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500gb HD - Seagate 7200.4 or WD Scorpio Blue?

M

migsev

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 13, 2008
178
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Any advice on which of these 2 drives I should get? I'm drawn to the Seagate drive because it runs at 7200rpm. That should result in faster boot and launch times. I keep hearing about vibration problems as well as durability issues though. But apparently they upgraded the firmware in the few months that the drives were unavailable which makes them a lot more solid now?

The WD Scorpios are available for a good price now as well. They're about $50 cheaper than the 7200.4 from where I'm from.

I'm on a 2.4ghz/4gb MBP and I use it mainly for school. I work with the usual Office suites, Photoshop, and occasionally dabble in some FCE editing. I also play games with Boot Camp and I'd want to see speed improvements with that if possible.
 
I bought

I bought a Seagate Momentus 500gb 5200 rpm for my mini. The difference in speed over the stock hard drive was amazing. It felt like a brand new machine. I believe you would be happy with the 500 gb 5200 rpm hdd but you can always go to Tom's hardware and look at the performance stats to see if there is much of an advantage to the 7200 rpm drive.
 
The increase in speed will undoubtably decrease boot times all around. My 320 GB Scorpio Black has no vibration issues, little change in heating, and power consumption is about the same.

Despite some users on this forum who have had positive experiences with the 7200.4, I personally am holding out on the Seagate for now though b/c of the mixed reviews on Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148374

From what I've read, the leap from 5400 to 7200 RPM drives in regards to 500 GB HDD's isn't as significant as the leap in speed for the 320 GB HDD's. Some say that it's just the Seagate 7200.4 and not representative of how other 7200 RPM 500 GB HDD's would perform, but, seeing as to how the Seagate is currently the only one of it's kind, such comparisons cannot yet be made.

That and the cost difference ($40 on Newegg) isn't worth it to me in relation to the cost difference b/t the 320 GB Scorpio Blue vs. Black ($15).

My 320 GB WD Scorpio Black is plenty of storage space for me at the moment and I'm hoping when I finally do outgrow my britches that WD will have come out with a 500 GB Scorpio Black.
 
bigdaddyp said:
I bought a Seagate Momentus 500gb 5200 rpm for my mini. The difference in speed over the stock hard drive was amazing. It felt like a brand new machine. I believe you would be happy with the 500 gb 5200 rpm hdd but you can always go to Tom's hardware and look at the performance stats to see if there is much of an advantage to the 7200 rpm drive.
Click to expand...

I've looked at benchmarks for the drives but they really don't make much sense to me, aside from the fact that the 7200.4 drive does well in them. I'm more interested in seeing real world performance though as I've never been one to do benchmarks.

Shawny D said:
I'm holding out on the Seagate for now b/c of the mixed reviews on Newegg..

From what I've read, the leap from 5400 to 7200 RPM drives in regards to 500 GB HDD's isn't as significant as the leap in speed for the 320 GB HDD's. That and the cost difference ($40 on Newegg) isn't worth it to me in relation to the cost difference b/t the 320 GB Scorpio Blue vs. Black ($15).

My 320 GB WD Scorpio Black is plenty of storage space for me at the moment and I'm hoping when I finally do outgrow my britches that WD will have come out with a 500 GB Scorpio Black.
Click to expand...

Seems like the poor reviews are based on the earlier models of the 7200.4. The newer ones out now have gotten positive reviews from the ones I read.

I'm still a bit lost with performance difference though. How would they compare in terms of real world performance? I'd have no problem saving for the extra $40 to get the Seagate if it will be worth the performance boost.

I'm not really in a position to wait until WD comes out with a 500gb scorpio black either. I've got 9gig left in my Mac partition, and thats after I moved files to an external. :(
 
migsev said:
Seems like the poor reviews are based on the earlier models of the 7200.4. The newer ones out now have gotten positive reviews from the ones I read.

I'm still a bit lost with performance difference though. How would they compare in terms of real world performance? I'd have no problem saving for the extra $40 to get the Seagate if it will be worth the performance boost.

