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160GB @ 5400rpm? or 200GB @ 4200rpm? or 160GB @ 7200rpm?

H

hohohong

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
😕 Dilemma! Which should i choose? I don't transfer large files like video, however, I do upload photos from SD card,... so which is better for me (as the price difference is not that significant) if pricing is disregarded:

160GB @ 5400rpm?
200GB @ 4200rpm? (USD$90 more)
160GB @ 7200rpm? (USD$135 more)

Please let me know ASAP as I will be ordering in less than 10 hours!
 
Western Digital Scorpion 5400rpm 250GB HD for MBP

hohohong said:
😕 Dilemma! Which should i choose? I don't transfer large files like video, however, I do upload photos from SD card,... so which is better for me (as the price difference is not that significant) if pricing is disregarded:

160GB @ 5400rpm?
250GB @ 4200rpm? (USD$90 more)
160GB @ 7200rpm? (USD$135 more)

Please let me know ASAP as I will be ordering in less than 10 hours!
Click to expand...
None of the above. By stock and get the Western Digital Scorpion 5400rpm 250 drive from OWC for $299.
 
Multimedia said:
None of the above. By stock and get the Western Digital Scorpion 5400rpm 250 drive from OWC for $299.
Click to expand...

But I thought you can't change the hard drive? Isn't it built into the laptop? Don't you have to disassemble the laptop to reach the hard drive and void the warranty?
 
hohohong said:
But I thought you can't change the hard drive? Isn't it built into the laptop? Don't you have to disassemble the laptop to reach the hard drive and void the warranty?
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In MBPs, the hard drive isn't a user replaceable part - although people do replace it themselves, doing so will void the warranty, you can pay an Apple-certified engineer to do this for you.

In answer to your orginal question, there's a few decent links discussing about which speed drive to go for - so take a look at those. Also, barefeats.com tested out different drives - again take a look.

If money isn't a problem, I would go for the 7200 myself. If you need maximum storage, go for the 200GB.
 
I'm now using 60GB 5400rpm,.... so if I go for 200GB (4200rpm) option, will i notice the difference in speed? I do download movies sometimes (max 1.5 Mbps ADSL). Will smaller rpm affect the performance?
 
Igantius said:
In MBPs, the hard drive isn't a user replaceable part - although people do replace it themselves, doing so will void the warranty, you can pay an Apple-certified engineer to do this for you.
Click to expand...

any idea how much this costs? i dont wanna void the warranty but im not sure if 160gb is gonna be enough
 
The hard drive speed does not directly affect the performance of most applications. Where you would see performance improve is when you load data from the drive into the application. If you want to improve the performance of most applications, it depends on the amount of RAM you have. If you are going to be loading many documents, or constantly selecting 'open' from the menu, you would do well with a faster hard drive. If you are only going to be working on one application for hours, the hard drive speed will be negligible. If you want a large hard drive, go with the 200 GB. If you want speed, go with a 7200 RPM drive. If you need both, the 250 GB 5400 RPM drive from OWC would be the best balance of each.
 
The cost of a certified technician upgrading the drive can be quite steep: about $130 - $150 @ CompUSA. They may advertise HD upgrades at less than $50, but Apple laptops are difficult to take apart. If you can find upgrade options at less than $130, take it. Make sure you have the new HD before you get the upgrade, or they will charge you a huge price for a new hard drive. You can expect a successful upgrade with no voiding of the warranty with Apple certified technicians, but anyone else would not be advisable.
The totals would be about:
$259 for 160 GB@5200RPM
$315 for 200GB@4200
$430 for 250GB@5400RPM.
You can also sell your old drive on ebay or Amazon for about $50 and calculate that into your costs. The best value option I would choose is to buy a 250GB external HD for about $110.
 
No idea about the cost of hiring someone else, but it's but neatly answered I see!

dmaxdmax said:
So what kind of apps do need a faster hard drive? I assume if I'm doing iMovie (+ FCE?) I'll be using an external scratch drive.
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The faster hard drive comes into its own during sustained reading/writing - such as would happen during audio and video editing.

Ideally, you should be using another drive as a scratch disk for video editing.

