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    hard drive (60gb 7200 v 120gb 5400)

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by silenceevolves, Apr 9, 2006.

  1. silenceevolves

    silenceevolves Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am planning on buying a notebook that I will be using for school, programming and gaming and I was curious to see how big of a difference the rpm makes.

    A 120gb 5400rpm hard drive costs about $30 more than a 60gb 7200rpm machine, and I was wondering why the prices were so close. Does the increased RPM (revolutions per minute? I'm guessing) make the 60gb version better than one with double the memory?
     
    silenceevolves, Apr 9, 2006
    #1
  2. syxbit

    syxbit Notebook Evangelist

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    i personally would get the 120gig
    60gig is really not that much
    i don't think the speed increase is THAT much
     
    syxbit, Apr 9, 2006
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  3. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Depends on what you are doing. For general use, a 5400RPM is fine for most.
     
    ZaZ, Apr 9, 2006
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  4. titaniummd

    titaniummd Notebook Deity

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    Anything above 4200 RPM is an improvement in performance. 60 GB is easily taken up if you do ANY multimedia applications.

    I vote for 120 GB 5400 RPM, in your case.

    If the choice was between some closer increment:
    120 GB 5400 RPM
    100 GB 7200 RPM

    Then, I would have chosen the faster drive.
     
    titaniummd, Apr 9, 2006
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  5. drumfu

    drumfu super modfu

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    i agree with titaniummd.

    i have a 60 gb 72 rpm drive. 60 gb sure fills up quick. also, because a 100 gb drive is so densely packed with data, there are some measurements that show it's faster than a smaller capacity 5400 rpm drive because the drive doesn't have to rotate as many times to get info since it's so dense on a 100+ gb drive.

    in any case, as an owner of a 60 7200 rpm drive, i'd say get the bigger one.
     
    drumfu, Apr 9, 2006
    #5
  6. Reize

    Reize Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'd say go for the 120GB 5400 RPM, most people don't need 7200 RPM as most don't do a lot of VERY HD intensive tasks, that's when you need very quick ones.

    I'm only getting a 7200 RPM cause I feel like it.
     
    Reize, Apr 9, 2006
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  7. titaniummd

    titaniummd Notebook Deity

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    My sentiments exactly.
     
    titaniummd, Apr 11, 2006
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  8. philsenn

    philsenn Newbie

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    so what exactly are HD intensive tasks? video/music encoding and that sort of thing? in games, besides slightly longer load times are there noticeable effects during actual gameplay with a 5400vs7200?
     
    philsenn, Apr 20, 2006
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  9. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    No load times are about it.
     
    ZaZ, Apr 20, 2006
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  10. Shampoo

    Shampoo Notebook Deity

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    Forget the 7200rpm and get the bigger capacity drive. The difference for normal use isn't justifiable, unless you need every little bit of performance out of a harddrive.

    Cheers,
    Mike
     
    Shampoo, Apr 20, 2006
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  11. gd-student

    gd-student Notebook Consultant

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    Could someone show a comparison chart of 7200 RPM ATA vs SATA drives to back up their opinions? It would be most helpful because I am firmly sticking to 7200's faster performance in name of running games. Thanks.
     
    gd-student, Apr 20, 2006
    #11