7200 vs 5400 (5400 = 100GB more)

At the apple store the 300GB 4200 rpm is more than the 200GB 7200.

# 250GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
# 300GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm [Add $75.00]
# 200GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm [Add $50.00]

Does that mean they're about just as fast? Or is there not that big a difference. I'm going to buy a MacBook Pro and edit with Final Cut Pro so I need as much speed as I can get. Is having the 7200rpm going to make a big difference if the hard drive isn't as big? Is that how it works? (I'll be using an external hard drive as well to add 500GB of storage)

Thanks!!! Great site by the way.

I'm pretty sure HDD RPM speeds don't really effect the speed of the computer itself. I think it'll just read and load CD's put in faster. Install quicker perhaps. I don't know, I really don't pay attention to higher RPM's.

cale_mac said:

At the apple store the 300GB 4200 rpm is more than the 200GB 7200.

# 250GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
# 300GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm [Add $75.00]
# 200GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm [Add $50.00]

Does that mean they're about just as fast? Or is there not that big a difference. I'm going to buy a MacBook Pro and edit with Final Cut Pro so I need as much speed as I can get. Is having the 7200rpm going to make a big difference if the hard drive isn't as big? Is that how it works? (I'll be using an external hard drive as well to add 500GB of storage)

Thanks!!! Great site by the way.

Click to expand...

I would not purchase a 4200 RPM drive. ;P The difference between the 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM drives is access speed and amount of buffer. Certain 7200 RPM drives use a bit more power (a concern if you're running on battery) and generate a bit more noise and heat than the 5400 RPM drives.

If access speed is important to you, go for the 7200 RPM model, however, as you have probably already seen, they cost more and offer less storage space.

A 5400 RPM drive is going to be less power consuming, run a bit cooler and somewhat quieter. Plus less costly and more storage space.

You need to decide....

Regards.

Need the extra space? If not then get more speed.

Your better off buying a 320GB WD passport external hard drive. Then take the HD out of the casing and use that. If you want to keep your warranty, see if apple will install that hard drive. It's rated as one of the fastes 5400 rpm drives and actually outperforms some 7200 rpm drives.

Get a firewire 800 external drive for the video editing. Get the higher rpm drive. You don't want your hard drive to bottleneck your system more than it already does.

Thanks so much!

wytwolf said:

Your better off buying a 320GB WD passport external hard drive. Then take the HD out of the casing and use that. If you want to keep your warranty, see if apple will install that hard drive. It's rated as one of the fastes 5400 rpm drives and actually outperforms some 7200 rpm drives.

Click to expand...

totally agree!!!

i did this same thing. this way you can also do a fresh install of your OS and then transfer the files from your old system. i am a HUGE believer that fresh install beats upgrade or archive every time.

7200RPM for the win. The Hitachi unit thats in my Macbook Pro scored high in Vista Boot camp. The 5400 250GB it came with scored 5.2, the 200GB 7200 unit scored 5.7 its enough for me to care, after all, the hard disk is the slowest part of most computer besides the cd/dvd drive. Id i had extra money id buy a SSD drive but not only cost a absurd amount of green, the capacity is way off from what i need.

This is what i used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145160