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5400rpm / 7200rpm question.

Irosaki

Irosaki

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 10, 2010
34
0
Sunderland, UK
Hi guys,

I've seen a few of these threads but I need more information.

5400rpm HDD is a bit slower but uses less power.

Exactly how much power is lost to upgrading? I know its not much but its important. The 7200rpm upgrade is like an extra 40 GBP or if I downgrade the spec to a 320gb its cheaper than the 5200rpm 500gb.

If I get 4 hours of battery life on a 5400rpm, how long would a 7200rpm last? Is there a loss of an hour? or a mere 15 minutes?

Thanks.
 
This has been debated frequently here on the board

Typical comments on 7200 performance
Pro:
Slightly faster speeds, though benchmarks and reviews question this

Con:
More power consumption, less battery life
More heat
More vibration

Typical comments on 5400 issues are the reverse
Pro:
Less power consumption, more battery life
Less heat
Less vibration

Con:
Slightly slower speeds, though benchmarks and reviews question this

Some reviews
Scorpio Blue and Black Review

WD Scorpio Blue vs. Seagate Momentus
This page is the "conclusions" but you can read the whole review

All the pros and cons are subject to user bias and expectations, and vary widely in actual experience

Usually it comes down to personal preferences, brand loyalty and perceptions (i.e. that 7200 is much faster), but in real life the differences are essentially a wash (IMHO)

Your mileage will vary depending on your actual useage

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
MacDawg said:
This has been debated frequently here on the board

Typical comments on 7200 performance
Pro:
Slightly faster speeds, though benchmarks and reviews question this

Con:
More power consumption, less battery life
More heat
More vibration

Typical comments on 5400 issues are the reverse
Pro:
Less power consumption, more battery life
Less heat
Less vibration

Con:
Slightly slower speeds, though benchmarks and reviews question this

Some reviews
Scorpio Blue and Black Review

WD Scorpio Blue vs. Seagate Momentus
This page is the "conclusions" but you can read the whole review

All the pros and cons are subject to user bias and expectations, and vary widely in actual experience

Usually it comes down to personal preferences, brand loyalty and perceptions (i.e. that 7200 is much faster), but in real life the differences are essentially a wash (IMHO)

Your mileage will vary depending on your actual useage

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
Click to expand...



okokok, ill try to world this as carefully as I can.

If a 5400rpm HDD lasts 5 hours, how long will a 7200rpm last under the same conditions? It has indeed been discussed frequently but noone has ever given a straight answer.

thanks for your info anyways ty for your time MacDawg
 
Irosaki said:
okokok, ill try to world this as carefully as I can.

If a 5400rpm HDD lasts 5 hours, how long will a 7200rpm last under the same conditions? It has indeed been discussed frequently but noone has ever given a straight answer.

thanks for your info anyways ty for your time MacDawg
Click to expand...

That's because I don't think there really is a straight answer

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
I will bow out here and let you get opinions from others

However, any such observations would need to be done under strictly controlled circumstances to be valid, and I have not seen any benchmarks for it

I am guessing the differences are minimal and could fall within a margin of error anyway

Most of it is perception only
But those are just my thoughts

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
The gap between low power consumption and performance has closed dramatically. We're talking about tenths of a watt here.

You won't notice the difference in battery life, but you will notice a performance boost.
 
I upgraded my HD on my now two year old MBP from a 5400 rpm to a 7200 rpm drive. I do notice boot up speeds to be better particularly for my Virtual Machine. As well I notice that programs open faster, in particular iTunes. In terms of battery life, I'd say on average I have lost 30 mins of battery life. I hope that helps.
 
Irosaki said:
has noone ever upgraded to a 7200 and done the same thing as before?
Click to expand...

Yes, in my wife's early '08 white Macbook. Upgraded the stock 120GB 5400rpm (Fujitsu) drive to a 200GB 7200rpm (Seagate) drive... and lost about 45 minutes of battery life, plus "gained" a slight but annoying keyboard vibration. Too bad I'd already given away the old 120GB - I went and bought a new 5400rpm drive and sold the 7200.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV.
 
js81 said:
Yes, in my wife's early '08 white Macbook. Upgraded the stock 120GB 5400rpm (Fujitsu) drive to a 200GB 7200rpm (Seagate) drive... and lost about 45 minutes of battery life, plus "gained" a slight but annoying keyboard vibration. Too bad I'd already given away the old 120GB - I went and bought a new 5400rpm drive and sold the 7200.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV.
Click to expand...

7200 is pretty much not necessary for most people.

if you are really worried about speed, you get a SSD pretty much, end of argument.

speed gains from 7200 rpm are debatable
 
I just upgraded my MBP Hard drive to a larger 7200. So far, haven't noticed any battery performance hit and not really faster access times either.

I just went with a 7200 because on paper I thought it would be faster....It's certainly no slower anyhow :cool:
 
2 months ago I upgraded my 15" MacBook Pro from a 200GB 5400rpm drive to a Seagate 500GB 7200rpm drive. The impact on battery life has been minimal. Now, to be honest, I rarely use my battery (maybe 5% a day if that) so I am not a great gauge, but from what I have seen, battery life is hardly affected. I have noticed a slight increase in vibration, but interestingly, I find this drive runs cooler than my previous Hitachi drive (looking at stats from iStat Pro).
 
I forgot to mention that like others who have upgraded their HD to a 7200 rpm that there is an increase in both noise and vibration, neither of which bother me at all.
 
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