7200rpm or 5400rpm for referenced library

[And1ss]

Hey guys,

For those of you who are Aperture 3 (or 2) referenced library users, do you suggest getting an external hdd (portable, trying to pack light for a trip) that is 750gb 5400rpm 8mb cache or 500gb 7200rpm 16mb cache to host master files for aperture 3?

Space-wise, I could go either 500gb or 750gb. Obviously, the more the merrier, but looking for speed and performance.

The two drives I'm looking at are from OWC:

5400rpm: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQM7500GB16/

7200rpm:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQM5750GB8/

The esata benchmarks are almost the same (~10mb difference read/write) while fw800, there is a significant difference in write speed.

What do you think? Thanks!

 

[stevenlangley1]

I'm no expert, but from everything i've read on this forum the 7200 rpm drive should perform faster. I installed one in my MBP last week and noticed that programs were responding faster.

 

[Laird Knox]

What interface will you be using?

 

[And1ss]

What interface will you be using?

Most likely eSata, but occasionally fw800. I intend it to use almost 95% for Aperture masters to free up space on my internal.

 

[Laird Knox]

Well if you have access to eSATA and FireWire then I would go for the 7200. If you were limited to USB it would be more of a toss up.