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    5400 Rpm vs 7200 rpm... noob question-__-

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by KayC, Dec 4, 2011.

  1. KayC

    KayC Notebook Consultant

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    Ive seen a lot of these questions before but they were from the 2007's. Has it changed much?

    is the 7200 rpm really that much faster than the 5400 rpm?

    Can laptops not be able to run the 7200 rpm because of overheating issues?

    What do you guys recommend. I do gaming, nothing intensive like witcher or skyrim, but dota, and league of legends.
     
    KayC, Dec 4, 2011
    #1
  2. pitz

    pitz Notebook Deity

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    These days, you should really do everything you can to get a SSD into your system instead of a traditional HDD.

    The thermal characteristics of 7200rpm drives are barely different from those of 5400rpm drives in the laptop environment.
     
    pitz, Dec 4, 2011
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  3. KayC

    KayC Notebook Consultant

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    Well i know the ssd is a lot better than the hdd, but i dont have the money to afford that.
     
    KayC, Dec 4, 2011
    #3
  4. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Just as 5400 RPM drives eventually killed off the 4200 RPM models, today a 5400 RPM drive is just as dated in a modern O/S like Win7. Unless you're super concerned about heat/noise/power for a DATA drive solution - 5400 RPM drives should not be allowed to power the O/S. The last 5400 RPM drive that I lived with for a few months (until the 7K500 showed up) was back in 2009/2010.

    7200 RPM drives should be the minimum boot/OS drive in a current system (for a long time now...).

    What would I recommend? The Seagate XT Hybrid 750GB HDD with 8GB nand cache.

    Good luck.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Dec 4, 2011
    #4
  5. acroedd

    acroedd Notebook Evangelist

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    5400rpm drive is crap! either get a 500gb momentus xt for $139 or get the newer 750gb for $249
     
    acroedd, Dec 4, 2011
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  6. KayC

    KayC Notebook Consultant

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    KayC, Dec 4, 2011
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  7. hockeymass

    hockeymass that one guy

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    hockeymass, Dec 4, 2011
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  8. Shemmy

    Shemmy Notebook Evangelist

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    Why, exactly, is it crap?

    Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
     
    Shemmy, Dec 4, 2011
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  9. jmiller0809

    jmiller0809 Notebook Consultant

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    5400 is like waiting for syrup to hit the floor... There's a reason they come free in virtually every setup - they are worthless. You could not resell a 500 gig 5400 rpm HD for more than $50 if it was right out of the box... There's just no point to owning it.
     
    jmiller0809, Dec 4, 2011
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  10. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    Cheap data storage is the only reasonable use of a 5.4K RPM imo. There is no point in putting a 7200RPM drive in a USB 2.0 enclosure as the USB will be the bottleneck.
     
    tijo, Dec 4, 2011
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  11. acroedd

    acroedd Notebook Evangelist

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    what abt usb 3.0? ;)
     
    acroedd, Dec 4, 2011
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  12. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Make that ALL pure HDDs. Garbage! I cannot believe that people are still buying them. Atleast go for a hybrid. Come on
     
    Cloudfire, Dec 4, 2011
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  13. KayC

    KayC Notebook Consultant

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    Hockeymass, they only have a 5400 rpm available and its been like that since cyber monday, i guess i got to wait
     
    KayC, Dec 4, 2011
    #13
  14. gull_s_777

    gull_s_777 Notebook Consultant

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    I think still there is no point putting 7200RPM in even usb 3.0 eclosure....
    I think it would be better to buy bigger 5400RPM which cost same or less, and high density platters will make up for the lost sequential speed :D
    as far as random performance goes, i think that isn't important for external storage anyway..
     
    gull_s_777, Dec 4, 2011
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  15. Shemmy

    Shemmy Notebook Evangelist

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    So they're worthless because they're slow? They have no use as low-power, low cost storage media? :rolleyes:
     
    Shemmy, Dec 5, 2011
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  16. ramgen

    ramgen -- Morgan Stanley --

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    Not everyone in this world can afford $300+ drives. That is the reason why people still buy traditional HDDs.

    If you equalize the price of the same capacity HDD and SSD, everyone will switch to SSDs.


    --
     
    ramgen, Dec 5, 2011
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  17. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    A Momentus XT 500GB is only $139, not $300 like SSDs are. I have no idea how HDD prices are but I don`t think that is too far away. A 128GB Crucial M4 is $200, $60 more than the momentus and is muuuch faster. Yes I can see the whole capacity argument, but people will realize how much crap they actually have in their hard drive that they don`t need that they can delete and keep the files they do need under 128GB. If you have photos and movies you like to hold on to, you can buy an external HDD and use it for that instead. You don`t need a blazin fast drive for that anyway.

    I will NEVER EVER use a HDD again. EVER. Worst piece of junk there is.
     
    Cloudfire, Dec 5, 2011
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  18. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Real world performance, SSD vs. Hybrid vs. 7200rpm vs. 5400rpm.

    Depends on the usage pattern. For average daily usage differences are small, as the review above shows.

    For installing and heavy multi tasking the SSD is a lot faster.
     
    Phil, Dec 5, 2011
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  19. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Well yeah to some extent. Launching applications is almost the same with hybrids and SSDs. Launching several applications while using the disk for programs running at the same time on the other hand is different. File copy and working with big files is much faster on a SSD. File copy is not much done anyway so you are correct. Installation like shown in the link you posted is done every now and then for joe, so he can feel the difference there.

    Nice review btw Phil. Show how much there is to gain for so little extra $. :)
     
    Cloudfire, Dec 5, 2011
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  20. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Someone offered me a used XT 500GB for the old price (80 euros), Crucial M4 128GB is 160 euros. Guess what I took :p
     
    Phil, Dec 5, 2011
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  21. TomJG90

    TomJG90 Notebook Evangelist

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    I personally would never ever get 5400rpm drives... They're just too slow... Best choice would be to get 7200rpm.. Its middle ground and if you want some SSD like performance, get Momentus XT...
     
    TomJG90, Dec 5, 2011
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  22. ramgen

    ramgen -- Morgan Stanley --

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    5400 rpm is just junk. That is out of discussion for a main system drive.


    --
     
    ramgen, Dec 5, 2011
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  23. TomJG90

    TomJG90 Notebook Evangelist

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    +1... Totally agree with ya.
     
    TomJG90, Dec 6, 2011
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  24. KayC

    KayC Notebook Consultant

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    Alright i will wait for the 7200 rpm to come out on the dv6..
     
    KayC, Dec 6, 2011
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  25. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    There is nothing preventing you from getting a new drive yourself and an enclosure for the old one. That way you can clone the 5400RPM to the 7200 and use the 5400 in the enclosure as an external afterwards. HDD prices are still sky high right now though.
     
    tijo, Dec 6, 2011
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  26. Fenom96

    Fenom96 Notebook Evangelist

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    Get the Asus.
     
    Fenom96, Dec 6, 2011
    #26