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Hitachi 7K320 - When can we actually get one?

LeoLion

LeoLion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 23, 2008
14
0
Nodnol (red dwarf reference)
Ok so from what I've read, it looks like the new hitachi drive is going to be the absolute nuts in speed, noise and power consumption (and a decent capacity!) for us MBP and PB users...

In May we got the "shipping" news... so where is it? I can't find this drive anywhere.... anybody know / heard anything? Or have I just been real stupid and not looked in the right places?:(
 
Ok so I feel stupid because I thought I'd searched properly both on google and here... no, no I hadn't. According to another user who apparently contacted Hitachi, the 7K320 won't be out until Q3 this year (July - September)... That kinda sucks but I think I can wait...
 
Why would you think the Hitachi is going to be that much faster then the WD? They are very similar in specs and configuration. I just received my 320GB Scorpio Black yesterday and let me tell you it is significantly faster than the stock Hitachi 250GB 5400rpm it replaced.

Xbench Disk Scores

Hitachi 250GB 5400rpm
Disk test 37.04
Sequential 70.24
uncached write 55.66 mb/sec 4k
uncached write 49.45 mb/sec 256k
uncached read 11.82 mb/sec 4k
uncached read 51.69 mb/sec 256k
Random 25.15
uncached write 0.89 mb/sec 4k
uncached write 21.96 mb/sec 256k
uncached read 0.47 mb/sec 4k
uncached read 18.65 mb/sec 256k

WD 320GB 7200rpm
Disk test 51.81
Sequential 90.81
uncached write 74.67 mb/sec 4k
uncached write 67.66 mb/sec 256k
uncached read 14.43 mb/sec 4k
uncached read 70.01 mb/sec 256k
Random 36.24
uncached write 1.27 mb/sec 4k
uncached write 38.60 mb/sec 256k
uncached read 0.61 mb/sec 4k
uncached read 25.67 mb/sec 256k

I see similar improvements in HDTune under Bootcamp.
 
mumstead said:
Why would you think the Hitachi is going to be that much faster then the WD? They are very similar in specs and configuration. I just received my 320GB Scorpio Black yesterday and let me tell you it is significantly faster than the stock Hitachi 250GB 5400rpm it replaced.
Click to expand...

Now that's just a poor comparison; you're comparing a lower capacity drive with a slow spindle speed to a faster and larger capacity drive; we're talking about differences between the same capacity and same spindle speed.
 
Now that's just a poor comparison; you're comparing a lower capacity drive with a slow spindle speed to a faster and larger capacity drive; we're talking about differences between the same capacity and same spindle speed.
Click to expand...

Well obviously. I was not trying to compare the two to show that the WD was faster than the Hitachi. I was trying to show how much faster the 7200 was compared to the 5400. I just don't understand why you would think two drives with nearly identical specs would perform differently. Why would the Hitachi "leave the WD for dust"? I would expect the Hitachi to perform very close to the WD benchmarks I posted.
 
Is the Scorpio quiet? That would be the determining factor for me. :)

mumstead said:
Well obviously. I was not trying to compare the two to show that the WD was faster than the Hitachi. I was trying to show how much faster the 7200 was compared to the 5400. I just don't understand why you would think two drives with nearly identical specs would perform differently. Why would the Hitachi "leave the WD for dust"? I would expect the Hitachi to perform very close to the WD benchmarks I posted.
Click to expand...
 
The Scorpio is quiet. At least as quiet as my original drive. I do notice a slight vibration though.
 
mumstead said:
I just received my 320GB Scorpio Black yesterday
Click to expand...

where did you order it from?

I've been looking since they were announced but I haven't seen them in stock anywhere except the WD store (which is more expensive than places like newegg will have it for).
 
I have also been looking for a place to buy the 7k320 drive. Also, where can you buy the 5.4k500 drive?
 
OWC has competitive pricing and excellent customer service. They show shipping time for the 7K320 as "pending" however. Might need to contact them to ask when it will be available.
 
I got my Scorpio Black from the WD store. I couldn't find it anywhere else and I didn't want to wait.
 
do you guys install these drives yourselves? is it that easy?
Click to expand...

I used the instructions from ifixit.com. The install was actually very easy but you need to take your time and use the right tools. Make sure you have the correct size screwdrivers before you start. The spudger that is recommended is not really necessary but is helpful and does make the removal of the sticky hard drive cable easier. The screws are very tiny and easy to loose. I put the screws from each step in plastic Dixie cups labeled with a magic marker. That way I knew which screws went where in each step when I reassembled the Macbook. Because it was my first time it took me about 45 min start to finish. I'm sure I could do it much quicker now that I know what to expect
 
mumstead said:
I used the instructions from ifixit.com. The install was actually very easy but you need to take your time and use the right tools. Make sure you have the correct size screwdrivers before you start. The spudger that is recommended is not really necessary but is helpful and does make the removal of the sticky hard drive cable easier. The screws are very tiny and easy to loose. I put the screws from each step in plastic Dixie cups labeled with a magic marker. That way I knew which screws went where in each step when I reassembled the Macbook. Because it was my first time it took me about 45 min start to finish. I'm sure I could do it much quicker now that I know what to expect
Click to expand...

cool, did you do a fresh install? or did you have to clone your original drive to an external?
 
cool, did you do a fresh install? or did you have to clone your original drive to an external?
Click to expand...

I cloned my drive using CCC and my Boot camp partition using Winclone. I bought a inexpensive eSATA enclosure and an inexpensive eSATA card from newegg. Both items where less than $50 shipped. This made the cloning go much faster than using a USB enclosure.
First I hooked my new drive up and partitioned it into two partitions. The second partition I made FAT so I could restore my bootcamp partition to it.
Next I restored the bootcamp image I made with Winclone to the FAT partition. Winclone will automatically convert the partition to NTFS if that is what your image is.
Last I used CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) to clone my OS X partition to my new drive.
When I installed the new drive in my Macbook Pro everthing worked exactly as before only my hard drive was now bigger and faster.
 
kgeier82 said:
i see no "add to cart"
Click to expand...
That means out of stock. But there are two variants: one with and one without the the free-fall sensor. I've been told you'd want the one without (since MBP already have that and the two could interfere with each other). Nevertheless, looks like both are out.

I'm getting the Hitachi 7K320. OWC has stock as pending, but I have my order in.
 
i see no "add to cart"
Click to expand...

They sell out really fast. I kept checking back two or three times a day until they where in stock. They went back out of stock again shortly after I ordered mine but they where back in stock again yesterday. Keep trying.
 
mumstead said:
They sell out really fast. I kept checking back two or three times a day until they where in stock. They went back out of stock again shortly after I ordered mine but they where back in stock again yesterday. Keep trying.
Click to expand...


whats the price straight from WD?

that may force me to wait right there, or go 500GB.
 
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