this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Best partitioning scheme for dual boot ? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by Written2323@lemmy.ml to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.ml
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Hello ! I am actually running a dual boot with Windows and Arch. I have 5 disks (3 HDD and 2 nvme SSD) with this partitioning. These are the drives : HDDs :

  • WD Blue 2 TB hdd (5400 RPM)
  • WD Blue 1TB hdd (7200 RPM)
  • Seagate Barracuda 2TB hdd (7200 RPM) SSDs :
  • Samsung 870 evo 512GB
  • Kingston A1000 256GB

And this is the partition scheme that I used so far

  • Windows
    • 512 GB SSD => NTFS for the OS
    • 2 TB HDD (Seagate one) => NTFS for games
    • 1TB out of the other 2 TB (Wd blue) drive (Backups) NTFS
  • Linux
    • 256 GB SSD => ext4 for the OS
    • 1 TB HDD => ext4 for data and games
    • 1TB out of the other 2 TB drive (Backups) ext4

Some problems that I encounter are disk space problems on the Linux SSD because sometimesvI want to install demanding games on it.

Do you have any advice on what I can do to make this scheme better?

Thank you in advance.

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[–] reddthat@reddthat.com 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

The only thing I would change is your backup drive. Linux can write to NTFS without issues. You'd be better off with 2 TB instead of 2x1TB.

I would get rid of all the HDDs for games as they are too slow. Verifying files under steam or other clients is so slow compared to SSDs. (If you can afford it of course, otherwise it's fine)

There isn't anything else wrong per-se. Except for still having windows installed 🀣. Proton (wine) via steam or lutris, solves 99% of all issues with running games on linux. (except for Anti-Cheat games like valorant).

[–] Zeth0s@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ntfs is a notoriously bad file system. If he has the physical space (which he has), better to use a better file system. Ext4 might be "old" but it's a much better FS. Backup space is overblown imho

[–] Written2323@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I had a lot of problems with proton and NTFS drives recently (slowness and games that would not launch)

[–] Chewy7324@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, it's recommended against using proton with NTFS. It's known to cause issues.

[–] Written2323@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I mean you are right about proton working for a lot of games. The problem is I have a VR headset, its a meta quest 2 and I tried ALVR but it wasn't a very stable and smooth experience for me :/

[–] Tibert@jlai.lu 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I can partially confirm this.

The hdd is too slow for recent games. Tho older games do work fine on it.

Recent games, mostly AAA ones have a lof of texture streaming with hevy textures. So they wouldn't be able to load them in time and either generate lag or missing textures.

Older games, even AAA, designed for ps4/xbox one generation don't seem to need as much drive speed.

For file verification, maybe, tho it wouldn't bother me much if I didn't have space on an nvme drive.

[–] CarlosCheddar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your Windows and Linux partition can share drives for games if you want to save space. You may run into permission issues sometimes but they’re easy to solve.

The Linux partition can even load games from Windows OS partition.

[–] lemba@social.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@CarlosCheddar @Written2323 Important, if you share partitions with win und linux: disable fast boot on Windows or else Linux won't be able to access that partition.

[–] tobbue@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

This worked for me until recently. Since a windows update my drive has been completely locked despite disabled fast boot. I am currently struggling to find solutions to unlock it again but nothing works...

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

I’d probably give Windows and Linux half that 256GB drive each, format the rest as NTFS and use them as data drives for both.

[–] Zeth0s@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

256 GB for OS only is huge for linux.

50 gb should be enough, unless you have very peculiar needs. You save 200gb SSD for demanding games that require fast I/O

1TB for backup is pretty big as well. Do you really need to mirror 1:1 your games' folders? Can you not backup only save files?

Windows, I cannot judge. I don't use it outside work

[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

About to run the same setup, please message me if you find out the best solution! Also wanted to comment to bump you up a bit :)