Hopefully, this isn't on too much of a tangent (but if it is, hey, it's a fourm after all), but Apple has stated that the 4200rpm drives that ship in its machines are suitable for use with FCP.
 
It's 250GB Not 200GB. Video On Web Shows How Easy An Installation It Is.

hohohong said:
I'm now using 60GB 5400rpm,.... so if I go for 200GB (4200rpm) option, will i notice the difference in speed? I do download movies sometimes (max 1.5 Mbps ADSL). Will smaller rpm affect the performance?
Click to expand...
I noticed you keep writing 200GB and that is not the option Apple offers. They offer a 4200rpm 250GB drive. Getting the Western Digital Scorpio 250GB SATA 1.5Gb/s 5400RPM 8MB Cache HD guarantees maximum speed performance in that size drive which is not available @7200rpm.

Also, there is a video on the web at OWC and elsewhere showing how easy it is to install any HD upgrade to a MBP. I'm not sure the warranty if voided if you do it yourself. Can anyone explain why that would be the case? Isn't upgrading the HD in the MBP similar to adding RAM yourself which will not void the warranty?
 
Upgrading the HD in the MBP requires opening the outer casing and exposing the motherboard. This WILL void the warranty. Because the logic board is exposed, the risk of damage is HIGH. I would not risk doing that, simply because of the price of failure. The only computers that you can replace a HD without voiding the warranty are the macbook and mac pro. The imac and MBP require opening the case for the HD, but not the RAM. The mini cannot be upgraded at all.

If you buy an imac or macbook pro, you should just pay the huge price to upgrade to avoid the need to pay even more later. This doesn't hold true to the macbook and mac pro.
 
HMSAgincourt said:
Upgrading the HD in the MBP requires opening the outer casing and exposing the motherboard. This WILL void the warranty. Because the logic board is exposed, the risk of damage is HIGH. I would not risk doing that, simply because of the price of failure. The only computers that you can replace a HD without voiding the warranty are the macbook and mac pro. The imac and MBP require opening the case for the HD, but not the RAM. The mini cannot be upgraded at all.

If you buy an imac or macbook pro, you should just pay the huge price to upgrade to avoid the need to pay even more later. This doesn't hold true to the macbook and mac pro.
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No, it WON'T void the warranty. Trust me. The only way you will void your warranty is to break the thing while you're doing the upgrade. Simply opening the machine does NOT void your warranty.
 
There is so negligible a difference between 5400 and 7200 in real world use that you will likely encounter a BETTER speed advantage by just being smart about drive usage... i.e. ensuring you never fill up the drive over 70-80% in order to maintain the fastest speed. Therefore the largest drive would make the most sense. If you are doing video or something, you'll likely be offloading your data onto a high-speed raid at home anyway.
 
Ok..... is there any future applications that would only work @5400rpm or higher?

Or any future apps (regular file transfer, not video editing) that would significantly slow the computer down if rpm=4200?

If not, I am going to choose 200GB @4200rpm.

250GB is only offered in 17" MBP.
 
Seagate's 7200RPM 160GB drive is substantially faster than any of those other choices. You would definitely notice it in real life, over the 100GB 7200RPM or 160GB 5400RPM models. (Going by Barefeats benchmarks)
 
Wolfpup said:
Seagate's 7200RPM 160GB drive is substantially faster than any of those other choices. You would definitely notice it in real life, over the 100GB 7200RPM or 160GB 5400RPM models. (Going by Barefeats benchmarks)
Click to expand...

You'd only notice it if you had a 4200RPM and a 7200RPM side by side, otherwise, the speed you get, is what you accept because you'd know nothing else. Even so, I had a 7200RPM drive on my last MBP, and a 5400RPM on the last one. In this case, I have a 4200RPM on the one I have now, but I needed the extra 40GB instead of the speed, and even then I don't notice it.
 
MovieCutter said:
You'd only notice it if you had a 4200RPM and a 7200RPM side by side, otherwise, the speed you get, is what you accept because you'd know nothing else. Even so, I had a 7200RPM drive on my last MBP, and a 5400RPM on the last one. In this case, I have a 4200RPM on the one I have now, but I needed the extra 40GB instead of the speed, and even then I don't notice it.
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Thanks for the info.
 
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