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Upgrading the HD from 5400 to 7200 RPM seems like a no-brainer for $45, yes?

cloudcity

cloudcity

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 18, 2010
12
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If you build to order, you can upgrade the HD from 5400 to 7200 for only $45, is there any reason NOT to do this? Are there big power usage differences? Does anyone know what kind of harddrive is in this machine?

Also, how easy is it to swap drives out, because for only $55, I could buy this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136279 and move the stock 5400 into the optical drive slot with Optibay...
 
Swapping is easy, less than 10 mins for most, but seeing as the price difference between 5400RPM and 7200RPM has closed in, it might be easier for some to simply take the upgrade.
 
Hello,

I am about to buy mine and I'm 100% upgrading to 7200 RPM especially on the mid-range 15".

Going from 320gb 5400 RPM to 500gb 7200 RPM is a no brainer. the bigger size means faster data access combined with faster rotation.

I am thinking the same as you. In a few months, I'm going to bump up ram from 4 to 8gb myself and remove optical in place for an SSD. When I do that, SSD will be bootable drive, HDD for data storage
 
I agree with you both in regards to the SSD, when I can get a reliable, lab-tested 256GB ssd for less than $500, I will do it FOR SURE. Until then, I'm just wondering what the advantages/disadvantages of upgrading from 5400 to 7200 might be..
 
dual HDD option

Hi,

Just came across this thread and wanted some opinions on what I'm planning on doing. I'll be using an Intel X-25M in my new (2010) MBP, and recycling the built in HDD by using MCE's optibay (http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/) so I have dual internal drives. I was going to upgrade to the 7200 rpm on the 2nd drive but was wondering how much of a hit on battery life to expect, seeing as already with the X-25M battery life will decrease (the SSD being so fast, that the CPU ends up working harder and reducing battery life).

The work I'll be using the MBP for is going to be mainly Aperture, Lightroom, FCP, and Logic. I know that 7200 rpm is more suitable for this work but at the same time 7200 rpm will decrease battery life and create lots more noise. How much less runtime can I expect with the 7200 rpm set up and is the additional noise going to be bothersome?
 
cloudcity said:
If you build to order, you can upgrade the HD from 5400 to 7200 for only $45, is there any reason NOT to do this? Are there big power usage differences? Does anyone know what kind of harddrive is in this machine?
Click to expand...

I'm wondering about the same. Like I've heard the 7200 may cause an increase in noise and temperature. Is it worth? Would you really feel the speed-difference?
 
Well, the price difference is like ten to twenty dollars if you buy the hard drives off newegg or something, and that means you'll have two hard drives- one for backup or external storage. 45$ doesn't seem worth it to me, but it's better than before if you dread assembly and such.
 
cloudcity said:
If you build to order, you can upgrade the HD from 5400 to 7200 for only $45, is there any reason NOT to do this? Are there big power usage differences? Does anyone know what kind of harddrive is in this machine?

Also, how easy is it to swap drives out, because for only $55, I could buy this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136279 and move the stock 5400 into the optical drive slot with Optibay...
Click to expand...

Why not go for a 320 gig, 7200RPM WD Scorpio for $68.00 instead? 13 bones more, and looks like it got great ratings.

Also, I've seen no data to suggest that the Intel SSD consumes MORE battery life. Quite the opposite, in fact.
 
breathesrain said:
Well, the price difference is like ten to twenty dollars if you buy the hard drives off newegg or something, and that means you'll have two hard drives- one for backup or external storage. 45$ doesn't seem worth it to me, but it's better than before if you dread assembly and such.
Click to expand...

Thanks. For me it's more important that it's not getting very hot. That's the main reason why I'm thinking about.
 
wolf99 said:
Thanks. For me it's more important that it's not getting very hot. That's the main reason why I'm thinking about.
Click to expand...

SSDs are very cool, from all I've heard. And I believe Apple uses the Hitachi 7k500 for the 7200 RPM 500 GB drive- it's that or the Seagate (right now there are only two 7200 500 GB laptop drives on the market). Get the Hitachi; it has better reviews. I was planning on doing that myself, but I'm thinking about getting a little SSD instead...
 
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