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Hard Drives: 500GB @ 7200rpm vs 750 @ 5400rmp

M

Malfise

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 5, 2011
4
0
Ordering my first-ever Mac, blah blah blah.....

I'm wondering about the difference in the two hard drive options (the regular drives, not the SSD's), and which I should get. I assume that the 500GB @ 7200 rpm is faster, while the 750GB @5400 rmp holds more data, but is slower.

I plan on getting the 2.3ghz core (though I have yet to decide on how much ram; you know, ye old 4GB vs 8GB discussion). How much faster is the 7200 rpm? Noticeable? Is it just loading files or what? Unless the difference is amazing, I'll probably go with the 750GB, just to have the space available to me. I really have no idea how much space I'll need.... (right now, I'm on a PC with just 136GB of memory, from like 5 or 6 years ago, but I have a Toshiba external drive with 640GB for games and things.)

So...thanks for reading. Sorry if it's rambling a bit :(

I appreciate any advice you can give me.
 
The 7200rpm is slightly faster but generates more noise and vibrations than the 5400rpm. I'd go for the 750GB 5400rpm.
DO NOT BUY APPLE RAM!
Get 2 x 4GB from amazon or your local retailer. RAM prices are down right now! Here in Europe "2 x 4GB 1333MHz SO-DIMM 204" are being sold for 39 €.
 
I have the stock 500GB @7200 and to be honest it is faster than the 5400.
The noise and vibration doesnt change at all and the power consumption is like the same.

Reading and writing is actually faster on 7200 drives.
 
Yeah, I've been reading not to buy RAM from Apple all over the place. I'll probably just get the 4GB, then update to 8 if necessary, buying from somewhere else.

To be honest, I wouldn't be thrilled about extra noise and vibrations--I've had enough of that with my PC....and I'm not exactly in a hurry or anything.... I'll have to think on it a bit more before I decide...
 
Malfise said:
Yeah, I've been reading not to buy RAM from Apple all over the place. I'll probably just get the 4GB, then update to 8 if necessary, buying from somewhere else.

To be honest, I wouldn't be thrilled about extra noise and vibrations--I've had enough of that with my PC....and I'm not exactly in a hurry or anything.... I'll have to think on it a bit more before I decide...
Click to expand...

Just get the 5.2k. If you want an increase in speed, STILL get the baseline HD and buy a SSD from somewhere online. There's no reason to go with the increased speed of the HD when the difference is somewhat minimal and, chances are, you won't be able to notice them.

Have you tried to find comparison videos on youtube? To me, that seems like the obvious thing I'd try first. See if somebody has a video with identical machines that have different drives in them and see for yourself.
 
Young Spade said:
Just get the 5.2k. If you want an increase in speed, STILL get the baseline HD and buy a SSD from somewhere online. There's no reason to go with the increased speed of the HD when the difference is somewhat minimal and, chances are, you won't be able to notice them.

Have you tried to find comparison videos on youtube? To me, that seems like the obvious thing I'd try first. See if somebody has a video with identical machines that have different drives in them and see for yourself.
Click to expand...

That's very good advice.

The 7200RPM drive WILL be faster but it will never be night and day.

Your BIIIIIG difference when will come you move from a traditional platter based HDD to an SSD... as Young Spade said, get the bigger drive and then consider upgrading to an SSD later if you want more speed.

Upgrading to SSD is where you will REALLY feel the difference that a hard drive upgrade makes (boot times, loading times and general "snappiness" of the OS).
 
I'd personally would get the 7,200 RPM if space isn't an issue, since you are not paying any extra for it.

A bit off topic, but if you are having trouble deciding between 4GB and 8GB of RAM then why are you so set on the 2.3GHz? The 0.1GHz isn't going to be as noticeable as the 8GB RAM upgrade, or you can put that $250 towards an SSD and notice an even bigger increase in perfromance. Unless you really need a "top of the line" computer (and since you're indecisive about RAM I would think not) the upgrade isn't really necessary.

And like others have said, I don't suggest getting your RAM upgrade from Apple, it's too expensive through them.
 
I've wanted to look up Youtube, but I'm still on dial-up, so I'll have to wait until I can get to the library. But if it's a small difference, like you say, I'll just go with the larger drive then get an SSD later if needed.
 
Actually, you can tell the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm.

go with whatever your priority is: space or speed?
 
Malfise said:
I've wanted to look up Youtube, but I'm still on dial-up, so I'll have to wait until I can get to the library. But if it's a small difference, like you say, I'll just go with the larger drive then get an SSD later if needed.
Click to expand...

I don't think the difference is worth the price, not when you already have a 5.2k drive already. Of course, you're spending a lot more for less storage with the SSD but if that isn't a problem, you're going to have better results with it.
 
I got the 7200 version for my 2.3Ghz 2011 and to be honest, I haven't noticed that much of a difference. That includes both the apparent speed increase AND the noise levels. Might be worth it since its free but if you want speed definitely go with the SSD.

Btw get your RAM from Crucial over half the cost of Apple's and you get to keep the old sticks :) Plus free next day shipping!!
 
DeadPixel217 said:
I got the 7200 version for my 2.3Ghz 2011 and to be honest, I haven't noticed that much of a difference. That includes both the apparent speed increase AND the noise levels. Might be worth it since its free but if you want speed definitely go with the SSD.

Btw get your RAM from Crucial over half the cost of Apple's and you get to keep the old sticks :) Plus free next day shipping!!
Click to expand...

Crucial is the widely accepted, stable RAM that everybody generally gets correct?
 
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