What FAST spinning HDD for MBP 13"?

[cheesyappleuser]

Hi there,

Now that Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales are in full swing, I am looking for a replacement to my not-very-old 500GB Scorpio Black that Western Digital refuses to cover.

Since two years are an eternity in technology matters, I am now looking for a FAST spinning HDD for my 13" MBP. Spinning means no SSD as budget simply isn't there for a 500GB SSD.

What are your recommendations among 2.5" 7200RPM drives?

As some people already said, Seagate's SSHD appears to be a good solution.
The small NAND can handle your OS and most important files and give a good boost to your computer. The OS startup will be noticeable immediately, some apps might take some extra time. There's not any reason to consider a hard drive without NAND.

The 1TB drive is $100 on Amazon, $76 for the 500GB.

 

[Cubytus]

There's not any reason to consider a hard drive without NAND.

Well, there is if there's no improvement in day-to-day computing. Booting a machine is NOT part of my day to day routine on a Mac. As digits show, basically a hybrid HDD trades two years off warranty for a bit more performance. That said, WD hasn't lived up to its 5-year warranty claim.

I am willing to take a chance on a Seagate hybrid with 7200rpm drive inside. After all, if it doesn't have a large price difference with a Scorpio Black, there is not much to risk. Just looking for concrete, real-world data and speed tests, particularly over the Scorpio Black, as we all know stock 5400rpm is just a placeholder.

Edit: looked at availability: both NCIX and Newegg seem out of stock on the fast ST750LX003, from Seagate.

 

[cheesyappleuser]

Well, there is if there's no improvement in day-to-day computing.

Well, there is a difference. Although more noticeable on light users.

 

[Cubytus]

Sometimes I max out my 16GB RAM and leave many heavy apps open at the same time. Would I see a large difference? Knowing that SSHD with 7200rpm drives are nowhere to be found.

 

[theSeb]

You could also take a look at the 1TB Hitachi Travelstar 7K1000, 7200rpm, 32MB cache

 

[Gav Mack]

Sometimes I max out my 16GB RAM and leave many heavy apps open at the same time. Would I see a large difference? Knowing that SSHD with 7200rpm drives are nowhere to be found.

I've found three sites here in the uk selling the momentus xt 750gb new on google shopping.

 

[Cubytus]

I won't ever trade with anyone using Google Checkout, or Google Shopping for that matter. This is one hard principle.

On the other hand, I looked at the Travelstar's rating on harddrivebenchmark.net, and it seems even way above the Scorpio Black. However, it is nowhere to be found on common sites :-/

 

[Gav Mack]

I won't ever trade with anyone using Google Checkout, or Google Shopping for that matter. This is one hard principle.

On the other hand, I looked at the Travelstar's rating on harddrivebenchmark.net, and it seems even way above the Scorpio Black. However, it is nowhere to be found on common sites :-/

I never buy from them either but google is very good at finding the reputable sites who I do trust. 2 of the 3 I've bought from before..

 

[Cubytus]

Both and NCIX and Newegg are my first choices, and they don't have any of those high performance HDDs. Don't know where else to find them, but in the meantime, what are other suggestions in addition of:
- 2nd gen Seagate XT Momentus
- WD Scorpio Black
- Hitachi Travelstar 7K series?

 

[Gav Mack]

Both and NCIX and Newegg are my first choices, and they don't have any of those high performance HDDs. Don't know where else to find them, but in the meantime, what are other suggestions in addition of:
- 2nd gen Seagate XT Momentus
- WD Scorpio Black
- Hitachi Travelstar 7K series?

I would look for an XT 750, new off eBay even. Can look up with warranty via the serial number so you get the full warranty rather than oem which I think is 3 years.

Failing that I'm coming up empty. The words high performance and mechanical hard drives in the 2.5 inch category no longer belong together, with perhaps only the velociraptor the only exception which will not do.

Reading all your needs through I suggest you don a mask, rob a bank or sell all the junk you no longer need on eBay or Craigslist to buy an 1tb 840 evo. I upgraded my XT 2 in my i5 2010 to that drive and despite running SATA 2 the difference is literally night and day. Almost twice as fast again with SATA 3 in your MBP!

 

[Cubytus]

Asking each seller for the hard drive serial number and contacting the manufacturer to know warranty support? The XT has a lower measured performance than a Hitachi. Is it better in day-to-day usage? Yes there are performance 2.5" rotating drives, and these three are good ones.

For sale I have only a HP Color Laserjet 2320nf to take, a bunch of large hard drives, and an older router. I don't hang on junk, but I haven't received a single email on these. The constraint here is budgetary. I have to build a NAS, and can't get both, and internal drive HAS to be replaced soon. Since rotating drives provide good performance, then rotating it will be.

