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750gb@5200rpm or 500gb@7200rpm?

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In my experience there isn't much difference between a 5400rpm and a 7200rpm drive. Get an SSD if you want performance or the 750GB if you want max capacity.
 
Higher "data density" 5400rpm drive might be faster than a lower "data density" 7200rpm drive. Something to think about. I'm not aware of how the speeds of 500GB 7200rpm and 750GB 5400rpm drives compare though as I haven't read any tests/benchmarks for a while.
 
skip2 said:
Higher "data density" 5400rpm drive might be faster than a lower "data density" 7200rpm drive.
Click to expand...

thats what everyones been discussing.

a simple breakdown tells me the 750gb drive is going to have a 16% higher extended data throughput, however the 500gb surely will have faster seek times.
 
andrewface said:
I think you and I are working on the same wavelength. I will probably do the exact same.

so here's what Im thinking.

15" 2.2ghz 500gb hdd 4gb ram hi res glossy screen!
Click to expand...

That's the exact same config I ordered. It arrived Wednesday, and I'm loving it so far. No issues at all, though I haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces yet. Just been doing file transfers and getting things setup the way I like, but I can already feel the massive improvement over my 2003 1GHz PowerBook G4 and my early 2006 1.83GHz Core Duo iMac. I find myself opening up Activity Monitor just so I can drool over those 8 CPUs (physical and virtual). Tonight I'll throw SCII on there and give it a workout.
 
Power?

Since we are talking about a portable computer, how would 7200 affect battery life vs the 5400 drive? I'm planning on buying a new MBP, but I'm kind of torn between the two drives, like the OP.

Is the amount of power required for a 7200RPM drive noticeably more than 5400? I like the idea of a potential speed increase, but if the speed increase of the 7200RPM drive is minimal and it uses more power, I'll probably just pass and stick with the 5400RPM. Same with heat and drive life.

Space isn't really a huge deal for me, but the 128GB SSD simply isn't enough.

To summarize, is the faster speed worth the extra power the 7200RPM drive will require?
 
I'm looking for a high capacity replacement hdd for my 2011 MacBook Pro as well.

Here's my criteria:
  • SILENT!
  • Quick
  • Reliable

I had a 320gb WD Scorpio Black in my past uMB, but it was pretty loud (unless it was just me?).

It's not going to be my main drive because I already have an SSD for that, so would the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm be a big difference?
 
axu539 said:
If you care about performance, get an SSD. Apple's upgrade at $100 isn't actually a bad deal this time around. If you don't mind slower performance, and just want more space, 750 GB would be the better option. In my opinion, the 500 GB 7200 RPM is probably the worst choice on the high end 15, since it isn't the best at capacity OR performance.
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i need space *and* performance, so i went for the 500g @ 7200rpm only because i can't afford a 512ssd just yet..

i figured while i'm waiting for ssd prices to go down, i'd rather have the faster of the two HDD options. honestly though, why the hell couldn't apple offer a 750g or 1tb @ 7200 option? they DO exist after all
 
I went with the 500GB 7200RPM over the larger 750GB 5400RPM HDD. If I could go back in time and change my order, I would have done that.

When I was ordering the MBP, I didn't even give it a thought about the cons - lower battery life, more noise, I'm not sure about heat. I just thought like the most on this thread, speed over performance. I would never ever use every 750GB on my HDD, so why not get a smaller, but faster drive? I just first learned about the cons after receiving my MacBook Pro.

One of the biggest reasons for me to get a MacBook Pro, instead of any Windows machine, is the noise level. For me, the 7200RPM harddrive just make way too much noise.

As I still have the 14 days refund time, I'm thinking wether to return the MBP and get a 750GB HDD instead or buy a new HDD and put the current HDD in an enclosure and use it as an external.

OP, if noise, battery life and large amounts of GBs isn't a problem for you, go with 7200RPM. If it is, I would defiantly take the 5400RPM and buy a SSD when the prices are lowered in some few months.

