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

 

[Aea]

(Don't own one)

I except the only real difference you would see is a lower battery life (due to the power demands of the extra speed), and a minor increase in performance in terms of reading and writing to the hard drive, so it might be helpful if you need to deal with very large files. Beyond that, the only performance gain you would have is if you run out of ram, and personally I don't think that'll be a concern at all if you get the 2GB version and then upgrade your ram if necessary.

I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable will come in and expand on your question

 

[RichP]

3D programs such as games, or CAD?

All depends on if the programs you are using are data-transfer intensive. CAD programs are processor intensive, but generally not that affected by HD performance.

 

[Peter Lorre]

Cad

Definitely CAD, Architectual Graduate School, seeing what you all are saying I will probably be sticking to the 5400 rpm HD for power consumption, which I had not even thought of... because no one seems to talk about that kinda stuff. Thanks for the replies.

Joe