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5400 v 7200 HD's
- Thread starter DMoose
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Well I was also hesitating between the two HD speeds. Finally I picked the faster one on the high end MBP. I'm not that sure that it was the right choice. Now I'm scared that I will have more heat and less battery for only a small performance gain. What do you think people ?
I would go for the 2.53 MBP with 5400/320 HD and 512VRAM. I've used 7200rpm drives before, and I wasn't able to notice a huge difference. But what exactly are you doing graphically that might warrant having a faster CPU and more v-ram? Because you could also save a little money by just going for the 2.4 with 256 v-ram.
And as to the 4GB of RAM, don't get it upgraded from Apple, they overcharge their RAM prices way too much. Buy it from a 3rd party (crucial, etc), it is the same thing for a dramatically lower price.
And as to the 4GB of RAM, don't get it upgraded from Apple, they overcharge their RAM prices way too much. Buy it from a 3rd party (crucial, etc), it is the same thing for a dramatically lower price.
I am not entirely sure of what the exact sizes were, but I believe that there were the same two speed options (5400rpm or 7200rpm).
I believe you are correct, but the old 7200rpm drives had a decreased amount of storage.
Actually I think you'd be surprised - Apple are charging £100 for the upgrade to 4 gig of RAM in the UK - Crucial are charging £47 for each 2gig so really it's not *that* much of a difference considering the 2 gig machines come with 2x1gig so you'd have to spend ~ £100 either way to get the whole 4.
From what I understand, faster harddrive speeds (7200 rpm vs 5400 rpm) would be noticeable when opening fresh programs, and when booting up the laptop (although from what I have read, there's not much of a difference).
I would like to know though, if harddrive speeds affect gaming, and if so, is there a big difference?
I would like to purchase the new base MBP with a 7200 rpm hdd, but my father keeps insisting to get the 5400 rpm hdd. He claims that it will run much cooler and that i wont notice the difference in speed. Is this true?
I would like to know though, if harddrive speeds affect gaming, and if so, is there a big difference?
I would like to purchase the new base MBP with a 7200 rpm hdd, but my father keeps insisting to get the 5400 rpm hdd. He claims that it will run much cooler and that i wont notice the difference in speed. Is this true?
remember, a 'slow' 5400 RPM with a higher density than a 'fast' 7200 may actually have a higher throughput !
Both drives are 320gb so the density is the same. The 7200 obviously spins faster and thus has the potential for faster seeking and transfer rates.
I have only used 7200 rpm drives but have always been told by professional gamers they are the only way to go (if you can't afford one of the new raptor 10,000 rpm drives)
http://barefeats.com/note03.html
clearly the 7200rpm drives make a difference. Keep in mind the 500gb 5400 travelstar can't fit in a 15" mbp...a 20MB/s difference between the spinpoint and the 7200 travelstar 320gb for large sustained read and writes is not "unnoticeable." Also the WD scorpio black 320gb 7200 and the seagate 7200.3 320gb have been tested as being even faster, quieter and consume less power than this competitve travelstar 320...
plus you can buy a 320 drive from a third party and get two drives for a cheaper price than paying apple for one
to answer your question more directly: It really depends on what you're going to be using the computer for. If you play games, etc. then you'll probably wanna go with the 512mb gpu. If not it's probably better to get the 320gb 7200 instead. It also really depends on how much money you want to spend. If you get the drive from a third party it'll cost about $100 and you will then have 2 drives...The faster processor and 512mb gpu will cost you another $500...and at that point what's another $100 for an extra drive from a third party anyway? You could even drop down to the 250gb and then you could have the 250 5400 and the 320 7200 for only another $50...
clearly the 7200rpm drives make a difference. Keep in mind the 500gb 5400 travelstar can't fit in a 15" mbp...a 20MB/s difference between the spinpoint and the 7200 travelstar 320gb for large sustained read and writes is not "unnoticeable." Also the WD scorpio black 320gb 7200 and the seagate 7200.3 320gb have been tested as being even faster, quieter and consume less power than this competitve travelstar 320...
plus you can buy a 320 drive from a third party and get two drives for a cheaper price than paying apple for one
to answer your question more directly: It really depends on what you're going to be using the computer for. If you play games, etc. then you'll probably wanna go with the 512mb gpu. If not it's probably better to get the 320gb 7200 instead. It also really depends on how much money you want to spend. If you get the drive from a third party it'll cost about $100 and you will then have 2 drives...The faster processor and 512mb gpu will cost you another $500...and at that point what's another $100 for an extra drive from a third party anyway? You could even drop down to the 250gb and then you could have the 250 5400 and the 320 7200 for only another $50...
