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Are the rumors about 7200rpm drives true?

D

discofuel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 21, 2010
281
79
I have a mid-2010 MBP and just ordered a WD 500GB 7200rpm hard drive to replace my 250GB 5400rpm factory drive.

However, I've just read a lot of complaints about 7200rpm drives being much hotter, noisier and reducing battery life and wondering whether I should have got a 5400rpm drive instead. For the same price I could have got a 750GB one.

I mainly use my laptop for DJing with Traktor and occasional music production in Pro Tools/Logic when I'm away from my iMac.

Can someone please clarify if this is the case and whether the performance increase is worth it.

Thanks
 
They are ever so slightly noisier (not noticeable unless it is very quiet), don't use much more battery if any at all, and aren't any hotter than the stock drive
 
It depends on the drive you had before. I know when I switched from my stock mid 07 drive to a Seagate 7200.4 it was really noticeable.
 
i went from the stock 5400 drive in my 09 MBP to the Seagate 7200.4...

i didn't notice any extra noise, heat or vibration. my performance gains were somewhat noticeable, nothing to get too overly excited about though
 
Sounds like I made the right choice then. Got 8GB RAM on order too so combined should be a nice performance increase :)
 
discofuel said:
I have a mid-2010 MBP and just ordered a WD 500GB 7200rpm hard drive to replace my 250GB 5400rpm factory drive.

However, I've just read a lot of complaints about 7200rpm drives being much hotter, noisier and reducing battery life and wondering whether I should have got a 5400rpm drive instead. For the same price I could have got a 750GB one.

I mainly use my laptop for DJing with Traktor and occasional music production in Pro Tools/Logic when I'm away from my iMac.

Can someone please clarify if this is the case and whether the performance increase is worth it.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Depending on model of 7200RPM drive, it might even use less.

I replaced my Toshiba 750GB 5400RPM HDD with a Seagate Momentus (not XT) 500GB 7200RPM drive. Noise increase was nominal; no worries. No heat increase to mention, either. :)

As for performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCIViHUYbxI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9f8fKn40kk

http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_momentus_7200_4.pdf
(Momentus specs)

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pa...ardDrives/MK7559GSXP/MK7559GSXPSpecifications
(Toshiba specs)


______ | Toshiba | Seagate
---------------------------------

IDLE: | .55w | .67w
SEEK: | 1.8w | 1.55w

Winner when used: Seagate
Winner when idle: Toshiba

The power usage differences between these two models is nominal.


It's worth the time and money involved to upgrade. :)
 
I put a Seagate 7200 500GB into my Macbook 2007 a while back.

- Noise and vibration increased noticeably – I didn't want to keep it on hard surfaces because it would resonate with a deep bass tone.

- Battery life was noticeably decreased, from 3,5h to 2,5h.

- Performance was very slightly increased, but I would never have noticed had I not known. I even did benchmarks and they were definitely unimpressive.

- No heat difference. It was hot before and hot after, but never the HD.

Bottom line: not worth it, get an SSD if you want performance.
 
discofuel said:
Btw this is the one I ordered - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TOE4PQ
Click to expand...
I've had this drive for awhile. It markedly sped up my 2006 Macbook.

I upgraded to a 2011 13" MBP and installed the WD 500 GB there. I agree with the person who said: "They are ever so slightly noisier (not noticeable unless it is very quiet), don't use much more battery if any at all, and aren't any hotter than the stock drive." I don't know that it makes a huge speed difference in the MBP. Most of my use is in Chrome, and once it's open the drive doesn't matter a lot.
 
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Stiksi said:
I put a Seagate 7200 500GB into my Macbook 2007 a while back.

- Noise and vibration increased noticeably – I didn't want to keep it on hard surfaces because it would resonate with a deep bass tone.
Click to expand...

I have the same MacBook. Noise and vibration were not noticeably increased when I replaced with a WD 320 GB Caviar Black. In fact, my fan is significantly louder.

- Battery life was noticeably decreased, from 3,5h to 2,5h.
Click to expand...

Battery life was not noticeably affected, I still get around 4 hours out of it.

- Performance was very slightly increased, but I would never have noticed had I not known. I even did benchmarks and they were definitely unimpressive.
Click to expand...

Performance was noticeably increased, as I use a lot of applications that seek to the drive often.

- No heat difference. It was hot before and hot after, but never the HD.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

Bottom line: not worth it, get an SSD if you want performance.
Click to expand...

Bottom line: the value of getting this upgrade is largely dependent on your usage habits. If you use a lot of applications that access your drive a lot, you'll see a noticeable (and worthy) increase in performance. I've bought several 7200 rpm 2.5" drives (both IDE and SATA) and have never noticed a significant increase in vibration. In fact, I can really only tell mine is spinning if I put my hand directly over it and concentrate on it. That much extra vibration could be due to a poor install or a faulty drive. The price of these drives are dirt cheap and very much worth it, IMO. I wouldn't necessarily upgrade just for the speed, but if you want/need a bigger drive, I wouldn't get anything less than 7200 rpm.
 
Last edited:
Just replaced my HD and my MBP is as silent as ever, doesn't seem any hotter and performance has definitely increased (although this could be because my old drive was nearly full)

Overall I'm definitely happy! Thanks for the advice!
 
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