How big is your system partition?

Hey people,

I'm building some new pc's in the next few weeks and will be runnig W11 on them. Both will have 1TB M.2 ssd for the system.

There's going to be a lot of left over space and that will be fastest storage spaces on the system so that leftover is prime space for games with long load times.

So I'm asking, of those that have been using W11 for some time now, how much space is your system using?

I installed W10 on 10.2020, The OS and other programs are using 92GB of space ATM.

I'm thinking of making a 250GB System Partion and and creating a second volume with the rest of the space for my most demanding games. If I could safely cut that down to 150GB that may be enough space for one more game.

Notes:

I move all user folder I can to a seperate drive.
All games are installed on another drive.
Other programs, none of which are very big, still go in the regular locations on Drive C:
I move savegame folders to a seperate drive using SymLinks

This is my my layout .

I would leave system partition at 250 GB to allow for temporary files, system restore points etc. You can always squeeze it a bit later.

Microsoft recommends 64 GB or larger storage device, more storage space you have for Windows 11 better it's as for updates take storage space as well.

I have a 2TB M2 drive, 320GB is used for Windows, the other space is for games

I'm on a Notebook that came with a 128GB drive, using about half of it after couple of months [it was cheap but included Microsoft 365 for a year]. I don't put anything Windows on a separate drive, if that drive fails usually Windows won't run. A drive can be re-partitioned after install of Windows. And it's not only the Windows folder taking space but some others such a Program Files, Programs Files (x86), just to mention 2, there's others. Not knowing what programs will be installed besides games I'd go with 250GB on C: and would have about 600GB for a games partition [rough estimate, could be more].

I haven't used a main drive of any more than 250GB in any computer in the last decade or more. That's way more than adequate. No worries about lack of space.

Thanks for the replies.

@IanMosley Your C: drive is 80% empty.

@cereberus I want to squeeze it during setup and my current storage usage with win 10 is after 3 years of use.

@Berton IKR? My other PC has a 128GB C: drive and it's half empty. (But that one, still running home, had to have the OS reinstalled recently after a windows update)

My current Disk 4 will not be migrating to the new PC as it is one of the earliest NVMe SATA sdds and all (4) of my new slots are M.2.

Disk 4 will be replaced by the new 1TB M.2 SSD and the rest of the drives will be migrated. Disk 0 is a 2.5" SATA SSD and the rest are HDDs. I plan to eventually move 2 of the drives to a seperate media and file server using 4 6TB HDD in a raid1 config.

Note: I love how Microsoft tells us the EFI and Recovery partions on C: are empty

Query: I typed M with the $ after but it gets auto translated into Microsoft. Why is this?



Yes I have 18TB of storage, freakin' crazy! I remember how excited I was when I got my first 1GB HDD.

I dont have need for any more.

You are ising 92 GB and that could increase to say 120 GB over time. It is a good plan to leave approx 1/3rd for temporary files, restore points etc , so maybe you could get away with 180-200 GB. I would not go as low as 150 GB - you are not leaving a lot of headroom.

Remember, the less headroom, the more you reuse space, increasing overall wear and tear on a more limited space.

My 320GB Windows partition doesn't include my personal folders Music, Documents, Pictures, Videos, they're all stored on a separate physical drive, all except videos are synced with OneDrive.

First thing I always do with a clean install is move the library folders. If Windows falls on it's arse I don't lose anything. I just change the storage location and my stuff is back again.

Ah, famous "right partition layout"! Its a Holy Grail of PC building! :) I'm building my computers since nineties and "still haven't found what I'm looking for".
As for today: my system partition is 128 Gb and is mostly empty :) But boy, how quick partition images are made!
I try to keep my documents/files out of system partition for easy backups. Same with software: Steam or Epic must be reinstalled with system so it goes on C: but games libraries are on other partitions. Firefox? C: Small utilities like putty or everything? Other. You get the point.

PS.

System (C:) partition is only for Windows & programs/applications. I tend to leave around 50 GB free - just in case a major upgrade needs around 40 GB to work with. For everyday use - wouldn't be comfortable with System partition even at around 80% full. So yeah, 125 GB works for my needs (and the way i manage the system partition).

The only program I have installed on C: is Chrome. All others are on D:. Both C; and D: are on Disk 0. Full image with Macrium takes about 1:30.

Sqrly said:

Note: I love how Microsoft tells us the EFI and Recovery partions on C: are empty

Click to expand...

They are not on C:, just unlettered partitions on the same drive as the C: partition.

I've always been very frugal with my disk-space usage.

My Win 10 system partitions were a mere 40GB (typically around 19GB used when OS and all apps installed), with one system having just 30GB - since the 'system disk' was a 32GB mSATA stick.

I've just up upgrade all 4 of my systems to Win 11 23H2 and only the 30GB one gave me any issues, but was fine once I did a disk and DISM image cleanup

From what I can gather a Win 11 upgrade requires around 8GB of free space on the system disk, otherwise you'll get a warning message.

Wisewiz said:

The only program I have installed on C: is Chrome. All others are on D:. Both C; and D: are on Disk 0. Full image with Macrium takes about 1:30.

View attachment 89837

Click to expand...

Gee, 30GB used with only Chrome installed? A clean install of Win 11 take up around 17GB. You need to do a disk cleanup, my friend...

I keep the OS and my games on the C drive because I like it that way.
I just upgraded the OS drive to a 2TB and installed a 2TB storage drive.
I keep all my games (10) on the C drive along with programs.



I just came across a few videos that might be of relevance since you are building a new box.

My Main Rig System Partition is 170 GB & its not the 'C' drive.

Unless I'm missing something amongst all those drives in the Disk Management image the drive marked as Boot is the main drive.
Mine