I'm exploring Cachy OS and initially installed it on my second NVME drive, which gave great performance. However, I decided to wipe the drive because it became inaccessible from Windows after I installed Linux, leaving me with less space. Now, I've switched to using an old 500GB SATA SSD for Cachy, but it's pretty slow, especially for large file movements, and the overall system feels sluggish. After testing both btrfs and ext4 file systems on the SSD, they don't compare to the speed of the NVME. My question is whether I should partition my second NVME for Cachy while keeping the rest for Windows storage or if I should continue using the SATA SSD as it is. I'm worried that partitioning the NVME might affect performance, especially since getting a third NVME isn't an option right now due to rising prices.
2 Answers
Partitioning your NVME is a good solution, especially as long as your Windows drive is separate. Just a heads up to disable Fast Boot in Windows if you haven't already—it can mess things up if it's enabled. By doing this, your split NVME should still perform well, likely better than that slow SATA drive.
If you don’t have any important data, then going ahead with the partition seems fine. Just make sure you don’t have anything you can't back up. Installing Linux on its own dedicated disk is generally the best practice though; it helps avoid issues with dual-boot setups.
I've got nothing crucial on it, just some portable apps. I just want to know if partitioning the NVME will slow it down compared to running it on the full drive, and would it still outpace my old SATA SSD?
Got it, I keep Fast Boot off. So partitioning should keep it fast then? Even just using part of it, it should still be quicker than my old SATA?