MacBook Pro 7200 RPM effect on noise, battery life, performance?

amberashby · Feb 28, 2006, 08:11 AM

Hi all,

I'm about to place my order and I'm still trying to decide between the 5400RPM or 7200RPM drive. I'm not as concerned about the extra $100 as I am about the effect on noise/battery life and extra heat too. Also, is the performance boost noticeable?

Any comments regarding this would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Amber

Spies · Mar 4, 2006, 05:36 PM

I'd like to know this too.

Flyinace2000 · Mar 4, 2006, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spies

I'd like to know this too.

Whatever it is the performance benifit has to be worth it. When i book my G4 PB off an external FW hard drive it FLYS!!!

treblah · Mar 4, 2006, 10:44 PM

Good question.

As I will usually run my MBP as a desktop replacement I didn't even consider the 7200rpm (which I opted for) vs. 5400rpm in terms of battery life.

amberashby · Mar 5, 2006, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treblah

Good question.

As I will usually run my MBP as a desktop replacement I didn't even consider the 7200rpm (which I opted for) vs. 5400rpm in terms of battery life.

I'm leaning toward the 7200RPM. Like you, I mostly use my laptop as a desktop replacement (plugged in). I'm mostly concerned with any extra noise, but I think it would be negligible.

kkapoor · Mar 5, 2006, 09:03 AM

The difference in battery life is negligible. Barefeats.com did a comparison not long ago. Go for the 7200 rpm drive.

Winstonp · Mar 5, 2006, 09:16 AM

5400 is a thing of the past. This 7200rpm whips along. I suggest it, highly.

BornAgainMac · Mar 5, 2006, 09:22 AM

What are some benchmarks for this faster drive? Everything starts up fast with the slower drive I can't see the point of having a faster drive. What apps would take advantage of it?

fyzle · Apr 26, 2006, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BornAgainMac

What are some benchmarks for this faster drive? Everything starts up fast with the slower drive I can't see the point of having a faster drive. What apps would take advantage of it?

Spotlight, Finder, starting any program, copy/pasting files etc.

dmw007 · Apr 26, 2006, 05:37 PM

BareFeats has a nice benchmark comparing the MacBook Pro with the stock 5,400rpm HDD vs. the 7,200rpm HDD.

http://www.barefeats.com/5472.html

Scottyk9 · Apr 26, 2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyzle

Spotlight, Finder, starting any program, copy/pasting files etc.

the barefeats article above suggests that you will not realize any speed advantages with the above unless you are transferring very large files (video, audio)

lilstewart · Apr 26, 2006, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winstonp

5400 is a thing of the past. This 7200rpm whips along. I suggest it, highly.

And here I am on a 4200RPM iBook.

aquajet · Apr 26, 2006, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmw007

BareFeats has a nice benchmark comparing the MacBook Pro with the stock 5,400rpm HDD vs. the 7,200rpm HDD.

http://www.barefeats.com/5472.html

Looks like it's time to upgrade the crappy 4200 rpm drive in my PB.

Malcster · Apr 26, 2006, 07:14 PM

Another vote for 7200, can't even hear the 7200 in my mbp when its accessing, also the power requirements difference between it and a 5400 drive are miniscule, so no battery issues either.

i defy anyone to work out whether it makes an mbp hotter! there all hot

and besides apple wouldn't offer it as an option if it couldnt handle it would they?

Zips along too

steve_hill4 · Apr 26, 2006, 07:20 PM

If I had a 7200 internal, I doubt it would make too much noise/heat difference to me, especially when most of the time I have a 7200 external also plugged in making noise louder than my 5400. As for battery life, for me I have my MBP plugged in most of the time at the moment, (no Airport as of yet, still hanging in for Express AV in the near future). If it was unplugged, it would perhaps mean dropping 20 minutes of life I guess.

rick6502 · Apr 26, 2006, 07:30 PM

As an owner of a MacBookPro (only slightly gloating) with a 7200RPM drive, I can say that I am fine with the battery performance. I also notice that the finder is very snappy and I attribute some of that to the drive speed. I didn't even hesitate when I purchased mine, and I don't regret that aspect of it. (What do I regret you say? That maybe I should have waited for the 17". Ahh well.)

dailo · Apr 26, 2006, 09:20 PM

Are you guys doing the install yourself or taking it to somewhere else? I don't want switching out the drive on my MBP to ruin my warranty. Thanks.

amberashby · Apr 26, 2006, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailo

Are you guys doing the install yourself or taking it to somewhere else? I don't want switching out the drive on my MBP to ruin my warranty. Thanks.

