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    5400rpm or 7200rpm HD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by TripleH, May 6, 2006.

  1. TripleH

    TripleH Notebook Consultant

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    I have a 5400rpm right now, a Samsung but I am unhappy with how loudly this runs, giving out a slight hum. So I figured if I came across a good price for a Seagate (the brand I should have originally settled for), then I would do it and sell this off, taking a bit of a loss but nothing major.

    Now the two I found were as follows (CDN $)

    SEAGATE-OEM-NOTEBOOK 2.5" MOMENTS 100.0GB 8MB CACHE IDE 5400 RPM HARD DRIVE
    Market Price: CA$170.00
    Cash Discounted Price: CA$165.05

    SEAGATE-OEM NOTEBOOK 2.5" MOMENTS 80.0GB 8MB CACHE IDE 7200 RPM HARD DRIVE
    Market Price: CA$196.00
    Cash Discounted Price: CA$190.29

    Did I just read right? $25CDN more for 5400--->7200? Now, I dont need 7200 and I heard it really drains the battery quick, but if I mostly have my laptop plugged in, will that matter? The only thing that worries me is the heat and making it hotter. Is there really much of a speed improvement in 7200 or should I just settle for 5400.
     
    TripleH, May 6, 2006
    #1
  2. mach_zero

    mach_zero Casual Observer NBR Reviewer

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    I've heard that the performance boost on the 7200 is not worth the extra drain/heat, but don't have any experience with any 7200rpm HDDs personally. But what I can tell you is that I have the 5400rpm 100GB Seagate Momentus in my notebook and it seems pretty speedy as well as running fairly quiet and very cool.
     
    mach_zero, May 6, 2006
    #2
  3. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    I put a 7200RPM HD in my previous notebook. The power consumption and heat difference between 5400RPM and 7200RPM is marginal. The throughput difference is marginal too but the 7200RPM drive has significantly better access times. 7200RPM drives are slightly louder too, higher pitch. If you're going to bother replacing a HD you might as well go straight to 7200RPM. My current notebook came with Seagate 5400.2's that I decided weren't worth the nuisance of replacing.
     
    brianstretch, May 6, 2006
    #3
  4. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    In general, I think the upgrade from 5400RPM to 7200RPM is only worth the money, heat, battery life loss, etc. if you're doing a lot of complex work that involves the swap file (media encoding, CAD, etc.) or are just really impatient. It won't improve your framerates in games or make that much of an impact on general Windows usage that most users can notice.
     
    lowlymarine, May 7, 2006
    #4
  5. titaniummd

    titaniummd Notebook Deity

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    If you run programs off of a Virtual CD ROM drive or Virtual DVD ROM, there is a noticeable difference.
     
    titaniummd, May 7, 2006
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