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7200RPM vs 5400RPM Drive?

H

hooneyrob

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 29, 2011
78
0
United Kingdom
Hi All, expecting my MacBook Pro 2.2 15 this week but wondering whether I made a mistake with the drive. I ordered the 750GB 5400RPM drive and am wondering whether or not I should have gone for the 500GB 7200RPM drive?

I eventually want to go SSD but for now I'm worried that I've paid for all this performance only to put a slow drive in it..

Anybody know what real world difference the quicker RPM drive will provide?

Thanks, Rob.
 
its a difference of maybe only a few seconds. u are not missing out on much.

the real diference if u have gotton a SSD, but those are crazy expensive
 
If you can't make use of 750 GB and 500 GB is enough for you, then I would say you should have gone with less storage as the RPM boost would have been beneficial.
 
you will see a small difference in performance between the 7200RPM and the 5400RPM, personally I would never get a 5400RPM drive
 
I've had both 7200 and 5400 RPM HDDs before, both of them being from the same company, but the speed difference that you pay for are not that significant. Instead, I returned the 7200 RPM HDD, kept the 5400 RPM HDD, and currently saving up the money for a really good SSD in the near future.
 
for most applications, the difference is negligible.

For video editing and other high performance tasks, you might notice some differences.
 
I went from a 5400 to 7200 in my optibay I use for just data and I am happy with the results. The 7K 500GB drive was only like $80 and I notice a difference when running parity checks on large video files and subsequently unzipping those files. My VM that lives on that disk has seen improvements with suspend/resume and general disk access as well. It was worth it to me as I needed another drive to update a different PC with anyway. I will not buy a 5400RPM 2.5" drive again, 7200 is just too affordable not too go that route.
 
Fry-man22 said:
I went from a 5400 to 7200 in my optibay I use for just data and I am happy with the results. The 7K 500GB drive was only like $80 and I notice a difference when running parity checks on large video files and subsequently unzipping those files. My VM that lives on that disk has seen improvements with suspend/resume and general disk access as well. It was worth it to me as I needed another drive to update a different PC with anyway. I will not buy a 5400RPM 2.5" drive again, 7200 is just too affordable not too go that route.
Click to expand...

Especially with the 750GB Scorpio Black drive costing around $100, that is a great buy in terms of performance and storage.
 
Crap. Looks like I made a mistake then and should have indeed gone for the faster drive - 500GB would not cause problems in terms of storage.

My MBP is due to arrive at the end of this week. Will I have to return for refund or would the Apple Store carry stock and be able to upgrade?

Rob..
 
Here's what you do:

1. Buy a 750 GB 7200 RPM drive from Microcenter, Newegg, wherever.
2. Install that drive in your MBP when it arrives.
3. Sell the stock drive on Craigslist--you'll probably almost pay for the new drive.

I've consistently done that--buy a stock MBP, upgrade the HD, and sell the original for very close to what the upgraded HD cost.
 
hooneyrob said:
Crap. Looks like I made a mistake then and should have indeed gone for the faster drive - 500GB would not cause problems in terms of storage.
Click to expand...
If it makes you feel better, you may or may not have longer battery life with the 5400 rpm disk drive. ( https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/979030/ )

I just bought a 5400 rpm Macbook Pro (and am waiting for it). My plan is to use it as is for a year or so, and then upgrade to a second-generation hybrid disk drive.
 
It is size vs speed. The speed diference is not huge but enough to notice with sustained transfers (is it woorth the 259Gb sacrifice to you?).

Personally I would pick the 5400 and if you feel that is a bottleneck then I don't think a 7200 will resolve it; both should be fast enoug. Sure the 7200 will help and be faster but noy ny a mile In that instance to get a major bump you would need to go SSD.
 
Is there a difference between the 500GB Momentus XT solid state hybrid 7200 rpm and a regular 500 GB 7200 rpm?

I know there IS a difference between 7200 and 5400 rpm - but it's not huge. But the Momentus XT is supposed to get 'near' SSD speeds. It's still 500 GB (if that's not a huge issue with you as far as space) and it's very affordable!!!

I was originally going to get a 1 TB 5400 thinking I needed a huge amount of space. I don't really... I use only about half my current 320 GB drive, and only wanted more space so that I could put more music / photos etc on here. 500 GB would suffice and what I can't fit on here I can get an external portable drive... if I ever run out of space... which I doubt I will. (I also have a 1TB time capsule that I can archive stuff on too)

Anyway just suggesting that drive for the OP. because it's best of both worlds... it's still large enough for most people, and is faster than a regular 7200 rpm - touting near SSD speeds!