I don't think anyone is suggesting swapping out a 5400 for a 7200 after purchase. It isn't THAT big of a speed difference. However I'm about to place an order and was debating what RPM drive to go with.

dmw007 · Apr 26, 2006, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilstewart

And here I am on a 4200RPM iBook.

Same here....

velocityg4 · Apr 27, 2006, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkapoor

The difference in battery life is negligible. Barefeats.com did a comparison not long ago. Go for the 7200 rpm drive.

I read the same on Toms Harware. Here's an article showing some in depth battery and speed benchmarks.

http://www.mobilityguru.com/2003/10/...ous/page3.html

Basically, battery life changes by 5-10 minutes, but boot time, applications opening and read/write are all greatly improved.

Feb 28, 2006, 08:11 AM	#1
amberashby macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2003	MacBook Pro 7200 RPM effect on noise, battery life, performance? Hi all, I'm about to place my order and I'm still trying to decide between the 5400RPM or 7200RPM drive. I'm not as concerned about the extra $100 as I am about the effect on noise/battery life and extra heat too. Also, is the performance boost noticeable? Any comments regarding this would be appreciated. Thanks. Amber

Mar 5, 2006, 09:16 AM	#7
Winstonp macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boston	5400 is a thing of the past. This 7200rpm whips along. I suggest it, highly. __________________ MBP Unibody 2.4/320Gb 7200rpm/4Gb/15" Gloss/ 10.5+VMWARE+XP -iPhone 3GS 32GB BLK,Shuffle 2G

Apr 26, 2006, 05:37 PM	#10
dmw007 macrumors 603 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Working for MI-6	BareFeats has a nice benchmark comparing the MacBook Pro with the stock 5,400rpm HDD vs. the 7,200rpm HDD. http://www.barefeats.com/5472.html __________________ 2.26GHz Mac Pro, 24" 2.8GHz iMac 12" 1.5GHz PB G4, 17" HD 1.67GHz PB G4 PowerBook 1400cs/133, 450MHz Power Mac G4 Cube iPhone, 60GB iPod

Apr 26, 2006, 07:20 PM	#15
steve_hill4 macrumors 68000 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Propping up the bar.	If I had a 7200 internal, I doubt it would make too much noise/heat difference to me, especially when most of the time I have a 7200 external also plugged in making noise louder than my 5400. As for battery life, for me I have my MBP plugged in most of the time at the moment, (no Airport as of yet, still hanging in for Express AV in the near future). If it was unplugged, it would perhaps mean dropping 20 minutes of life I guess. __________________ If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink. - Vivian Stanshall

Apr 26, 2006, 07:30 PM	#16
rick6502 macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2006	It's the 7200 all the way. As an owner of a MacBookPro (only slightly gloating) with a 7200RPM drive, I can say that I am fine with the battery performance. I also notice that the finder is very snappy and I attribute some of that to the drive speed. I didn't even hesitate when I purchased mine, and I don't regret that aspect of it. (What do I regret you say? That maybe I should have waited for the 17". Ahh well.)

Mar 4, 2006, 05:36 PM	#2
Spies macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: United Kingdom	I'd like to know this too.

Mar 4, 2006, 10:44 PM	#4
treblah macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: 29403	Good question. As I will usually run my MBP as a desktop replacement I didn't even consider the 7200rpm (which I opted for) vs. 5400rpm in terms of battery life.

Mar 5, 2006, 09:03 AM	#6
kkapoor macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada	The difference in battery life is negligible. Barefeats.com did a comparison not long ago. Go for the 7200 rpm drive.

Mar 5, 2006, 09:22 AM	#8
BornAgainMac macrumors 68030 Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Florida Resident	What are some benchmarks for this faster drive? Everything starts up fast with the slower drive I can't see the point of having a faster drive. What apps would take advantage of it?

Apr 26, 2006, 07:14 PM	#14
Malcster macrumors 6502 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Bristol, UK	Another vote for 7200, can't even hear the 7200 in my mbp when its accessing, also the power requirements difference between it and a 5400 drive are miniscule, so no battery issues either. i defy anyone to work out whether it makes an mbp hotter! there all hot and besides apple wouldn't offer it as an option if it couldnt handle it would they? Zips along too

Apr 26, 2006, 09:20 PM	#17
dailo macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2006	Are you guys doing the install yourself or taking it to somewhere else? I don't want switching out the drive on my MBP to ruin my warranty. Thanks.

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