Getting an SSD (probably Crucial M4), need some "How many GB's?" advice.

Hi Guys,

I'm looking at a getting a Crucial M4 for my sig rig. I've heard great things about these drives, namely about their reliability (which as a student, really interests me...).

Quick questions though...

How big an SSD shall I get?

I've been looking at 120GB/128GB sized drives. I suspect these will offer me more capacity than I need at the moment, but also give me the growth room that I might need in the future.

I'll basically be putting all of my C: Drive on the SSD. Currently, by going to "computer", right clicking on the drive and selecting properties, I get a size of 67.3GB's.
If I open the drive and press CTRL+A and then right click, properties, etc, it gives me a size usage of 42.4GB (42.7GB on the disc).

Presumably believing the higher number is the way to go here... But what makes up the 20+GB difference? I'd really like to know!

On the SSD, I'll end up having Windows, Program Files, Program Data, Users, etc folders.

All my games are installed on a separate drive. Steam games are also on this drive. My Documents, music, video's, etc are also all on a separate drive. I really need a another drive for storage as my video's folder is filling up quickly. I've been umming and ahhhing about an SSD for ages, and freeing up my current 250GB Windows Partition would give me the space I need, but also let me get the SSD I've wanted!

I've read Seans SSD guides, and will use them a fair bit as they seem pretty helpful.

Thanks for your help (in advance!).

Jdean123

Thanks for the help.

If I do a fresh windows install, presumably I'll lose the games that I've installed on other drives, E.g. Windows won't recognise them? Is there any way around this at all? I'd rather not have to re-download my steam games...Is there a way I can copy the old registry keys to the new install?