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7200rpm HDD upgrade - affect battery/heat?

C

Cannedkoala

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2009
33
0
Hey,

I'm looking at the new 13" MBP and upgrading the HDD myself, thinking of a 7200rpm.

Anyone done this to their MB or MBP or have thoughts on how significantly this affects battery life and heat over a 5200rpm?

Worth it for the boost in performance?

cheers,
 
Cannedkoala said:
Hey,

I'm looking at the new 13" MBP and upgrading the HDD myself, thinking of a 7200rpm.

Anyone done this to their MB or MBP or have thoughts on how significantly this affects battery life and heat over a 5200rpm?

Worth it for the boost in performance?

cheers,
Click to expand...

tough to answer, this will all depend on the new 13's battery operating temperature as thats now in the same compartment.

i would say you would be completely fine. 7200 runs a few degree's hotter.
 
i'm thinking of doing the same thing. is there any specific brand that anyone would recommend? i'm looking at OWC and they have Hitachi, Toshiba, WD, or Seagate.
 
FWIW, I played Civ 3 Conquests inside of Parallels 4.0 on a UMBP 17 for slightly over 4 hours, got bored, and then surfed in OS X for another 30 minutes before my laptop shut down. This was on max brightness. Extrapolate one way or another from there. 320 gb 7200 rpm drive.

Tom
 
Upgrading to a 7200RPM drive from a 5400RPM likely shaves off 10 minutes of battery under heavy drive use. Of course, you will need less heavy drive use with a faster drive, so it pays for itself.
 
alesse said:
i'm thinking of doing the same thing. is there any specific brand that anyone would recommend? i'm looking at OWC and they have Hitachi, Toshiba, WD, or Seagate.
Click to expand...

I went with a 320GB Seagate 7200.3 from NewEgg for $69 shipped. In a recent test, it had the lowest idle power consumption of any of the high-perf drives and performance numbers are pretty near the top.
 
rogersmj said:
I went with a 320GB Seagate 7200.3 from NewEgg for $69 shipped. In a recent test, it had the lowest idle power consumption of any of the high-perf drives and performance numbers are pretty near the top.
Click to expand...

How is the noise? I am looking at the base model 13in MBP and would really like a larger and faster HDD, this sounds like a really good deal! Otherwise I was going to pay Apple $45 to get a 250GB 5400rpm HDD but for $24 more I can get a bigger, faster HDD and I get to keep my old one, I think I might be game!
 
It's not human to be able to hear a laptop drive. If you hear your drive, there is something wrong with it, or you.
 
geoffreak said:
It's not human to be able to hear a laptop drive. If you hear your drive, there is something wrong with it, or you.
Click to expand...

IDK, all these reviews either seem to whine about battery, rattle/vibration or noise. And I guess I don't have to worry about the battery if it truly has the lowest power consumption idle unless it uses a lot when revved up. Anyone know of what comparison he is talking about, I would really like to read it.
 
Some of the 7200.4 drives by seagate are reported to be no faster. There is a firmware that seems to make the drive faster, except that you can't upgrade the firmware at all by yourself. In other words, you have to get the latest 7200.4 drive and not one of the first batches or else the drive is a total waste of money as it performs like a 5400 rpm drive and is definitely not even faster than the 7200.3 drive.

I've not been following the thread, but if anyone can chime in let me know.
 
MattMK45 said:
how does ssd come into the equation then? Do they produce more heat?
Click to expand...

If I am not mistaken, they use less power, are virtually silent in operation, and produce less heat in most cases. How much less I don't know, but you do not have to worry about it getting hotter.
 
Yes I thought so, because there is no moving parts, woooo! I want one really bad now but I need to wait longer for the prices to fall and storage to go up.
 
reallynotnick said:
How is the noise? I am looking at the base model 13in MBP and would really like a larger and faster HDD, this sounds like a really good deal! Otherwise I was going to pay Apple $45 to get a 250GB 5400rpm HDD but for $24 more I can get a bigger, faster HDD and I get to keep my old one, I think I might be game!
Click to expand...

The reviews said while it wasn't the quietest, it was pretty quiet. I don't actually have it yet...I ordered my new 2.66 MBP and that hard drive today!
 
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