Any advantage having the Windows partition on the internal SSD of nMP for gaming?

[Luba]

I rather have my Bootcamp volume on an external TB SSD drive. Currently, I have it one of my HDD inside my 2009 Mac Pro. I also installed Windows 8 directly onto a volume inside that HDD. So it's strange why we can't install Windows 8 directly to a TB external drive in the nMP. It has to be installed directly onto the internal SSD of the nMP, then cloned over to a TB external drive, if I want Bootcamp on an external TB SSD.

Instead of cloning it over, maybe I'll just leave the Bootcamp volume on the internal SSD of the nMP. Is there any advantage having the Windows partition on the internal SSD of nMP for gaming?

 

[sboerup]

The advantage will be 1gb/s read/write speeds on the internal, which you will not get with an external via USB3.

 

[Luba]

I am going to put my old Intel SSD (X-M40?) in a TB enclosure and plug it into TB2 ports. What read/write speeds would I get in that case?

The advantage will be 1gb/s read/write speeds on the internal, which you will not get with an external via USB3.

 

[motegi]

What read/write speeds would I get in that case?

The read/write speed of your drive. TB2 (2560 MB/s) won't bottleneck SSD/Flash DAS (In RAID0 ~1400 MB/s) for a while.. the silicon is still super slow (in comparison)

For example, I got this for my Windows (gaming) install.

http://www.lacie.com/au/products/product.htm?id=10599

380 MB/s via Thunderbolt. Good enough for games.

 

[ytoyoda]

I connected my old Intel SSD, SSDSA2 M080 through Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable-Thunderbolt-Adapter-STAE128/dp/B009HQCARY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389587816&sr=8-2&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt

I get 250 MByte/s read and 80 MByte/s write by Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test. (Connected to MBA. I am still waiting my nMP.. )
This SSD only has SATA 2.0 3Gbit interface, so max read speed is like this. If we use newer SSD with SATA 3.0, I think, we get about 500 Mbyte/s read speed.

 

[antonis]

The advantage will be 1gb/s read/write speeds on the internal, which you will not get with an external via USB3.

IIRC it is not possible to boot windows from an external USB3, anyway. The only option is an external TB drive, which can achieve decent speeds for gaming needs (and save lots of the valuable internal SSD space).

 

[Bones13]

IIRC it is not possible to boot windows from an external USB3, anyway. The only option is an external TB drive, which can achieve decent speeds for gaming needs (and save lots of the valuable internal SSD space).

I squeeze OSX and Win8 on a 256 gig drive on my laptop, and it works out well enough with the SuperDrive replaced with the original 750 gig HD as data and music drive.

On my oMP 3,1, I have 2 older 120 gig SSDs with an operating system each, and old 500 gig HD for TM, and another for music/data.

I plan, like many others here to run OSX on the internal SSD, Win8 on the external LaCie Rugged TB 256 gig drive. Data will be local on the 4tb LaCie Blade Runner USB3.0 drive, and a small home NAS.

Got a USB3.0 hub, and the drives. Just need the nMP, but then it's still January...

 

[antonis]

I squeeze OSX and Win8 on a 256 gig drive on my laptop, and it works out well enough with the SuperDrive replaced with the original 750 gig HD as data and music drive.

On my oMP 3,1, I have 2 older 120 gig SSDs with an operating system each, and old 500 gig HD for TM, and another for music/data.

I plan, like many others here to run OSX on the internal SSD, Win8 on the external LaCie Rugged TB 256 gig drive. Data will be local on the 4tb LaCie Blade Runner USB3.0 drive, and a small home NAS.

Got a USB3.0 hub, and the drives. Just need the nMP, but then it's still January...

That would be my ideal setup too. Wasting internal space for booting Windows for gaming is just a shame. Now we only need a few more (and preferably cheaper) external TB options.

 

[nathan43082]

Instead of cloning it over, maybe I'll just leave the Bootcamp volume on the internal SSD of the nMP. Is there any advantage having the Windows partition on the internal SSD of nMP for gaming?

I briefly entertained the idea of moving the internal Bootcamp volume to an external Thunderbolt-accessed partition, but the fact that I ordered the 1TB version, along with its wicked speed, have me convinced that putting it there will be better in the long run. Plus, I do not currently own an external Thunderbolt drive and don't plan on buying one until I have to. USB 3.0 drive cases will work for now with my existing formerly-internal drives.

 

[Luba]

We can boot from an external TB drive, but we can't install install Windows to it?? Is Microsoft preventing us from installing Windows directly to an external TB drive?

Btw, is WinClone a program that comes with Windows 8?

IIRC it is not possible to boot windows from an external USB3, anyway. The only option is an external TB drive, which can achieve decent speeds for gaming needs (and save lots of the valuable internal SSD space).

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Just making sure I can do this: I could partition out 50GB for Windows on the internal SSD, then store my Windows games and app's on a USB3 storage device or TB external device, as long as it is formatted to NFTS or exFAT?

Would there be any performance hit if I did that in gaming, or is it better to have Windows and the games on the internal SSD?

 

[Bones13]

internal SSD has twice the speed of the external thunderbolt. Obviously, Windows will run faster on the internal, wickedly fast SSD. I ordered the base Hax, just upgrading the video. I figure that the memory, and SSD can be upgraded over time. I game less and less, and a couple of my legacy RPGs run on the Mac, being ported with Wine. I hope to game casually with them on OSX, but be able to bootcamp for better graphics etc. when desired.

Time will tell if I ever get the big SSD, I would probable upgrade the memory of my machine first one day. Once the memory come off the bleeding edge, it should be cheaper to get 64gig.

I am not a computer professional, but use photoshop/lightroom, handbrake, and some simple video editing as I digitize my remaining VCR tapes.

 

[wildmac]

We can boot from an external TB drive, but we can't install install Windows to it?? Is Microsoft preventing us from installing Windows directly to an external TB drive?

I believe many here have done just that. Check the other threads.

 

[antonis]

We can boot from an external TB drive, but we can't install install Windows to it?? Is Microsoft preventing us from installing Windows directly to an external TB drive?

Btw, is WinClone a program that comes with Windows 8?



----------

Just making sure I can do this: I could partition out 50GB for Windows on the internal SSD, then store my Windows games and app's on a USB3 storage device or TB external device, as long as it is formatted to NFTS or exFAT?

Would there be any performance hit if I did that in gaming, or is it better to have Windows and the games on the internal SSD?

I believe the Windows installer will recognize a TB external drive without bootcamp as well, but creating a bootcamp might give a more smooth route since you'll be able to install all the drivers automatically and make sure you will clone a fully working installation.

On the other hand, though, bootcamp drivers can be downloaded and installed manually.

 

[ytoyoda]

We can boot from an external TB drive, but we can't install install Windows to it?? Is Microsoft preventing us from installing Windows directly to an external TB drive?

Btw, is WinClone a program that comes with Windows 8?

The following thread is a good discussion of how to install windows on external drives. It is not Microsoft who preventing installing windows directly to an external drive, it is Boot Camp Assistant software of OS X.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18591258#post18591258
Please read #22 by Lumpydog. It is a good summary of the procedure.

Btw, WinClone is a program run on OS X, and you need to purchase.
http://twocanoes.com/winclone