99.00 on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-7200RPM-Hybrid-ST95005620AS-Bare/dp/B003NSBF32
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Synergie said:
Is there a difference between the 500GB Momentus XT solid state hybrid 7200 rpm and a regular 500 GB 7200 rpm?

I know there IS a difference between 7200 and 5400 rpm - but it's not huge. But the Momentus XT is supposed to get 'near' SSD speeds. It's still 500 GB (if that's not a huge issue with you as far as space) and it's very affordable!!!

I was originally going to get a 1 TB 5400 thinking I needed a huge amount of space. I don't really... I use only about half my current 320 GB drive, and only wanted more space so that I could put more music / photos etc on here. 500 GB would suffice and what I can't fit on here I can get an external portable drive... if I ever run out of space... which I doubt I will. (I also have a 1TB time capsule that I can archive stuff on too)

Anyway just suggesting that drive for the OP. because it's best of both worlds... it's still large enough for most people, and is faster than a regular 7200 rpm.

99.00 on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-7200RPM-Hybrid-ST95005620AS-Bare/dp/B003NSBF32
Click to expand...

750GB Scorpio Black costs roughly the same price.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Synergie said:
I know there IS a difference between 7200 and 5400 rpm - but it's not huge. But the Momentus XT is supposed to get 'near' SSD speeds. It's still 500 GB (if that's not a huge issue with you as far as space) and it's very affordable!!!
Click to expand...
The Momentus XT has 4 GB of NAND cache (NAND is the type of memory that SSDs use). In effect, it loads frequently used data into this cache and will thus be able to access that particular data at SSD-like speeds when called upon.

Of course, this is managed automatically; you don't have any control over what files/data the drive caches...and with only 4 GB on tap, it's really pretty much impossible to squeeze in more than a handful of applications and perhaps a sizable chunk of the OS itself. This means that performance can range all the way from "SSD-like" (if all or most of the files you're calling are inside the cache) to no different than a standard 7200 RPM magnetic. In practice, you'll see better results if you routinely use the same small number of programs over and over again--for the average user, that means faster boot times and perhaps significantly faster launch times for apps like web browsers, mail clients and word processors, while the system basically performs like it has a standard drive otherwise.

I think it's a pretty good solution for many people, but I also think that the 4 GB cache is too small to really let the drive perform to its potential.
 
akhbhaat said:
The Momentus XT has 4 GB of NAND cache (NAND is the type of memory that SSDs use). In effect, it loads frequently used data into this cache and will thus be able to access that particular data at SSD-like speeds when called upon.

Of course, this is managed automatically; you don't have any control over what files/data the drive caches...and with only 4 GB on tap, it's really pretty much impossible to squeeze in more than a handful of applications and perhaps a sizable chunk of the OS itself. This means that performance can range all the way from "SSD-like" (if all or most of the files you're calling are inside the cache) to no different than a standard 7200 RPM magnetic. In practice, you'll see better results if you routinely use the same small number of programs over and over again--for the average user, that means faster boot times and perhaps significantly faster launch times for apps like web browsers, mail clients and word processors, while the system basically performs like it has a standard drive otherwise.

I think it's a pretty good solution for many people, but I also think that the 4 GB cache is too small to really let the drive perform to its potential.
Click to expand...

Hmmm that's still pretty good since I frequently use Adobe Photoshop CS5.... :)

And might still be a good alternative for the OP who wants a SSD eventually and is looking for speed.
 
Thanks for the replies. After looking around it appears external HD's are pretty cheap and therefore I'm going to return the MBP and go for the 128GB SSD and a combination of external HD / iCloud. I'll keep the files I'm working with on the SSD for performance.
 
Just an update - how easy is it to return stuff to Apple! Once call and it's sorted, they're collecting and refunding at no cost to me..

Ordered the same machine again with SSD. So, 2.2 High Res screen and 128GB SSD.

Thanks again.. Rob.
 
Update - MBP 2.2 arrived today with 128GB SSD.. It's so quiet compared to my previous 7200RPM hard drive version and feels snappy. I had thought it was the fan causing all the noise.. I'm sure it still will when I launch a game but for now I'm very pleased.. Just got to be careful not to use up all my space.

Bit odd not hearing the drive clicking away after all these years but it is the future!
 
Wouldn't it have been easier (and cheaper) to keep the original MBP, buy a cheaper SSD from Newegg et al, install the SSD yourself and put the original HDD in an enclosure? Not accusing, just wondering, since this is what I plan to do with mine.
 
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