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Torn between a 7200 RPM/500 gb or 5400/1tb for MBP...need advice!

A

Andy Dufrain

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
8
0
SF - LA
Title pretty much sums it up. 7200 seems to top out at 500gb

About to buy my first MBP (currently have an Imac and Touch) and 320gb just wont be enough for me.

I plan on doing a lot of video work. Editing in FCP, creating in Motion and maybe learning AE.

So speed is somewhat of an issue for me - but so is space! What are the pro's and cons here? What would you guys do ?
 
I wouldn't even consider a 5400 RPM drive, regardless of the capacity. 5400 RRM is too slow. Stick with the 7200 RPM at minimum or get a SSD.
 
7200 RPM internal, plus external FW800 drive/array. Or, swap out your Superdrive for an additional HDD.
 
im glad i went with the 7200rpm in my final decision! you should go with one too! good luck.
:apple:
 
Hellhammer said:
Buy 1TB and replace the SuperDrive with SSD to get both, speed and capacity
Click to expand...

+1

make sure to put the SSD in the original drive slot and your storage drive in the optical bay. Seems to get more speed that way. An 80gb SSD boot drive makes a mbp fly!!
 
a 1TB is 5200RPM, not 5400RPM.

It is slow, but its not horrible. The only time you'll notice it being slow is if you're trying to access a lot of files at once.
 
Andy Dufrain said:
Title pretty much sums it up. 7200 seems to top out at 500gb

About to buy my first MBP (currently have an Imac and Touch) and 320gb just wont be enough for me.

I plan on doing a lot of video work. Editing in FCP, creating in Motion and maybe learning AE.

So speed is somewhat of an issue for me - but so is space! What are the pro's and cons here? What would you guys do ?
Click to expand...

If 320 GB is not enough, then obviously 500 GB won't last much longer. And there is one thing that many people forget: A hard drive gets slower as you fill it with data. That is because on the outer tracks of the drive, the hard drive can fit more data per track; on the inner tracks much less data will fit. As a result, a 1TB drive with 500 GB on it will still be almost at full speed, while the 500 GB drive works at half the original speed or less. For hard drives, bigger = faster.

I see someone recommending SSD drives. 500 GB SSD means a new mortgage for most people :D
 
I tried a 7200 rpm drive in my MBP, the noise and vibration was significant, enough so that I removed them and went the SSD route. Totally silent, blazingly fast, and I use an external FW800 drive for media storage when needed. Best of all worlds this way, honestly (except cost, this was pricier by about $500 compared to other options).
 
Thanks for the great advice, and as expected, some good reasons to go either way. This would be an easy decision if the SSD would just lower in price! Good grief, just price checked a 500gb SSD, more then the MBP!

What is the superdrive ?

Also I should mention that I do already have a Fw800 2tb drive (damn HD files get big fast!) Do you guys know of benchmarks for the two hard drives ? By the time I install all the software and library's, i'm at 100gb + and every 5 min of video cost me about 100gb. I have the 320gb with my imac and when I'm not working on a project I have 100gb free, but that goes quickly once I start one up!
 
Andy Dufrain said:
Thanks for the great advice, and as expected, some good reasons to go either way. This would be an easy decision if the SSD would just lower in price! Good grief, just price checked a 500gb SSD, more then the MBP!

What is the superdrive ?

Also I should mention that I do already have a Fw800 2tb drive (damn HD files get big fast!) Do you guys know of benchmarks for the two hard drives ? By the time I install all the software and library's, i'm at 100gb + and every 5 min of video cost me about 100gb. I have the 320gb with my imac and when I'm not working on a project I have 100gb free, but that goes quickly once I start one up!
Click to expand...

SuperDrive = DVD drive

80GB SSD is ~200$, use it for apps and OS X. Then get big HD, maybe even 1TB and replace the SuperDrive with it. SuperDrive is useless for most people, ext DVD players work fine if needed.
 
I'm leaning towards the 1tb drive, because i have heard that a full drive runs slower then a 1/2 full.

