Hi,
I am building my son a new Ryzen PC and he wants to use linux and Windows. I have a M.2 SSD at 2TB and a 1TB HDD. May I ask for help on the best way to setup a gaming PC, I would like to install Windows 10 on the HDD and Linux on the 2TB SSD. Correct?
He can switch between the two in the bios and each seperate OS should boot from there, will this be a problem with his 5700XT Sapphire Nitro+? or Is it best to install a dual boot system? Thanks so very much!?
He will primarily be gaming and working with apps in Linux, Steam, music, office, etc. That is the reason for using the 2TB SSD as the main Linux OS drive. Occassionaly, he will use Windows for things and may game from that OS as well.
why not partition a section of the 2tb ssd for windows?
I want to keep Windows and Linux seperate, if possible, and he is interested in using most of the full 2TB SSD for Linux.
they would be separate. if you partition half the drive or 120gb of it for windows, it would make it a lot snappier. he could use it in a vm or just boot to the other partition from the bios. if you want it on spinning rust then proceed with your plans. just suggest using an ssd for the os because a HDD is extremely painful for an os, IMO.
I (and anyone here I think) would recommend to put both operating systems on the SSD and use the HDD for non speed essential files like movies and music. Also, a dual boot install should be easy as long as Windows is installed first.
So did I understand correctly that games will primarily be played on Linux? Is Windows there for any specific application that won’t run (well) under Linux?
yes, he uses a lot of Abelton and Fruity Loops and other music specific software to create . He doesnt like the Linux versions of these programs.
I really wish 4-6 TB SSD were more affordable, and I wouldnt be concerned, and a dual boot would really be no big deal. I havent used Windows for over a year, as I use Linux for almost everything and do a bit with a Mac, so I may be one of those guys, that feels Windows is likely to cause a problem with a Linux partition, on the same drive or even a different one, but have nothing to back this up with, I just view it as a simpliar solution to have each on a different drive, especially as he rarely uses windows except to make a musical track from time to time, but mostly gaming on steam , but perhaps i am mistaken that each can just exist on a seperate drive.
I understand your feeling about how Windows can be very inconsiderate to other operating systems but personally I never had troubles when installing Linux last. Minor thing when using a shared partition is to disable quick startup on windows as it will render it unusable to Linux.
Would Wine be an option for these applications?
refurbished 4tb drives are on Newegg for 50-60 bucks.
I meant 4-8 tb SSD’s, my apologies
So, is it possible to install Windows on a seperate SSD say 2tb and Linux on a seperate SSD 2tb, and just use the Western Digital HDD as a storage drive> I bought a MSI Unify motherboard, so could I just install each operating system on it’s own SSD, or is there some bios or other issue with this type of install?
Or more mechanically …
Instead of changing the boot device, physically move the disk.
The question is what is more convenient and practical and whether the Windows disk should be separated from linux or if they should be able to see each other. If the son has less experience and is worried that he can break one of the installations or partitions on the other disk, then physical separation would be better. But it is less convenient and will of course prevent access to files on the second disk if needed.
PS
Buy a second small SSD so that both systems are fast and the HDD stays for big data.
yeah, if you didn’t want to spend an extra 200 bucks you could just partition the drive in half.
Yes, the easiest way would be for the HDD to be formatted to NTFS so it can be shared. Technically EXT browsers for Windows exist but I wouldn’t bother. Afaik NTFS support is built into Linux by default nowadays? And yes the operating systems could be on different drives but I really think both OS’s on a single drive shouldn’t bring any issue, ordinarily.
thanks so much for the information and I will just order another ssd and install windows on its own ssd and linux on its own ssd, but does it matter which m.2 slot they are in?
I have a similar setup, 2 SSDs, one with Fedora and the other with Windows 10. I also have a couple HDDs but only use them from Linux.
What I would suggest it to make the Linux SSD the first boot device and install the GRUB boot loader on it. When you boot into Linux after install run os-prober which should detect the Windows 10 install and add it to the GRUB boot menu.
The next time you boot it will boot the Linux SSD but you will have an option to boot into Windows 10 in the GRUB menu so there will be no need to switch boot disks via the BIOS.
That’s pretty much how I have things setup, oh and in my Windows 10 install I have my Linux disks set as offline so it doesn’t get any ideas.
now this is what I am talking about, this sounds like the perfect tips for what I am wanting to do. You the best! Thank you so much!
did you install linux first, and then install Windows 10?
I would avoid putting linux and windows on the same drive and I would also avoid putting 10 on an HDD.
Put them both on separate SSDs and use the bios to select which to boot. This is the way that results in the least headaches.