5400 and 7200 rpm HD

I searched and found a few threads regarding the differences between a larger capacity 5400 rpm HD and a smaller capacity 7200 rpm HD. I noticed in some instances the 5400 rpm HD outpreformed the 7200. Does this still apply? or have there been advances... because the most recent thread i read was in 2008 i believe... thanks for the help.. and i missed a thread with the same exact question

 

The performance difference depends on the application. A 7200RPM will make your computer feel more responsive since it has a faster data access time. The platters spin faster so the read/write heads do not have to wait as long to access various parts of the platter.
This difference will be most apparent in random reads/writes. So opening programs, etc.

As far as a higher-capacity 5400RPM drive outperforming a 7200RPM . . . depends again on the situation and the drives. The data access time on a 7200RPM drive is going to be faster regardless.

The performance of 2.5-inch 7200RPM drives vary greatly depending on the manufacturer. Western Digital's Scorpio Black and Hitachi's 7K500 series are the fastest; Samsung and Seagate are the slowest. 7200RPM drives do not carry much of a price premium over 5400RPM drives so I highly recommend one.

If you could be more specific with your question (like which drives you are talking about), we could help more.

 

i dont know any specifics... i was just wondering.. if i was to configure a envy 14, which hd would be the best choice... is it already known what HD's are offered with the envy 14?

 

It depends on what you need. If you need the storage, the bigger drive is better. If you can do without it, the 7200RPM is faster. And an SSD is faster still, at the expense of even more storage.

We can't tell you what is best, because "best" is different for everyone.

 

im just talkin speed wise.. not capacity

 

Your question has been answered already. For speed, SSD >> 7200 RPM > 5400 RPM.

 

yeah but, and i really don want to confuse you

but example at hand

i had a 320GB WD scorpio (blue) , and please do not skewer me.....simplest score...WEI was a 5.4, changged that to a 750GB WD (PVT) and the tech it sports gave me a score of 5.9..... things and boot times are subjectively more better than the 320GB, but cant say objectively....at least the simplest (and crudest) of the scoring systems show a remarkable improvement

PS my primary concern was space....but with this drive i got some performace as a bonus

 

Well, both drives are Blues at 5400 RPM, so platter speed at that point is not a factor. The 750 GB is likely faster for one, or both, of 2 basic reasons. First of all, the 750 GB drive is most likely a newer model drive than the 320 GB drive, and as new models come out, they are almost always faster than previous models, all other variables aside. Additionally, due to the higher platter density required for the 750 GB drive compared to the 320 GB drive, once you actually start reading, it can read the data faster (although access time usually goes up in consequence, so multi-tasking will generally feel slower).

The boost in WEI is almost certainly due entirely to the higher capacity, and not to any boost in speed. The biggest problem with WEI is also one of its biggest strengths; as just a simple number, with no hint of what goes into getting that number, the fact that the score has gone up can be due to any number of reasons, whether it is just the fact that it's a newer model, the higher capacity, or speed.

 

WEI is one of the worst benchmarks out there.

If you want to compare those disks I would suggest running CrystalMark and look at the 4K random read. I'm expecting they will be very similar in performance.

 

Not related to speed, but... how would power consumption and heat generally compare? Most people consider those to be the other hand of the performance coin after all.

 

In general 7200rpm drives use a little bit more power than 5400rpm drives.

The difference isn't that big though. It can be like 10 minutes on 4 hours of battery life on a 13" laptop.

They also get some degrees hotter in general. Normally not any problem.