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NEW 15 MBPS: 5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM????

M

MPB11

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 2, 2011
159
0
Hey guys, this will be my first MBP and I'm looking forward on getting the hi-end 15 inc. I've noticed that the 7200 no longer is the standard for the hi-end model. I really hesitate between a 750g 5400 rpm and a 500g 7200rpm considering that there is no price difference!!! I will mainly use my computer for everyday stuff + some audio processing.

What do u suggest aand why??? thx!
 
MPB11 said:
Hey guys, this will be my first MBP and I'm looking forward on getting the hi-end 15 inc. I've noticed that the 7200 no longer is the standard for the hi-end model. I really hesitate between a 750g 5400 rpm and a 500g 7200rpm considering that there is no price difference!!! I will mainly use my computer for everyday stuff + some audio processing.

What do u suggest aand why??? thx!
Click to expand...

I'd get the 500 Gb 7200 rpm drive. I would use the extra speed more than I'd use the extra space - 500 Gb is quite large for a laptop.
 
I don't believe 7200 RPM ever was standard, however, I would go with the 500GB 7200 RPM drive, as it's more likely that you will benefit from the extra speed over the extra space, unless you have a lot of movies.
 
When I bought my 15in 2.3 at the local apple store the other day they said that the top of the line 15 with antiglare only came with the 750gb drive...if you wanted the 7200 rpm one you had to order online.

Decided that i am just going to use this drive and then buy an ssd and put this 750 in the superdrive bay
 
jetjaguar said:
When I bought my 15in 2.3 at the local apple store the other day they said that the top of the line 15 with antiglare only came with the 750gb drive...if you wanted the 7200 rpm one you had to order online.

Decided that i am just going to use this drive and then buy an ssd and put this 750 in the superdrive bay
Click to expand...

How easy would it be for you to replace the drive?
 
I wouldn't care as I would probably get a new 7200 750gb to put in
the new pro and put the other drive in an enclosure as an external HD.

But you want a 7200 in there. It makes a difference. It's not hard to switch a
HD in the unibodies.
 
Thanks for the help guys, your comments help. But I forgot to mention, I never opened a laptop in my whole life so....;) that's why if i go with a 5400 it will stay that way, same if I go with the 7200!
 
I've read a lot of pages regarding the 7200 hdd. No doubt, they are faster for the hard work. But I am also conerned about HEAT and NOISE. Anybody can help regarding this? do they heat up way more and make more noise? I find it hard to believe but you never know!
 
Im also in doubt about this. The extra 250gb is really nice and worth a few seconds extra wait. But adobe recommends 7200rpm for premiere pro, and I assume the same applies to final cut. I really hate that beach ball...

An educated benchmark/test would really really (!) help.
 
I have an early 2010 MBP, with 7200rpm drive.
It's much quieter than my older (2008) 5400rpm drive. Though that's probably just advances in tech.
As for heat, it's very cool. Even when doing a lot of stuff. Noise doesn't bother me either.
 
Either take Apple's deal on the 128 GB SSD (not a bad upgrade at $100) and then put an optibay in with your own hard drive, or get the 750 GB from Apple and order your own SSD with optibay. In my opinion, the 7200 RPM 500 GB is currently Apple's worst option, as it's only a little faster than the 5400 RPM (MUCH slower than ANY SSD), and it's smaller than the 750 GB, so it's not the biggest.
 
axu539 said:
Either take Apple's deal on the 128 GB SSD (not a bad upgrade at $100) and then put an optibay in with your own hard drive, or get the 750 GB from Apple and order your own SSD with optibay. In my opinion, the 7200 RPM 500 GB is currently Apple's worst option, as it's only a little faster than the 5400 RPM (MUCH slower than ANY SSD), and it's smaller than the 750 GB, so it's not the biggest.
Click to expand...

Agreed with everything you said there!

I've never had any experience with a 7200 rpm - how noisy is it compared to the 5400?
 
5400 v 7200

I have not recently had the same computer with both, but the 7200 was very much snappier, than he 5400 in the early 2008 MBP. Ideally I would get an SSD.

There is an argument that the disk is very much the limiting factor for general performance and so if you are getting a posh portable, it's a bit wasted without a comparably fast disk.
 
Would be so helpful if we actually knew which drive apple offers for each upgrade. Cuz a good quality 5400 would triumph over a poor 7200. Things like platters, noise, vibration and heat are important.

Maybe MPB 2011 owners can comment on his. Especially HDD brand and model number would be great.
 
The 500GB 7200rpm drive is very likely a Seagate. Checking out what the 750GB might be should be easy enough with a visit to your local Apple store.

I'd say go for the $100 128GB SSD upgrade, and then get an optibay kit + HDD of your choice if you need lots on onboard storage.
 
I went for the 750gb just because i need the extra space but will be upgrading it and the ram. So i take it opening up the macbook pro will void the warranty but is there anyway they can tell? Like if it broke would i just be able to open it up and swap everything back to how it was then take it in or not?
 
gramw said:
I went for the 750gb just because i need the extra space but will be upgrading it and the ram. So i take it opening up the macbook pro will void the warranty but is there anyway they can tell? Like if it broke would i just be able to open it up and swap everything back to how it was then take it in or not?
Click to expand...

Replacing the RAM and hard drive do not void the warranty.
 
if you are not comfortable swapping out the hdd and ram .. i believe you can bring the stuff to your apple store and they will swap it for u
 
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