I built this PC a while ago and now that I'm developing games, my 256GB Lexar SSD used as the C: drive is running out of space. Windows updates, NVIDIA drivers, and Visual Studio installations are failing because the drive is nearly full. My system has a Ryzen 5 3600, ASUS PRIME B450M-A motherboard, 32GB of RAM, and an RTX 2060 SUPER. Storage includes the 256GB Lexar SATA SSD as C:, a 2TB Seagate hard drive as D:, and a 2TB WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD as G:. The motherboard has only one M.2 slot, and it's already occupied by the SN850X. I'd like to stay under $500 before tax and shipping. I've been considering 4TB SATA SSDs such as the Team Group QX, Crucial BX500, or Team Group T-Force Vulcan Z, mainly because they use the same SATA connection as my current boot drive. Would replacing the C: drive with one of these be a good idea, or should I move Windows and my applications onto the much faster SN850X instead? If I do that, what's the easiest way to transfer or clone my existing Windows installation?
3 Answers
You can move Windows to the SN850X by cloning the entire existing C: drive with a disk-cloning tool, then changing the boot priority in the motherboard’s UEFI settings. Because the target drive already contains files, make a complete backup first and be very careful to select the correct source and destination; cloning can overwrite the destination. You may need to shrink or rearrange the existing partitions to make room for the cloned system partition. A clean Windows installation is often less complicated and avoids carrying years of accumulated junk, but you’ll need to reinstall programs and restore your files afterward.
Your SN850X is by far the fastest drive in the system, so it makes more sense for it to hold Windows, applications, and active development projects. A new 4TB SATA SSD would provide more capacity, but it would be noticeably slower and many current SATA models are budget-oriented with mediocre performance and endurance. Before buying anything, clean up the SN850X and move or delete old projects, installers, and game files. Keeping roughly 10–20% of an SSD free is also a good idea for performance and maintenance.
If you mainly want additional capacity, a 4TB SATA SSD will work with the existing SATA data and power cables and is a straightforward option. However, avoid choosing solely based on advertised sequential read/write speeds. Some very inexpensive drives use slower or less durable designs and can perform poorly during large sustained writes, which matters for compiling and handling game-development assets. A reputable midrange SATA SSD is preferable, even if it costs a little more or has less capacity.
The SN850X is mostly full of games and development files, but I can remove older projects and unused games. I probably should do that anyway before buying another drive.