5400 or 7200

Entensity · 10-08-2006, 12:57 AM

For a laptop, what's the difference in these two speeds...and which should I buy?

chauffeur2 · 10-08-2006, 01:03 AM

G'Day Entensity,

Quote:

For a laptop, what's the difference in these two speeds...and which should I buy?

To answer this question, two things need to be addressed; the most important one is...Is your laptop capable of supporting a 7200 RPM HDD?

If it is, then Go For IT!
The main difference is the transfer rate for the data on the HDD to the CPU and back....most HDD's today are 7200 RPM, but as I said it will depend entirely upon whether your laptop can take it.

crazijoe · 10-08-2006, 10:45 AM

The down side to a 7200rpm drive is the heat it can create. Especially in a laptop.

**TheMatt** · 10-08-2006, 02:34 PM

You will notice some difference in speed. Speed is not only dependent on the RPM, but the cache as well. So it would make an even bigger difference if the 5400 RPM drive had a 2 MB cache and the 7200 RPM drive had an 8 MB cache. Both will work fine if they are the correct interface.

Note that when I say "speed", I am talking about real life applications, not benchmarking.

**Fox** · 10-08-2006, 02:42 PM

Also, take into consideration that with an increase in speed and heat comes an addition in price and power consumption. A 5400RPM hard drive will yield better battery life than a 7200rpm one. Plus it'll probably be more expensive.

In my opinion, unless you have a laptop with other stellar hardware (including a good video card), then it's not worth the extra expense.

Tumbleweed36 · 10-08-2006, 05:59 PM

Hi,

In a laptop, go for the slower speed (less heat) if all other things are equal. To be quite honest, there isn't a great deal of performance difference in most of those.

**FreoHeaveho** · 11-16-2006, 12:36 PM

Entensity you had a post a few months back regarding GPU coolbits and drivers, did you resolve that?

10-08-2006, 12:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
Entensity Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Indiana, USA Posts: 124 OS: Vista Ultimate My System	5400 or 7200 For a laptop, what's the difference in these two speeds...and which should I buy?

10-08-2006, 10:45 AM	#3 (permalink)
crazijoe Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha, The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,632 OS: WinXP, Win2K3 My System	The down side to a 7200rpm drive is the heat it can create. Especially in a laptop. __________________ Microsoft MCSA + Messaging, MVP, A+, Network+ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...other/Help.jpg Do you want a real Republican? HDD diagnostic tools / HDD data recovery software

10-08-2006, 02:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	You will notice some difference in speed. Speed is not only dependent on the RPM, but the cache as well. So it would make an even bigger difference if the 5400 RPM drive had a 2 MB cache and the 7200 RPM drive had an 8 MB cache. Both will work fine if they are the correct interface. Note that when I say "speed", I am talking about real life applications, not benchmarking. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

10-08-2006, 02:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
Fox TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,752 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Also, take into consideration that with an increase in speed and heat comes an addition in price and power consumption. A 5400RPM hard drive will yield better battery life than a 7200rpm one. Plus it'll probably be more expensive. In my opinion, unless you have a laptop with other stellar hardware (including a good video card), then it's not worth the extra expense. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!

10-08-2006, 05:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 18,035 OS: XP Professional	Hi, In a laptop, go for the slower speed (less heat) if all other things are equal. To be quite honest, there isn't a great deal of performance difference in most of those. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

11-16-2006, 12:36 PM	#7 (permalink)
FreoHeaveho TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 3,187 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 SP2, Windows XP Professional SP3, Mac OSX Leopard My System	Entensity you had a post a few months back regarding GPU coolbits and drivers, did you resolve that?