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SSD + 7200 or 5400?

H

happle

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
501
0
so my 15" macbook pro finally arrived today. i got the quad core 2.4 i7 option, with a 128gb SSD and the hi res anti glare screen. i also slapped 8gb of ram in er today as well. btw i got the toshiba ssd, which supposedly has a slight bit slower read/write benches but no big real world difference. i also read some people reporting problems with beach balling on the samsung and iv always liked toshiba so its not a big concern for me. i went with an apple ssd just for reliability and ease really, plus the price wasn't bad.

now i already have the 'optibay' enclosure to put in place of my super drive, so my question stands, should i get a 7200 rpm hdd or a 5400 in combo with my SSD? battery life does matter to me, as does speed. with the newer drives heat/noise is not as much of a concern. but will i notice the speed increase from a 7200 as my music/photo/sample/etc drive, or should i just get the 5400 rpm?

also how are people making out with the HDD in the optibay? id rather keep it there to avoid sleep issues and such.
 
RPM is not the only factor to consider. Drive density also contributes to performance. Also, differences between different manufacturers can be noticeable. Some 7200 drives are quieter, use less power and create less heat than some 5400 drives. Some 5400 drives are faster than some 7200 drives. Overall, however, I doubt you'll see a significant difference, if the drive is used for user files, since your OS and apps are on the SSD.
 
7,200 RPM drives are slightly faster and consume slightly more power for most models. I would say go for the 7,200 because they don't cost that much more and the extra speed helps when they are loaded up with data. (difference is pretty minor though)
 
i was thinking a WD scorpio black 750gb or a samsung spinpoint 1tb 5400.

the WD seems pretty nice though. consumes little power, has high speeds and good shock absorption.

but I'm also concerned about the drive parking its heads too often in the optibay, will hdapm be necessary to stop this like i usually put on my drives or will it be different since its in the optibay.
 
happle said:
but I'm also concerned about the drive parking its heads too often in the optibay, will hdapm be necessary to stop this like i usually put on my drives or will it be different since its in the optibay.
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Why not put the SSD in the optibay, since there are no heads to park?
 
GGJstudios said:
Why can't you put the 128GB in the optibay?
Click to expand...

you mean put my ssd in the optibay and the hdd in the normal bay? i could do that but i don't really see a point in having to switch the boot drive and face possible sleep issues. i think the HDD would be fine in the optibay. i just usually install hdapm on my drives to avoid clicking and high load cycle counts and I'm not sure if i would need to or how i would do this on a secondary drive.
 
Minhthien said:
Aww man you should had order Samsung SSD and optibay your factory HDD! :(
Click to expand...

nah, this ssd is plenty fast for me. i was shooting for reliability with apples own firmware and legit enabled trim.

when ssd's get cheaper ill get a BIG sata 3 ssd.
 
Could you download Black Magic Disk Speed test from the Mac App store and let us know what kind of speeds you get? (it's free)

I'm curious to see how the Apple-branded SSD's perform. (I believe they run @ SATA2 speeds, 3Gbps)
 
Hi happle. Good choice, I got the same configuration. I read elsewhere that all MBP Apple SSDs are toshiba, only the Air comes randomly with Samsung or Toshiba.

Which RAM did you get?

I would go with an external HDD (firewire 7200 rpm), but that's just me.


@Acejam2k

I get 210 read/200 write, or something like that. Anandtech had similar results with the Toshiba SSD. Yes, it runs @ 3Gbps.
 
Acejam2k said:
Could you download Black Magic Disk Speed test from the Mac App store and let us know what kind of speeds you get? (it's free)

I'm curious to see how the Apple-branded SSD's perform. (I believe they run @ SATA2 speeds, 3Gbps)
Click to expand...

yeah around 200/210 write/read i think it was. benchmarks don't mean much to me. if my apps open in less than one second and one bounce, then I'm happy. honestly its fast enough for me, i was more concerned with just getting any reliable ssd and straight from apple seems to be the answer. also there must be a reason in why they are only putting toshiba ssd's in the MBP's.

thundersteele said:
Hi happle. Good choice, I got the same configuration. I read elsewhere that all MBP Apple SSDs are toshiba, only the Air comes randomly with Samsung or Toshiba.

Which RAM did you get?

I would go with an external HDD (firewire 7200 rpm), but that's just me.
Click to expand...

i got crucial 1333 ram for 35 bucks shipped.

and i can't be carying an external drive around me everywhere i go. id rather carry an external cd drive that i will use much less.
 
happle said:
i got crucial 1333 ram for 35 bucks shipped.

and i can't be carying an external drive around me everywhere i go. id rather carry an external cd drive that i will use much less.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks. My external HD (WD mypocket or something) is lighter and probably smaller than the magsafe charger. But it makes sense to have the device built in that's in use more often.
 
thundersteele said:
ok, thanks. My external HD (WD mypocket or something) is lighter and probably smaller than the magsafe charger. But it makes sense to have the device built in that's in use more often.
Click to expand...

yeah i mean to each his own. it all depends on how you use your own computer.

usually where i use my mbp its a pain to have to pull out an external like in class or something just if i wanna listen to a song or get some documents. but if i wasn't in school then it probably wouldn't bug me...but yeah either way is cool. and like usually when i need my superdrive i will be at home or somewhere where my mbp will be sitting for a while like when watching a movie. so idk it just makes sense for me.

I'm just trying to see if i should get the WD scorpio black 750gb. it seems to take up the same or even slightly less than some 5400 drives and its fast so..
 
I'd say since you only need the extra HDD for data use, i'd get the 5400 because the 7200 will be abit noisy and it's unnecessary.
 
miker2209 said:
I'd say since you only need the extra HDD for data use, i'd get the 5400 because the 7200 will be abit noisy and it's unnecessary.
Click to expand...

well it will be used to load samples into reason and ableton so speed is still welcome.
 
There's more to it than rpm, which manufacturer is a big consideration. I don't have either of the two drives you were considering, but I do have a HIT0J12283, Hitachi 2.5-Inch | SATA 3.0Gb/s | 7200RPM | 16MB Cache, 750gb drive in my optical bay and it is quiet, quick and does not use up my battery more than 5-10% more than without it.
 
Ant.honey said:
There's more to it than rpm, which manufacturer is a big consideration. I don't have either of the two drives you were considering, but I do have a HIT0J12283, Hitachi 2.5-Inch | SATA 3.0Gb/s | 7200RPM | 16MB Cache, 750gb drive in my optical bay and it is quiet, quick and does not use up my battery more than 5-10% more than without it.
Click to expand...

actually before you posted this i started considering the hitachi 7k 640gb. the 750 is a bit pricey now and i have less than 500gb on that drive anyway so 640 will be plenty.

I'm then probably going to buy a little 750gb 7200 rpm hitachi external as well for backups.
 
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