EDIT: If you have a current MacBook (Pro) and want to hear the sound of a 7200RPM HDD, try download smcFanControl and kick your fans up to a 3500RPM. That's pretty much how much noise a 7200RPM HDD makes.
 
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ninjaboi21 said:
I went with the 500GB 7200RPM over the larger 750GB 5400RPM HDD. If I could go back in time and change my order, I would have done that.

When I was ordering the MBP, I didn't even give it a thought about the cons - lower battery life, more noise, I'm not sure about heat. I just thought like the most on this thread, speed over performance. I would never ever use every 750GB on my HDD, so why not get a smaller, but faster drive? I just first learned about the cons after receiving my MacBook Pro.

One of the biggest reasons for me to get a MacBook Pro, instead of any Windows machine, is the noise level. For me, the 7200RPM harddrive just make way too much noise.

As I still have the 14 days refund time, I'm thinking wether to return the MBP and get a 750GB HDD instead or buy a new HDD and put the current HDD in an enclosure and use it as an external.

OP, if noise, battery life and large amounts of GBs isn't a problem for you, go with 7200RPM. If it is, I would defiantly take the 5400RPM and buy a SSD when the prices are lowered in some few months.

EDIT: If you have a current MacBook (Pro) and want to hear the sound of a 7200RPM HDD, try download smcFanControl and kick your fans up to a 3500RPM. That's pretty much how much noise a 7200RPM HDD makes.
Click to expand...

You must be much more sensitive to background noise than I am, because I've yet to notice my 7200 RPM drive spinning at all. Either that or you live/work in some silent cocoon. When I'm at home I'm constantly hearing household sounds, such as the fridge and AC running, neighborhood dogs barking, lawnmowers, and traffic from a nearby freeway. In my office I have the sounds of two PC towers and three laptops, fans from the server room down the hall, AC, and coworkers walking around and conversing. I'm sorry, but if the sound from a simple hard drive bothers you, then life in my world would probably drive you insane.

Unless you regularly work in a sound studio, then the sound of the 7200 RPM drive offered by Apple isn't going to bother you. If you do, then you probably want to consider an SSD anyway and the point is moot.
 
If you're worried about battery life, don't do any transcoding, intensive gaming, shut down any unused apps, turn down brighness etc etc etc. The hit on battery life by using a faster HDD is insignificantly small.

Noise levels on a 7200 rpm drive is not a problem. I can hear my whisper quiet fans @2000rpm but not my 7200 rpm HD apart from the usual clicks when spinning but its hardly any different to any 5400 rpm drives I've previously had... fact.

No offence but some people's claims are quite ludicrous.
 
andrewface said:
I'm getting a MBP 15" and I've picked out all the specs and am about to pull the trigger. I'm just stuck on this hard drive thing. Not sure If I should go with the faster 500gb drive or the slower 750gb drive. I have no idea how big of a difference the two are in terms of speed? I'm pretty sure that 500gb will be enough space for me but it's always nice to have a bit of extra space.
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If you care about noise, then go with the 5400rpm drive. The 7200rpm drive is stupidly noisy.
 
I've gone through a number of 7200 RPM drives in search of one that does not vibrate my 13" 2.3 i5 MBP and have not yet found one. I don't mind the noise increase, but the increase in vibration drives me nuts. I'm going to try a 500 GB 5400 RPM drive next to see if it helps; otherwise I will have to stick with the stock 320 GB 5400 RPM drive until SSDs are priced a bit more reasonably.

I've tried increasing the pressure on the mounting hardware, decreasing said pressure, etc.--and nothing works yet.

I would think a 15" would be more able to dissipate the vibration from a 7200 RPM drive by virtue of its larger size and weight; but would still be wary about a 7200 RPM drive in a rigid unibody.

In your situation, I'd be inclined to get the 750 GB 5400 RPM drive.
 
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