USB 2/3 and 5400/7200 RPM

[vmachiel]

Hi forum,

So I'm looking to buy a 1TB external hard drive. To future proof it, i'd look to buy it with USB 3. But will that make a difference if the drive is 5400 RPM, or is 7200 needed to exceed USB 2 speeds? The searches I did online gave different answers, so i'm hoping some one here has one

Thank you

 

[simsaladimbamba]

A 5400 RPM HDD can at least offer 70 MB/s, a 7200 RPM HDD at least 90 MB/s.
USB 2.0 has a maximum throughput of 37 MB/s, thus only USB 3.0 will take advantage of the faster speeds of HDDs.

 

[vmachiel]

Ok thanks, so i'll rate USB 3 over 7200 RPM

 

[rlantagne21]

I just picked up one of the new 1TB Seagate Backup Plus drives to use with my new rMBP... It's only a 5400rpm drive but I get between 90-110 MBps transfers over USB 3.0 (monitored it with activity monitor) depending on the type of files being transferred.

Most portable external drive will be 5400rpm. There are a few that are 7200, but I wouldn't limit yourself to just 7200rpm drives, considering 100 MBps on average is more than adequate for what most people need.

 

[vmachiel]

Ok, I went for a Western Digital 1TB 5400RPM with USB3. Thanks for the advices