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Hard Drive Upgrade Question

djejrejk

djejrejk

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 3, 2007
520
1
Uhh...
Im not sure if anyone has a good answer for this, but I am picking up a new HD for Leopard later this month for my MacBook Pro, I am looking at these two..

Seagate 160

Hitachi 160

The specs are very similar,.. 160gb, 7200rpm, etc.. but the Seagate features 8mb cache and a 3.0 gb/sec interface and the Hitachi features a 16mb cache and a "sata 2.5" interface. I assume that this is a 1.5 gb/sec interface (does anyone know anything about this?). I am currently leaning toward the seagate.

So my question is this: Am I better off going with a drive with larger cache or faster interface?
 
thx. 1 more question

Eidorian said:
I'd go with the larger cache. You're not going to be able to saturate the 3.0 Gbps connection.
Click to expand...

TheStu said:
To the best of my knowledge, the MBP doesn't even have a Sata3GB/s interface, so get the one with the larger cache.
Click to expand...

Good call, Hitachi it is.. 1 more question. To anyone who has recently purchased a hitachi drive- I have heard that some of these drives come with a usb 2.0 enclosure kit. Is this true?
 
My 200 GB 7K2 Hitachi came bare.

Great drive, though, no noticeable effect on battery life or heat production, and more speed improvement than I expected - maybe due to the cache or the perpendicular drive technology?
 
would you reccomend a 200 72k over a 250 54k? is there much perfornce issues between the speeds?


also, what is a reputable hd to get in this range? i tried researching but i find that people may or may not have experiences with one kind over another.

thanks
 
italiano40 said:
i say faster interface, but that is me
Click to expand...

A faster interface and half the cache just means the cache will run dry/or get filled in 25% of the time as the other drive.

All the bus does is use the cache at full speed, once that is empty or filled the drives are about equal in MB/sec -- which is where looking at the mechanical limits of the drive helps.

All the SATA interface has to be in faster that 50-60MB/sec to be faster than most drives.

---

>dukebound85

The speed of the drives is likely similar in the real world, unless you are trying to run a profession video or sound app on the machine. Faster seek times, and maybe 1-5MB/sec between one drive and the other.

For non-professionals where milliseconds and an extra 5MB/sec aren't deal breakers, a 25% larger drive can make the difference in a year or two, especially at the rate people's data is bloating.
 
OK, I'm gonna tell you guys a very cool thing. If you buy this drive from Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...at0504003&type=product&tab=1&id=1177112455216

and search for the ones with the serial number that starts with DTG, you're actually getting the Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 with 200GB and 7200 RPM, seriously. Just open it up and replace with the one in your laptop and use the case for the one in the laptop. I did that when they were for $ 140 and it was a real fu**ing bargain. Trust me on this. Peace.
 
Zeeno said:
OK, I'm gonna tell you guys a very cool thing. If you buy this drive from Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...at0504003&type=product&tab=1&id=1177112455216

and search for the ones with the serial number that starts with DTG, you're actually getting the Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 with 200GB and 7200 RPM, seriously. Just open it up and replace with the one in your laptop and use the case for the one in the laptop. I did that when they were for $ 140 and it was a real fu**ing bargain. Trust me on this. Peace.
Click to expand...


no way are you serious or just joking
 
Zeeno said:
OK, I'm gonna tell you guys a very cool thing. If you buy this drive from Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...at0504003&type=product&tab=1&id=1177112455216

and search for the ones with the serial number that starts with DTG, you're actually getting the Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 with 200GB and 7200 RPM, seriously. Just open it up and replace with the one in your laptop and use the case for the one in the laptop. I did that when they were for $ 140 and it was a real fu**ing bargain. Trust me on this. Peace.
Click to expand...
Yes, someone else mentioned that the serial number was from the same range as the Travelstars, can't remember who or on which thread though.
 
Zeeno said:
OK, I'm gonna tell you guys a very cool thing. If you buy this drive from Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...at0504003&type=product&tab=1&id=1177112455216

and search for the ones with the serial number that starts with DTG, you're actually getting the Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 with 200GB and 7200 RPM, seriously. Just open it up and replace with the one in your laptop and use the case for the one in the laptop. I did that when they were for $ 140 and it was a real fu**ing bargain. Trust me on this. Peace.
Click to expand...

This guy is not joking!! I stumbled upon a similar thread this AM. Long story short, I went to best buy at lunch and bought one for myself. (Be sure to get one that has DTG in the S/N. They had a few others that were not "DTG") Sure enough, its the 7K200. You are getting a $200 drive for $140 PLUS a USB enclosure!

This is a steal!
 
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