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    Hard Drives.....

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by crew10489, Sep 3, 2008.

  1. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok so correct me if im wrong but from what i know:
    -the bigger the hard drives storage capacity, the better it will perform

    i have a 160gb 5400rpm drive in my t61p. not fast enough for me. should i upgrade to a bigger sized 5400rpm drive or should i move on to 7200rpm drives?
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    No there's alot more to it.... :p
    What model -> Current HDD ?
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  3. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    WD dunno the exact model
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  4. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    GO in Device Manager > Look under Disk Drives for HDD model....
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  5. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    it says: WDC WD1600BEVS-08RST2
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  6. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Ok, Upgrading to a 320GB 5400RPM HDD will give you a nice boost, and upgrading to the 160GB/320GB 7200RPM will give you an even better boost....
    Whats your budget ? (US ?)
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  7. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    as cheas as possible. also, if i get a new hdd, i will have to reinstall the OS and start from scratch right? now i can deal with this in a desktop but im new to notebooks. to get all the drivers for the hardware, can i get it all off the disc's that came with my notebook.
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  8. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Cloning your previous HDD to the new one is possible....
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3787273&postcount=2
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3385292&postcount=7

    Fast HDDs

    http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009011&prodlist=celebros
    http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008671&prodlist=celebros (out of stock ATM - but best deal)
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145228&Tpk=7k320
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280&Tpk=wd3200bekt
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136278&Tpk=wd1600bekt
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  9. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    you dont recomend using a 5400rm drive at all? not even a 320gb one?
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  10. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  11. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    Greater "areal" density at same rotational speed increases performance. So yes it can seem like larger is faster and in many cases it is, as the increased areal density that is the critical factor not the large size. For example there is a 160GB with the same density as 320GB so similar performance.

    Do you need 5400 or 7200? That cannot be so easily answered. Knowing what you have now and what your complaints are could help us to make suggestions. Complaining about how long it takes to open an application is a little different than "I transfer very large files and want it to go faster".

    Any HDD will likely show improvement in both situations if regularly defragmented. Including your current one.

    That said if the issue is opening applications, faster rotational speed will typically show better performance. That is because access time is usually better with faster rotational speed. The amount of bandwidth is easily met by any current HDD. I mean even if you have 4GB RAM it fills up very fast at 40MB/s or 60MB/s.

    Transferring large files is were density can come into play as a great equalizer vs rotational speed. Consider 7200rpm is 33% faster than 5400rpm. Now if 200GB and 320GB occupy the same space on two disks the 320GB is 60% larger. That would offset any rotational speed advantage of the 7200rpm (if it is the 200GB). Large files will read/write faster from 320GB. Even with slower rotational speed.

    Point of consideration. With computers as many things perception is relative not absolute. This applies to HDD's, CPU's, RAM, Internet really everything. What you are used to? If you have a 4200HDD a jump to 5400 will seem like a nice jump in performance. Someone with a 5400HDD switching to the same 5400HD as previous example may be less than pleased. When complaining about any component to know where you are now is critical to suggesting what might be an improvement. Of course we can all research and find the absolute fastest but really in most cases that is not the question.

    The 7200 vs 5400 the heat and power consumption is an issue that arises often. I am aware it does exist, it is real. In my opinion except in certain very specific circumstances this can get way overblown. Why? Well opinion nothing more, I find them to be so close that performance and cost always give me the answer before I must even consider the previous two.

    As referred to before it is not a game of absolutes. A notebook that performs well is achieved by the knowledgeable consideration of needs and implementation of a good strategy to achieve those needs.

    Of course no budget limitations and buying the fastest of all is a strategy and does achieve the goal of a very fast system. Sometimes beyond the needs of intended user but make no mistake yes will make very fast system.

    But well makes forums like this less necessary and I might say less interesting.

    OP right click "My Computer" icon on desktop. Click properties, go to hardware. Expand hard drives. What hard drive do you have? We can offer more help.

    Edit: Note to self, type faster, use less words?
     
    powerpack, Sep 3, 2008
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  12. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Hahaha....great info. :D (Will link it as a reference in the future ;))
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  13. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    you dont recomend using a 5400rm drive at all? not even a 320gb one?
    would it have a big impact at all?
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  14. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok lol didnt see that post
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  15. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  16. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    You said cheap performance (not extra storage space :p) !!
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  17. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    I have the WD3200BEVT and I am a former owner of the WD3200BEKT.
    Uhmm - Yes.
    But if you are on a budget go for the WD3200BEVT (cheaper one).
    It provides good performance as well (in vista too)
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  18. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  19. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    well givin that i only have 30% free space with my current drive and i got it 2 months ago.....lol
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  20. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    also, do you know if the t61p has a SATA interface. im assunming it does...lol
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  21. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    GO for the Hitachi 5K320, it has the lowest power consumption figures of all the 4 320GB 5400RPMs. Plus it remains cool.

    EDIT: Yes, WD1600BEVS is a SATA drive....
    You can confirm by checking the driver installed in Device Manager > IDE/ATA ATAPI Controllers....
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  22. xlawx

    xlawx Notebook Evangelist

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    xlawx, Sep 3, 2008
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  23. crew10489

    crew10489 Notebook Enthusiast

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    lol its ok, thanx 4 all the help
     
    crew10489, Sep 3, 2008
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  24. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  25. xlawx

    xlawx Notebook Evangelist

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    any recommendation for 500gb??
     
    xlawx, Sep 3, 2008
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  26. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Samsung HM500LI. A bit on the warmer side, and high power consumption.
     
    Andy, Sep 3, 2008
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  27. miro_gt

    miro_gt Notebook Deity

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    - wait one more year, save money, and buy SSD
     
    miro_gt, Sep 4, 2008
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  28. DevlReD

    DevlReD Notebook Consultant

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    So a 500GB 5400rpm is faster than a 320GB 7200rpm?
    If you use them in Raid 0 anything change in there performance?
    I mean 2x320GB 7200 Raid 0 < 2x500GB Raid0?
     
    DevlReD, Sep 4, 2008
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  29. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    Software or hardware RAID? I think software? It matters? But yea sure your example seems correct.
     
    powerpack, Sep 4, 2008
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  30. DevlReD

    DevlReD Notebook Consultant

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    Powerpack we talking about access time (loading games etc) right ?

    Because if is like this it was my mistake i configured my 9262 with 2x320GB 7200rpm in raid 0,instead the faster choice was the 2x500GB 5400rpm.
    Please correct me if im wrong.
     
    DevlReD, Sep 4, 2008
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  31. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The 320GB 7200RPM drives should still be faster.
     
    sgogeta4, Sep 4, 2008
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  32. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Why would the 2 500GB be faster?

    I mean a 320GB/7200rpm drive is a lot faster than the HM500LI so why would 2 be be slower?
     
    Phil, Sep 4, 2008
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  33. DevlReD

    DevlReD Notebook Consultant

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    This was the conclusion i made after i read this thread, that if a disks capacity between 2 drives in % is more than the difference in % of rpms leads to faster performance.
    But thanks for the fast reponses seems i made the correct decission since performance was my only concern.
     
    DevlReD, Sep 4, 2008
    #33