I'm not really in a position to wait until WD comes out with a 500gb scorpio black either. I've got 9gig left in my Mac partition, and thats after I moved files to an external. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw the more current reviews, particularly when they came back on Newegg following a brief hiatus (I think they were trying to sort out whatever issues the 7200.4 had at the time), but even afterward there were still some (albeit fewer) negative reviews regarding its reliability and whether the differences in speed were as great as originally thought.

Again, I'm not saying that the upgrade to 7200 RPM HDD's isn't worth it, not at all. I too am willing to spend the $40 premium, but I just don't know if it's worth upgrading to the Seagate as opposed to waiting for WD. But if, as you say, you need the extra space and have the extra $40, then go for it and keep us posted on your particular experience.

I have started offloading a lot of extraneous stuff (mainly movies) from my laptop HDD onto my external HDD b/c of space constraints, but I'm willing to wait a little longer for WD to come through.
 
Fizzoid said:
A few people have complained about the noise\vibration from it, how's yours?
Click to expand...

I originally had the Scorpio black 320gb and was having noise and vibration issues with it so I exchanged it for this one. As far as I can tell this one is as quiet as stock and just as fast as the Scorpio black.
 
natebookpro said:
I have the WD and can recommend it. I'm very happy with it.
Click to expand...

Whats the formatted size on the WD?

Shawny D said:
Yeah, I saw the more current reviews, particularly when they came back on Newegg following a brief hiatus (I think they were trying to sort out whatever issues the 7200.4 had at the time), but even afterward there were still some (albeit fewer) negative reviews regarding its reliability and whether the differences in speed were as great as originally thought.

Again, I'm not saying that the upgrade to 7200 RPM HDD's isn't worth it, not at all. I too am willing to spend the $40 premium, but I just don't know if it's worth upgrading to the Seagate as opposed to waiting for WD. But if, as you say, you need the extra space and have the extra $40, then go for it and keep us posted on your particular experience.

I have started offloading a lot of extraneous stuff (mainly movies) from my laptop HDD onto my external HDD b/c of space constraints, but I'm willing to wait a little longer for WD to come through.
Click to expand...

I'm not really brand particular. I'm just looking at the performance and from what I've read, these are the 2 best 500gb drives out right now. I've always had Seagate drives in the desktop and I'm happy about them. I've also got a WD external and I'm happy about that. :p

Would the performance difference be minimal though? In terms of real world computing, how would they fare against each other?

Fizzoid said:
A few people have complained about the noise\vibration from it, how's yours?
Click to expand...

I'm concerned about this too. Seems like a hit and miss when it comes to vibration. Some vibrate, some don't. The HD on the MBPs are right under the shell so I'm assuming it'd be a fairly obvious vibration if I get a particularly shaky drive.
 
migsev said:
Any advice on which of these 2 drives I should get? I'm drawn to the Seagate drive because it runs at 7200rpm. That should result in faster boot and launch times. I keep hearing about vibration problems as well as durability issues though. But apparently they upgraded the firmware in the few months that the drives were unavailable which makes them a lot more solid now?

The WD Scorpios are available for a good price now as well. They're about $50 cheaper than the 7200.4 from where I'm from.

I'm on a 2.4ghz/4gb MBP and I use it mainly for school. I work with the usual Office suites, Photoshop, and occasionally dabble in some FCE editing. I also play games with Boot Camp and I'd want to see speed improvements with that if possible.
Click to expand...


I've been thinking about getting a new bigger drive for my mbp too...are they difficult to install? I've got the early 2008 mbp, bought in April...last 15 inch version with the matte screen...same as yours, 2.4ghz...bought mine with a 200gb drive...

thanks...

M
 
moworks2 said:
I've been thinking about getting a new bigger drive for my mbp too...are they difficult to install? I've got the early 2008 mbp, bought in April...last 15 inch version with the matte screen...same as yours, 2.4ghz...bought mine with a 200gb drive...

thanks...