They did it again:


Went into the Apple store in SF and talked to the Apple guy and asked, rheorically almost, that if I replace my hard drive will it void my warranty, and to my surprise, he said YES ! He even went back to check with someone and confirmed his answer.

I still believe the answer to be no but they need to get there story straight.
 
I am in the exact same dilemma.

I may end up going for the 1TB for a couple of reasons. I figure with a lower RPM, it'll be quieter. With a denser platter, it may not be too much slower than a 7200rpm 500gb HDD. It also does have more space too :)
 
Andy Dufrain said:
I'm leaning towards the 1tb drive, because i have heard that a full drive runs slower then a 1/2 full.

They did it again:


Went into the Apple store in SF and talked to the Apple guy and asked, rheorically almost, that if I replace my hard drive will it void my warranty, and to my surprise, he said YES ! He even went back to check with someone and confirmed his answer.

I still believe the answer to be no but they need to get there story straight.
Click to expand...

Ugh. Im so tiring of seeing this. The manual tells you how to do it. I don't know how much more proof is required. It does NOT void the warranty.
 
I use Final Cut Studio on my MBP and on a desktop MP.

What I did with my MBP is install a 500GB 7200 Hitachi internal for system files, applications, and misc stuff. And bought a second 500GB 7200 2.5" Hitachi drive to put in an OWC Mercury OnTheGo external FW800 bus-powered enclosure just for video files. It could be argued that the internal drive will be a bit faster due to the esata connection, but I like having the video data files external to the machine for easy use with my other Macs and the FW800 connection is pretty zippy with an external 2.5" 500GB 7200 drive.

As for the 1TB 2.5" drives... they're relatively new to market. I would wonder how proven and reliable they are... I just don't know yet about that... time will sort it out.
 
trondah said:
And voids the warranty...
Click to expand...

Yes, but you get the best out of both worlds. If you have to send it to repair, just put the SuperDrive back. So many people have done that and unless you break something, it's unlikely that techs will notice it
 
Personally I'm going for the new Seagate Momentus XT hybrid, it's a 2.5" 7200RPM drive with 4GB SSD for cache. It's reasonably priced and offers a big improvement over normal platter drives without compromize on size.

Even if you can put the Superdrive back I'd rather not mess with my MBP in any way.
 
trondah said:
Personally I'm going for the new Seagate Momentus XT hybrid, it's a 2.5" 7200RPM drive with 4GB SSD for cache. It's reasonably priced and offers a big improvement over normal platter drives without compromize on size.

Even if you can put the Superdrive back I'd rather not mess with my MBP in any way.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I was considering between HD vs SSD as well but I couldn't get a big SSD due to my budget limit. Now I'm offered this alternative and I think I might actually go for it!
 
I'm considering the Momentus XT too even though I already have a regular 500GB HDD. Want to find more benchmarks though.
 
trondah said:
Personally I'm going for the new Seagate Momentus XT hybrid, it's a 2.5" 7200RPM drive with 4GB SSD for cache. It's reasonably priced and offers a big improvement over normal platter drives without compromize on size.

Even if you can put the Superdrive back I'd rather not mess with my MBP in any way.
Click to expand...

I have not heard about the this Seagate 500gb SSD drive before. Found it on Amazon.

Reviews are luke warm, but they are also dated from 2009. The drive looks promising those, best of both worlds. Now it would be the best of 3 worlds if it was a 1 TB drive
 
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Andy Dufrain said:
I have not heard about the this Seagate 500gb SSD drive before. Found it on Amazon.

Reviews are luke warm, but they are also dated from 2009. The drive looks promising those, best of both worlds. Now it would be the best of 3 worlds if it was a 1 TB drive
Click to expand...

The Momentus XT was announced yesterday. There are other "Momentus" drives, but the XT model is the hybrid. It is a combination 4GB of SSD + 500GB HDD.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
The Momentus XT doesn't include a full SSD cache, it is only for reads, and it consists of a single chip, although SLC.
 
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