 

[Macshroomer]

Am I the only one here who is baffled by this?

The OP seems to *need* his computer to earn a living, his current drive is going south, he insists on speed and can not seem to come up with the extra $229 for an INCREDIBLY fast Samsung EVO 500GB drive???

I'm not sure how much you make an hour, but in terms of the time you have spent on here, the SSHD eating speed the EVO would give you, the bomber reliability, better battery life, lower heat...?...my god...come up with the coin somehow...seriously.

I am not trying to be harsh but it's a NO BRAINER, the gains you are brooding over with these spinners are measured in fractions of an inch and a good SATA-III SSD is in MILES!!!!

 

[Gav Mack]

Asking each seller for the hard drive serial number and contacting the manufacturer to know warranty support? The XT has a lower measured performance than a Hitachi. Is it better in day-to-day usage? Yes there are performance 2.5" rotating drives, and these three are good ones.

For sale I have only a HP Color Laserjet 2320nf to take, a bunch of large hard drives, and an older router. I don't hang on junk, but I haven't received a single email on these. The constraint here is budgetary. I have to build a NAS, and can't get both, and internal drive HAS to be replaced soon. Since rotating drives provide good performance, then rotating it will be.

Ask the seller a question, get the serial then look it up on seagate's site. I do it for apple products almost daily.

Personally unless your 500gb black is failing I would stick with it until you can save for the real deal, a truly worthwhile upgrade. For bang per buck sticking a spinning 1tb inside simply isn't worth it - even a hybrid.

 

[Cubytus]

Am I the only one here who is baffled by this?

The OP seems to *need* his computer to earn a living, his current drive is going south, he insists on speed and can not seem to come up with the extra $229 for an INCREDIBLY fast Samsung EVO 500GB drive???

I'm not sure how much you make an hour, but in terms of the time you have spent on here, the SSHD eating speed the EVO would give you and the bomber reliability, better battery life, lower heat...my god...come up with the coin somehow...seriously.

I am not trying to be harsh but it's a NO BRAINER, the gains you are brooding over with these spinners are measured in fractions of an inch and a good SATA-III SSD is in MILES!!!!

Oh you mean this $350 drive? Or this $450 one?

Yes that's true, I don't want to put more money in the drive than I would in the NAS skeleton, all while surveillance cams are not bought yet. In an hour, here, one can only expect to get $10, to $12. Yes, unemployment and precariousness are the norm. And the computer isn't used to earn my living but my future living. Now please respect given constraints. A fast spinning drive is possible, as I this one was before early failure and refusal from WD to honor the warranty.

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Ask the seller a question, get the serial then look it up on seagate's site. I do it for apple products almost daily.

Personally unless your 500gb black is failing I would stick with it until you can save for the real deal, a truly worthwhile upgrade. For bang per buck sticking a spinning 1tb inside simply isn't worth it - even a hybrid.

I forgot to add this in the first post maybe, but this early replacement is necessary since the disk seems to host a small number of bad sectors whose number seem to vary across disk checks. I suspect they also significantly slowed down drive performance. I could stay with it, but already had a bad sector appearing in a seemingly crucial part of the disk, which rendered the system unbootable in an instant.

 

[Macshroomer]

Oh you mean this $350 drive? Or this $450 one?

Yes that's true, I don't want to put more money in the drive than I would in the NAS skeleton, all while surveillance cams are not bought yet. In an hour, here, one can only expect to get $10, to $12. Yes, unemployment and precariousness are the norm. And the computer isn't used to earn my living but my future living. Now please respect given constraints. A fast spinning drive is possible, as I this one was before early failure and refusal from WD to honor the warranty.

----------

I forgot to add this in the first post maybe, but this early replacement is necessary since the disk seems to host a small number of bad sectors whose number seem to vary across disk checks. I suspect they also significantly slowed down drive performance. I could stay with it, but already had a bad sector appearing in a seemingly crucial part of the disk, which rendered the system unbootable in an instant.

Ah, you are in Canada, I see the price difference...

I'd say get the 1TB SSHD and be happy with that, if I were in your shoes, that is what I would do instead of wondering about your current drive. I had the SSHD in my 2009 MacBook Pro for about a week before I sold the computer to upgrade to my current machine, about as fast as I would ever expect a 2.5" spinner to be.

I think you know your options at this point....

 

[Gav Mack]

Oh you mean this $350 drive? Or this $450 one?

