showbox right now


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

It will stream any site loaded on the unit. Such as Netflix and so on with out a problem. But i like to download my movies and series. This allows me to get actual 1080P format. Netflix never gives true 1080p. I would be worried if i downloaded a 1080p move and copied it to a USB disk, plugged it in to your unit it would not play properly. Also i see your unit cost 99.99 roughly. You can buy a GPU (video card) for less that than and have your TV act as its own independent monitor for that. Not just a clone of your computer screen. But have anything you want on your t and any thing you want on your monitor simultaneously.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

journeymanPainter said:


> I've been following Gbox on FaceBook, and doing a bit of research here and there but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Do you like it, love it, or is just okay?
> 
> We're running Netflix and showbox right now


Gonna have to say love it. Only downside was the remote that comes with it. Complete garbage. Got a Logitech K400 wireless keyboard and we're all good.

Got the Genesis addon and that's pretty much all we use other than netflix. I've seriously tried to throw TV shows at this thing I was absolutely sure I'd never find and boom. There they are. It's borderline silly. You can watch movies that are still in theaters.

Got the CBC addon so I can hear Peter Mansbridge's soothing voice every night and stay in touch with what's going on in the world.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

Read of on the file format it reads. It pretty much reads everything actually. Or pretty close to it. If your not very computer smart this would be an amazing option. You can even plug in a external HDD for movies you downloaded.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

Here is the Kodi application like the one on the box he uses.
http://kodi.tv/download/ make sure u download the windows version
here is the genisis app
http://addons.tvaddons.ag/show/plugin.video.genesis/

once u download the Genesis app it will be a zip file. Load up your Kodi program and find addons. Install from Zip file. Click Genesis app. I now have the exact same thing on my computer as his box for free. Using it now works perfectly. Try it out give you an idea if its worth you buying the box. I know im a computer nerd lol.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

AlphaWolf said:


> Read of on the file format it reads. It pretty much reads everything actually. Or pretty close to it. If your not very computer smart this would be an amazing option. You can even plug in a external HDD for movies you downloaded.


That's pretty much the reason we got it. I was getting sick of downloading stuff. I also heard from a few guys I know who dl stuff that they were starting to get emails from their internet service providers that they were aware these guys were downloading movies and actually specified what was being dl'd. Some new law got passed here in Canada in January that's effectively closing in on downloaders. My wife started to get a little concerned about this.

It's incredibly easy to use as well. My wife who isn't the most technically inclined person when it comes to this stuff picked up on how to use it right off the bat.

Comes preinstalled with XMBC/KODI, Netflix, MP3streamer. You download and isntall addons and you're good to go.

I know guys I play online poker with who are watching UFC fights live that are usually only broadcast in payperview. Hockey as well.

I had to tweak it a bit for buffering and cache size to watch HD in 720p and 1080, but so far it's worked out really well.

I'd say it's the best little tech gadget I've ever bought. Already paid for itself many times over not paying for cable.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

AlphaWolf said:


> Here is the Kodi application like the one on the box he uses.
> http://kodi.tv/download/ make sure u download the windows version
> here is the genisis app
> http://addons.tvaddons.ag/show/plugin.video.genesis/
> ...


Yeah, I installed it on my pc first to fool around with it and try new addons, etc. We got the box as I would rather my wife not muddle about on my computer and I come home to the blue screen of death or something.

I honestly have no idea how these things are legal, but I did a fair bit of googling the issue. Couldn't find one reference confirming there was a legal issue.

Just did a search on Genesis for Jurrasic World. Took a few seconds to find it and then it started playing. In 480p though. I'm sure the HD version will be available shortly. It was released in theaters in North America yesterday.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

AL Genesis does is take you to a site like Xfilms. I use this site my self. And reads there movie list and gives it to you. Just makes it easier as you dont need any scripts installed like you do on a pc, All preloaded in the program so you can just click and play really.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Just in case anyone else on here is using KODI and the Genesis addon, the developer is no longer supporting the addon so any glitches will not be fixes. They have however created a new addon called Exodus which appears slightly faster and has a few new features. Getting good reviews.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

Wildbill7145 said:


> Just in case anyone else on here is using KODI and the Genesis addon, the developer is no longer supporting the addon so any glitches will not be fixes. They have however created a new addon called Exodus which appears slightly faster and has a few new features. Getting good reviews.


I primarily use 1channel and Phoenix, never really cared for the layout of Genesis. I'll give the new one a try. Thanks for the heads up. 

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Rbriggs82 said:


> I primarily use 1channel and Phoenix, never really cared for the layout of Genesis. I'll give the new one a try. Thanks for the heads up.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk


I think I tried Phoenix when I first got the android box and couldn't find much with it for some reason. I tried 1channel too, but when I found Genesis it didn't seem like I needed anything else. I tried looking for really obscure stuff to get it to fail, but it kept finding it.

I'd never actually seen the very first episode of the Beverly Hillbillies before. Wow that was done a long time ago.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

Phoenix has a more HD stuff than genesis or 1channel but it doesn't update as fast, so you're not going to get shows the next day. 

I just tried the new Exodus and I like it. I'm having trouble adding show to a favorite list like I can with 1channel but I'll figure it out eventually.


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