I have a 200gb partition for my OS and programs, and that's only just scraping by for me. That's 20gb for Windows 7, 60gb for all of my programs, and 100gb for the rest somewhere.
Just ran windirstat.
Windows folder is 31.4gb
User folder is 19.8gb (Outlook doesn't help there)
Programs are only 13.7gb and 4.3gb (64 v. 32 bit folders)
Not sure why $Windows.~BT has 5.7gb because I did a fresh Win 7 Pro install. I never do the *upgrade* path. XP VM?
And lots of other stuff with less storage per folder location, but adds up.
I used to have quite a few more programs, but the Win7 eating up my 120gb faster than expected had me start to get a bit more conservative with the programs.
Totally agree with the CPU/RAM thing. The book I read years ago was talking about comparing RAM access to HDD access as like light speed v. walking. The more you can keep in RAM, the better. Seems obvious, but sometimes it has to be put in terms like that to really hit home.
I have 16gb right now. Not sure going to 32gb is necessary (I'm not a multimedia stud like yourself)
That is with full CS3/CS6 and my 3D programs, which take up a lot.
That's something I wish I spent more time at in my youth (when time was more plentiful). But then again, I seem to have more of a talent for audio oriented art than video/graphic oriented art. I took a few art and drafting classes (do they even have those using actual paper any longer?), so I'm not awful. But on a professional level, calling my dabblings hack would not be an insult to me. I used to have CS2, but I went Acrobat and GIMP when I had to re-prioritize. When you are young, you look at things as "I know nothing about that, but I'm gonna challenge myself and learn it." Once your reach middle age, you look at things like "I might be able to do that, but I have to be more selective with my time now." What is old old age gonna be like? "I could do that, if I don't die first. Wait. What was I thinking about doing? 4 pm? It's dinner time!!! Buffet, here I come."
I assume that CAD program is a few GB's. Those big programs add up quickly if you've got a few to install.
It is. Looking forward to putting it back on the SSD (or OS/App drive as I call it).
I'm starting to notice it now that I'm working on making games and doing more realtime graphics.
My mind is blown when I think about what type of programming must go into today's top games. Not like the old days of Zork where a couple If/Then and variable storage lines will do it.