Yes that's true, I don't want to put more money in the drive than I would in the NAS skeleton, all while surveillance cams are not bought yet. In an hour, here, one can only expect to get $10, to $12. Yes, unemployment and precariousness are the norm. And the computer isn't used to earn my living but my future living. Now please respect given constraints. A fast spinning drive is possible, as I this one was before early failure and refusal from WD to honor the warranty.

----------

I forgot to add this in the first post maybe, but this early replacement is necessary since the disk seems to host a small number of bad sectors whose number seem to vary across disk checks. I suspect they also significantly slowed down drive performance. I could stay with it, but already had a bad sector appearing in a seemingly crucial part of the disk, which rendered the system unbootable in an instant.

That's a little bit of information we should have known from the start

Buy another 500gb drive as a stop gap, anything and save for the real thing and forget about top of the line spinners. For maybe 5% at most you're wasting your money.

I've had so many clients and friends experience the 'SSD moment'. Once you go solid state on your boot drive you will never go back, I look forward to you bumping this thread one day or even sending me a pm

 

[Cubytus]

I'd say get the 1TB SSHD and be happy with that, if I were in your shoes, that is what I would do instead of wondering about your current drive. I had the SSHD in my 2009 MacBook Pro for about a week before I sold the computer to upgrade to my current machine, about as fast as I would ever expect a 2.5" spinner to be.

I am not wondering about the current drive. I know it must be replaced since it had a serious failure not long ago. On the other hand, the Hitachi Travelstar has a better score than the SSHD from Seagate, but neither can be found in stock, unfortunately. Sorry, a one-week experience doesn't count. eBay remains, though.

That's a little bit of information we should have known from the start

Sorry for missing that important part, I tend to type posts after long days or nights working and I do forget some obvious (for me) details. That's why forums and asking questions are for

Buy another 500gb drive as a stop gap, anything and save for the real thing

That is actually my intention. As soon as finance get better and the fast spinning HDD simply isn't enough, it will be replaced by a SSD. But at the moment, I don't want to lose any performance. For the 5% price difference there is no reason to settle for an inferior spinner

 

[Cubytus]

No other suggestion for fast spinners that are actually available?

 

[jerrykur]

No other suggestion for fast spinners that are actually available?

These hybrid drives are starting to disappear. SSD prices are dropping each year and there is a convergence coming a few years down the road. 4 years ago a 250 GB SSD was over $1000. Now they are around $150.

 

[Gjwilly]

You might get the info you're wanting in a more hardware-based setting.
Have you seen this?
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2013-mobile-hdd-charts/benchmarks,136.html

 

[Menneisyys2]

Hi there,

Now that Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales are in full swing, I am looking for a replacement to my not-very-old 500GB Scorpio Black that Western Digital refuses to cover.

Since two years are an eternity in technology matters, I am now looking for a FAST spinning HDD for my 13" MBP. Spinning means no SSD as budget simply isn't there for a 500GB SSD.

What are your recommendations among 2.5" 7200RPM drives?

Why don't you buy a, say, 128G SSD for the OS drive and a DVD HDD bay + a 9mm HDD? Best of both worlds: speed where needed and tons of storage on the HDD - for VERY cheap. And, as it's not used for the OS, the speed of the HDD wouldn't be as important and, practically, any 9mm drive would do.

 

[Cubytus]

You might get the info you're wanting in a more hardware-based setting.
Have you seen this?
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2013-mobile-hdd-charts/benchmarks,136.html

No, I haven't but it seems again to confirm what I've been stating: SSHD performance conflict from one site to another. I've been on harddrivebenchmark.net, and otherwise got the same results, with Hitachi and other SSHD topping off present Scorpio Black. SSHD seems a bit better at application loading, but lower on almost every other score involving extended read and write. Besides, there's still the availability issue, as these high-scoring drives are rare.

The point is, I don't know a way to assess which part of my computer time is devoted to what operation.

Why don't you buy a, say, 128G SSD for the OS drive and a DVD HDD bay + a 9mm HDD? Best of both worlds: speed where needed and tons of storage on the HDD - for VERY cheap. And, as it's not used for the OS, the speed of the HDD wouldn't be as important and, practically, any 9mm drive would do.

I would have the inconvenience of having two independent volumes (already tried that before, it's a major headache when dealing with Time Machine and otherwise standard, 1-Volume Macs). And 128GB SSD is about the same price as a decent 500GB or even 1TB spinner. Data needs to be transferred fast, and an inferior spinner won't cut much on cost, but a significant amount on speediness.

Even as SSD prices continue to fall, and faster than the per-GB price of spinners (maybe NSA's demand is keeping their price high? ), per-GB they're still 3-4 times more expensive than a spinner, so they still aren't on the same market segment.