3D programs and HD Speeds

[Peter Lorre]

I am going to be purchasing a MBP, hopefully sometime right after Steve announces upgrades around June 11, and I will be using it for hard core 2D and 3D graphics and was wondering if anyone thought the 7200 rpm hard drive is the right way to go. I would be giving up 60 GB but that is not too big of a deal for me as I will need a large external HD anyway. What are the real speed differences within the computer and programs between the 7200 and the 5400 (besides 1800 rpm 😉 )? Any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[snickelfritz]

It's fairly significant with programs that write to scratch disk constantly.
A fast external Firewire drive might be a good idea.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

It's fairly significant with programs that write to scratch disk constantly.
A fast external Firewire drive might be a good idea.

I agree I think a very fast external disk would be a better idea.

 

[faustfire]

Go for the 7200, I got my mbp with the 5400 and man do I regret it. (Im going to order up one of the new 160/7200 hd from seagate this week.) My laptop takes forever to startup and get up to full speed compared to my powermac.
Hopefully by the time you pick one up they should have the 160/7200s at a bto option or even as standard.

 

[LeviG]

ok everyone is forgetting the minor detail that any new 5400rm drive in a mbp is likely to be perpendicular recording based. On average these can match the 7200rpm drives which use the standard recording (iirc there are no perp 7200rpm).

I havent noticed a lot of hard drive writing on my pc when working 3ds max, but I do have 4GB of ram. I think it depends more on the program and the ram (and sometimes the graphics card) than hard drive speed. Although to be perfectly honest, a macbook pro probably isn't the best option for heavy 3d work.

I do 2d and 3d work and intend to get a macbook pro (after updates like you) but it will not be used for any of the heavy work, it will (in my view) get too hot when used for long periods of rendering.

 

[faustfire]

The new seagate 2.5-in drives use perpendicular technology.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9015190