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Partitions & scratch disk

K

kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
1
If this is the wrong forum, my apologies but it's the closest I could find.

I'm a serious photographer and do my post processing in Capture NX2 (2.2.4). Sometimes, especially when saving files, it drags on interminably.

I have read that one way to speed up NX2 is to create a scratch disk. I'm currently upgrading my HD on my iMac G5 (Leopard) to a 1TB HD. Would it be wise (and efficient) to create a partition on the new HD and use it as a scratch disk?

I understand you can't use the boot drive as a scratch disk, but if I partition will I be able toname the new partition something other than Macintosh HD, thus permitting use of a scratch disk?
 
That might be possible, but it is best to use another physical HDD as a scratch disk, for instance a FW800 HDD would be quite good for this purpose, if your iMac has FW800.
 
spinnerlys said:
That might be possible, but it is best to use another physical HDD as a scratch disk, for instance a FW800 HDD would be quite good for this purpose, if your iMac has FW800.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I don't have FW but I can use the HD I'm taking out of my Mac once I format it and get an enclosure. Will a scratch disk work with a USB connection?
 
The only time you'll see a performance benefit of a scratch disk on a different partition is when you use a different physical disk. That is, if you only use a logical partition for a scratch disk, you're not gaining anything.
 
maflynn said:
The only time you'll see a performance benefit of a scratch disk on a different partition is when you use a different physical disk. That is, if you only use a logical partition for a scratch disk, you're not gaining anything.
Click to expand...

Great. That answers my question. Thanks. Is there any benefit to partitioning then?
 
A file system works best if it has a lot of free disk space to work with. By dividing your disk into partitions you limit this space. There's nothing to gain by partitioning, so I wouldn't do it.
 
andyone said:
A file system works best if it has a lot of free disk space to work with. By dividing your disk into partitions you limit this space. There's nothing to gain by partitioning, so I wouldn't do it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I defer to your expertise.
 
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