Does this really boost performance as opposed to the stock 5400rpm drive?
Should I get this option when ordering my MBP?
Should I get this option when ordering my MBP?
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7200 rpm HD
- Thread starter asmallchild
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iTunes (large music and movie collection), DVD burning, Palm Desktop, playing DVDs, word processing, spreadsheets, email, web surfing, very minor Adobe Photoshopping, organizing large volumes of vacation photos, AIM, Audacity/Bitpim to edit MP3's and upload them to my cell phone, Epocrates for my Palm Pilot (a medical program, I'm a graduating med student), Handbrake to convert movies to my iPod Touch
sounds like you don't really need the 7200rpm, but space for your music and movies.
7200rpm does boost the performance marginally but probably not too important for your needs. I would get the stock and swap it out for the 320GB or the new 500GB if I were you.
7200rpm does boost the performance marginally but probably not too important for your needs. I would get the stock and swap it out for the 320GB or the new 500GB if I were you.
If you don't get it and aren't doing other BTO customizations, get the computer from MacMall for a significant discount. That said, I'd get the 7200. I talked to a lot of my geek friends, and they said even for $350 (the difference between the MacMall price and the Apple + 7200rpm price) it is worth it. Hard drives are a major bottleneck on all computers, so speeding that up is always a plus. Random seeks are noticeably faster with a 7200RPM and a lot of day to day stuff involves random seeks. So I'd get it.
That said, I prefer speed to space.. if you need a massive HDD then you might want to go another route.
That said, I prefer speed to space.. if you need a massive HDD then you might want to go another route.
It's also irrelevant compared to the 320/5400 drives for the OP's needs, where data density is king. It's too bad Apple doesn't offer them as options. The Samsung and WD 320/5400 are kings of the hill at the moment.
I'm a dj and figured if i got the faster hard drive it would make a difference. This is my 2nd macbook pro w/ the upgraded 7200rpm hard drive (200gig).
I do not notice any difference when doing gigs.
I'm sure technical specs would prove otherwise that it is a faster option.
I'm also sure that a graphic designer would appreciate the faster RPM than a DJ would.
HERE'S THE SETBACK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER:
You cant buy it preconfigured - which means Apple has to customize it for you.
Guess who does it? Some facility overseas - and they suck - in terms of taking care of your "new" laptop.
Like I said, this is my 2nd laptop (first was 2.2 SR, second is 2.4 penryn) and both were custom configured - BOTH WERE DELIVERED WITH SCRATCHES ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAPTOP - LOCATED NEAR THE SCREWS.
I called Applecare to inquire about it and they tell me its normal cosmetic.
ITS NOT NEW WHEN YOU CONFIGURE IT !!!!!!!
I do not notice any difference when doing gigs.
I'm sure technical specs would prove otherwise that it is a faster option.
I'm also sure that a graphic designer would appreciate the faster RPM than a DJ would.
HERE'S THE SETBACK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER:
You cant buy it preconfigured - which means Apple has to customize it for you.
Guess who does it? Some facility overseas - and they suck - in terms of taking care of your "new" laptop.
Like I said, this is my 2nd laptop (first was 2.2 SR, second is 2.4 penryn) and both were custom configured - BOTH WERE DELIVERED WITH SCRATCHES ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAPTOP - LOCATED NEAR THE SCREWS.
I called Applecare to inquire about it and they tell me its normal cosmetic.
ITS NOT NEW WHEN YOU CONFIGURE IT !!!!!!!
True, but if you decide to get more space initially when purchasing and deciding to upgrade to a bigger and faster drive later, you're still putting in extra money to do the upgrade. Why not just get the faster drive now, and back it up to an external hard drive using Time Capsule or the Airport Extreme? It would be cheaper in my opinion.
It has been posted before: Speed depends on RPM, storage density (bigger drives will have higher density and be faster), and percentage of drive space used (the more percent of the drive is used, the slower it is. Bigger drives tend to be less full).
If you compare a 100 GB 7200 rpm and a 100 GB 5400 rpm, the 7200 rpm will be faster. Compare it to a 320 GB 5400 rpm, and it will be slower.
Have your geek friends ever seen a graph how hard drive performance goes down as the drive gets full?
If you compare a 100 GB 7200 rpm and a 100 GB 5400 rpm, the 7200 rpm will be faster. Compare it to a 320 GB 5400 rpm, and it will be slower.
Have your geek friends ever seen a graph how hard drive performance goes down as the drive gets full?
I'm looking to update my MBP to a 7200 drive. Could you share the specs for what I need for a MBP?
Easy / hard to do? I've done plenty of desk-top replacements before but not a laptop.
Thanks,
Mark
Easy / hard to do? I've done plenty of desk-top replacements before but not a laptop.
Thanks,
Mark
When I replaced my 5400 rpm drive with a 7200 I saw about a 20% increase all around. Boot speed, launching applications, conversions, and what not. Not a huge difference but noticeable.
I went from the stock 120 to the Hitachi Travelstar 200 gb. This was on a non SR MBP 2.16 so I may have seen a larger increase in speed due to technology or lack there of in the drive that originally came with my MBP.
I've personally never noticed any performance differential between 5400 and 7200rpm drives. I'm sure it shows up on benchmarks, but in the real world, I'm equally sure that most people simply don't notice any difference, but might try and convince themselves that they can 
The Samsung and WD 320/5400 drives are just as fast as the 200/7200 drives in overall performance. They're cheaper, too.
I've personally never noticed any performance differential between 5400 and 7200rpm drives. I'm sure it shows up on benchmarks, but in the real world, I'm equally sure that most people simply don't notice any difference, but might try and convince themselves that they can
Strange you do not notice any difference it is quite noticeable on my machine. I ran my machine with the stock 5400 for over a year and only about 4 months ago did the upgrade and noticed the difference immediately. The specs of my old drive were far inferior compared to the Hitachi. Again the smaller cache comes into play on the older 5400 drives. This may not be the case in newer 5400 drives with caches the same size as the 7200.
The 320/5400 drives have greater data density/platter, thus the dramatic improvement in performance. Your 120 wasn't near the current density of 320 drives.
This makes sense then why I saw such an improvement and others will not. I am not an expert in drives by far just testifying to what I saw personally on my machine.
Would be nice to see some stats between the 320/5400 vs 200/7200.
Very interesting! It is nice to see my drive performing well in many of the categories. I am impressed how well the 5400's are doing. Sustained writing is not something I use much on my internal. I use the FW 800 Lacie big disk extreme raid 0 for video capture and what not but I am happy to see how far the 5400's have come along. Clearly with the new 5400's the difference will be minimal. What it boils down too is if your getting a new laptop then go with the largest most reliable drive be it 54 or 72 but if you have an older internal upgrade and you will see a significant difference.
Does anyone what the stock 200G drive that ships with the current base MBP is? I'd like to compare it to a 200G 7200RPM to see what the spec differences look like!
Mark
Mark