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    (sata drives): 120gb 5400rpm or 100gb 7200rpm?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by skanky, Jan 18, 2007.

  1. skanky

    skanky Notebook Enthusiast

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    im coming from a IBM T42 which had a 100gb ATA 7200rpm to a T60 with a 120gb SATA 5400rpm drive, will i notice the speed difference at all or should i look to upgrade to a hitachi 100gb 7200rpm and lose the extra 20gb?
     
    skanky, Jan 18, 2007
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  2. TehStranger

    TehStranger Notebook Consultant

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    Advantages of 7200 vs 5400 rpm are not very significant. Yes, 7200rpm is faster , maybe saving you an extra second or so of time. For me, the cost doesn't justify it, so I would stick with the 120GB 5400... disk space is much more valuable.
     
    TehStranger, Jan 18, 2007
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  3. skanky

    skanky Notebook Enthusiast

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    before i upgraded to the 7200rpm ATA drive, i had a 5400rpm drive, stuck that back into the T42 to see what its like and with a fresh install it seemed to be horribly slow.

    will the ATA/SATA interface difference be *that* noitceable?
     
    skanky, Jan 18, 2007
    #3
  4. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    The extra space is only relevant if you need it. I personally prefer a 7200RPM drive as the performance difference is noticeable to me. The difference between SATA and ATA is negligible.
     
    ZaZ, Jan 18, 2007
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  5. ez2remember

    ez2remember Notebook Evangelist

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    Choose the 7200rpm...

    If you said 160gb 5400rpm vs 100gb 7200rpm then I would choose 160gb. Extra 60GB + the very high density of this disk will come close to performance of 100GB 7200rpm drive.

    Performance wise:
    rpm > capacity (higher data density does give increased performance).
     
    ez2remember, Jan 18, 2007
    #5
  6. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I'd take the upgrade.I have a SATA 5400rpm drive and it can be a bit slow at times.
     
    moon angel, Jan 18, 2007
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  7. geekydude

    geekydude Notebook Geek

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    7K100 is pretty noisy during seek though. But you probably knew this already since you came from using a T42. Some 5400RPM 120GB drives like the Toshiba MK1234GSX are completely silent. Just something to keep in mind. IBM notebook drives have significantly better seek time than other manufacturers but that comes at a cost of noticeably higher seek noise. No free lunch...
     
    geekydude, Jan 20, 2007
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  8. Lil Mayz

    Lil Mayz Notebook Deity

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    I'd say go for the 7200rpm drive. The speed and heat dissapation levels of a 5400 and 7200rpm drive are similar, and the power usage of similar as well. It's best to have a faster HDD. using a 5400rpm HDD causes bottleneck in system performance that need not be there.
     
    Lil Mayz, Jan 21, 2007
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  9. skanky

    skanky Notebook Enthusiast

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    been playing around with the 5400rpm drive and it isnt all that much slower, certainly not as slow as the ATA 5400rpm 40gb drive i used to have was.

    i kinda forgot how much more noise the 7200rpm really was! i really dont know if i should upgrade later as the speed doesnt seem to bad.
     
    skanky, Jan 21, 2007
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  10. Phillip

    Phillip Phillip J. Fry

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    well, it all comes down to personal prefrence......I tend to go for performance over capacity.....unless there is a large difference......but given the choice between 5400 and 7200 with only 20GBs difference...I'd take the 7200rpm.....but as I said before that's just my preference.....perhaps you want those extra GBs and don't mind the speed drop......perhaps not.....I don't know.....I can't read minds.........all I can offer is my personal choice....it will be you in the end who makes the final call.
     
    Phillip, Jan 21, 2007
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  11. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

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    I'd rather have more space and wait a bit more on a laggy OS. A 2000rpm difference won't make a SUPER difference though. Remember an extra 20 gbs turns out to only be around 15 gbs extra - but if you are like me and need any bit of space for music, then go with the 120 or 160 GB hard drives.
     
    Gautam, Jan 21, 2007
    #11