100 gb 7200rpm or 120gb 5400rpm - Pros and Cons

[Shacklebolt]

So, as I've said in another post, Apple was supposed to send me a MBP 2.16/1gb/120gb/Glossy and instead they sent me a 2.16/1gb/100gb7200rpm/matted

I'm sold on the idea of a matted screen, and I also actually like the idea of a faster hard drive, but then again, it's 20 gigs smaller. Is 7200 really that much faster?

 

[flukewurm]

**** yes it is. i would most certianly take that 100gb 7200rpm over the alternative...

 

[WildCowboy]

It very much depends on your needs. Will those 20 GB make a difference for you? If you don't plan to exceed 100 GB, then the 7200 rpm drive will give you a nice upgrade in boot time and data transfer. But if you plan to go over 100 GB, you're looking at either installing a new drive at a later time or going with an external solution to hold your extra data.

The relative value of faster vs. larger drives is different for different people.

 

[California]

So, as I've said in another post, Apple was supposed to send me a MBP 2.16/1gb/120gb/Glossy and instead they sent me a 2.16/1gb/100gb7200rpm/matted

I'm sold on the idea of a matted screen, and I also actually like the idea of a faster hard drive, but then again, it's 20 gigs smaller. Is 7200 really that much faster?

I think so. But it may depend on the cache size of the 120 drive. Also I believe just the fact of a larger drive counts for some speed difference. But let a more informed person tell you about it -- these are my off the cuff impressions, not hard facts. I will tell you I have chosen a 100gb 7200rpm drive over a 120 5400 drive for speed reasons.

 

[jsw]

The speed benefits depend on what you're doing with it; advantages range from obvious to negligible.

On the other hand, it'll take infinitely longer to load files that don't exist on it because you needed the extra 20GB.

I'd call Apple and at least register a complaint; maybe they'll send you a gift card.

 

[treblah]

A good comparison of 5400 vs. 7200rpm drives in the MBP.

 

[Erendiox]

I'd go for the 100 gig 7200. Definitely.

20 gigs isn't all that much, and the faster HD will save you time on just about everything you do. Boot times, application launch times, Read/Write times, all depend on the speed of the HD. I think you'll appreciate that more than an extra 20 gigs. I know I would.

 

[risc]

I'd go for the 100 gig 7200. Definitely.

20 gigs isn't all that much, and the faster HD will save you time on just about everything you do. Boot times, application launch times, Read/Write times, all depend on the speed of the HD. I think you'll appreciate that more than an extra 20 gigs. I know I would.

Actually the barefeat benchmarks above actually refute everything you say above.

To the OP check the barefeat benchmarks linked to 2 posts above before you make your mind up. The reality is that unless you are working with large files you wont notice the difference at all.

 

[WildCowboy]

Although your personal needs are the determining factor (as I said above), I'll throw out that I have always chosen the larger drive over the faster drive when I've had the choice for my laptops.

 

[risc]

Although your personal needs are the determining factor (as I said above), I'll throw out that I have always chosen the larger drive over the faster drive when I've had the choice for my laptops.

After reading the benchmarks on barefeats and then checking out the benchmarks Abuila did here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/206695/ which confirm everything barefeats said (as you would expect) I went with the 120 GB 5400 RPM over the 100 GB 7200 RPM and I'm glad I did for what I use the notebook for the space was definitely more important.

Now if only someone would bring out a 320 GB 7200 RPM notebook drive I could get rid of my network storage.

 

[buffalo]

Sorry for going off-topic, but what is the speed on a 160GB drive on a Rev. B iMac G5? I looked at the About This Mac but I didn't see anything.

 

[WildCowboy]

Sorry for going off-topic, but what is the speed on a 160GB drive on a Rev. B iMac G5? I looked at the About This Mac but I didn't see anything.

Should be 7200 rpm.

 

[Timepass]

No matter how big of a hard drive you put in there you will fill it up. It human nature. The only a matter of time and the larger drive will take longer to fill up. On the 100 gig you really only have 93.17 gigbytes and on the 120 it really only 111.17 in the computer (the ones they sell are telling you it in base 10 and computer run on base 2. So a gigbye is really 1024 megabytes and so on down. So it add about to about a 7% less than what they tell you.

After that you need to keep at least 20% or so free on the OS drive for page filing. Drop below that and the computer speeds start reduction starts becoming notiticble. In stead of trying to really understand it just accepted it as a fact and good practice.

the 120 you want to keep a little over 20 gigs free. A little less on the 100gig.

Net diffence in useable drive space is about 15gigs. And you will noticed that diffence. It take you a little longer to fill up that extra 15gigs before you want more space.

I remember back when I my parents got a 40 gig hard drive and I was thinking I will never fill that up. Now I sitting on my own 120 gig drive and in need of another hard drive. My room mate is sitting a about a terrabyte of hard drive space and I say by xmas he going to have it full. it just a matter of time before it happens.