M
Click to expand...

I've got a Late '08 one so I can't comment on replacing your drive. From what I know, those MBP's are a bit harder to open up. I've replaced the ram in my MBP, which was supposedly harder than replacing the HD, and I found it fairly easy to do.
 
migsev said:
I've got a Late '08 one so I can't comment on replacing your drive. From what I know, those MBP's are a bit harder to open up. I've replaced the ram in my MBP, which was supposedly harder than replacing the HD, and I found it fairly easy to do.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks...i've read it's not easy but don't know how...on the other hand filling my mbp with max ram was easy...oh, and just by chance, about an hour ago i got an email announcing a sale on seagate momentus 2.5" hd's...7200.4 16mb cache for 114 euros...this from http://www.macway.com/fr/product/13202/500-go-seagate-momentus-72004-sata-25-7200t-16mo-interne-st9500420as.html&p=3&e=c3R1ZGlvLm10YXViQGZyZWUuZnI%3D&n=947&nt=25&sp=1 in france...
 
I have the seagate, and boot times were increased quite significantly.

However I found myself annoyed at the loudness of it (it isn't stupidly loud, but far louder than my standard drive) to the extent that I ended up putting the original drive back in.
 
monsieursugar said:
I have the seagate, and boot times were increased quite significantly.

However I found myself annoyed at the loudness of it (it isn't stupidly loud, but far louder than my standard drive) to the extent that I ended up putting the original drive back in.
Click to expand...

Its a lot louder, even when idling?
 
moworks2 said:
hey Shawny D...thanks for that link...oh my, it does look a bit complicated...hmmm, I may put this off or maybe see if a dealer will do it for me without voiding my warranty...but seeing this helps a lot...
Click to expand...

No prob! You can also Youtube MacBook Pro hard drive installs to get an even better idea of how to go about it, if you like.
 
migsev said:
Its a lot louder, even when idling?
Click to expand...

It isn't stupidly loud, in fact compared to my old windows laptop it's near-silent! however in comparison to the standard drive I had before it is quite a bit louder in that I notice it without listening out for it and it drives me a bit mad, whereas the only time I ever heard the old drive was if I placed my ear against the computer! And yes it seems to be around the same volume whether idling or working.
 
migsev said:
Any advice on which of these 2 drives I should get? I'm drawn to the Seagate drive because it runs at 7200rpm. That should result in faster boot and launch times. I keep hearing about vibration problems as well as durability issues though. But apparently they upgraded the firmware in the few months that the drives were unavailable which makes them a lot more solid now?

The WD Scorpios are available for a good price now as well. They're about $50 cheaper than the 7200.4 from where I'm from.
Click to expand...

I have a 500GB Scorpio Blue - I decided not to wait for the Black and haven't regretted it.
 
ManhattanPrjct said:
I have a 500GB Scorpio Blue - I decided not to wait for the Black and haven't regretted it.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing the same and just making it my backup drive if and when WD does release a 500 GB Scorpio Black, but now, after deleting a bunch of movies that I've already seen or have on DVD, I'm just going to wait since I currently have 24% free space in my 320 GB Scorpio Black.
 
I'm running the 500GB 5400RPM Seagate. Love it, and so much cheaper than going through Apple.
 
I've had my 500GB 7200.4 Seagate drive since day one(February), and it has been perfect. Its fast, quiet and very reliable. Toms Hardware has tested this drive and compared it with others in its class, and the Seagate proved to be far superior to is competitors.
 
migsev said:
Whats the formatted size on the WD?
Click to expand...

465GB

And as for hit or miss that does seem to be the case with the WD drives, although it seems the Black more so than the Blue. I would certainly recommend OWC as they gave me no problems with returning the Black because of the noise level.
 
the hard drive replacement is definitely doable by yourself. as others have mentioned, just use ifixit or youtube. I used youtube to great success with replacing my MBP's hard drive, and I'm sure you will, too.
 
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