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Is 1800 RPM extra worth an extra 4 weeks wait?

ieani

ieani

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 3, 2006
827
0
the states for now
My local Apple store has the stock 2.0 GHZ which has everything I want but the hard drive. Ive been on a desktop with a 7200RPM for close to a year now and am afraid the 5400RPM will come across too slow for me. Should I wait or is the extra RPM only noticeable with large files?
 
It depends on your needs of course. Programs that require heavy-duty disk access like video editing software could see good benefits from a faster spindle speed, but if you're just doing basic iTunes/web browsing/etc. then I don't think the wait is warranted.

Have a look at the spindle speed section of this page: http://barefeats.com/pb12.html to get some idea of the differences (if any) a faster spindle can make. Personally, I'd just get the 5400RPM drive now if I was in your position.
 
I wont be doing any regular video editing. The occasional home movie or two thats it. Then Ill be using it for World Of Warcraft and just casual use ie watching movies, internet, torrents, itunes, light image editing(i use MS paint right now :) ).
 
It is worth the wait. Even if you only do one home movie in your entire life, it'd be worth it. For WOW, I'd say it'd be slightly worth it. However, my logic is that you want to max out what you can with the exception of ram, buy that third party. So better video, faster hdd, etc.
 
Id wait. I think it is rediculus it come with a 5400rpm HD to begin with.

Brock
 
sintaxi said:
Id wait. I think it is rediculus it come with a 5400rpm HD to begin with.

Brock
Click to expand...

I know it should be stock. It doesnt make sense. They are probably going to make it stock in the 17-inch ones.
 
I too would wait. This is especially important if this is going to be your main computer. The HD is already the slowest thing other then the optical drive in your computer so why not speed if up if you have the chance to.
 
5400 RPM is ok. As long as you don't use any heavy hard disk dependant program, you will be fine with 5400 RPM.
But 7200 RPM gives substantial speed increase. So I'd say wait if you CAN.
 
Gurutech said:
5400 RPM is ok. As long as you don't use any heavy hard disk dependant program, you will be fine with 5400 RPM.
But 7200 RPM gives substantial speed increase. So I'd say wait if you CAN.
Click to expand...

I guess I can...I just dont want to.
 
I figured that since I'm going to be using this MBP for the next couple of years, I might as well get something I'm happy with. Settling for less to get it now won't make you happy in the long run.
 
I wouldn't wait, personally; without comparing side by side, the average user would never know the difference.

If you see purchasing a computer as a long term investment which is very important, you might want to consider waiting. However, if you want something shiny and new and are very excited about it, waiting seems like a bad idea.
 
Unless you are stressing the system, you just won't see the speed increase. You're much better off spending more money on RAM and adding it after-sale; that'll get you much much more performance than the faster hard drive will.
 
Svennig said:
Unless you are stressing the system, you just won't see the speed increase. You're much better off spending more money on RAM and adding it after-sale; that'll get you much much more performance than the faster hard drive will.
Click to expand...

Well I think I am going to get 2 GB RAM anyways so Ill just go for the 7200.
 
ieani said:
Well I think I am going to get 2 GB RAM anyways so Ill just go for the 7200.
Click to expand...

I plan to stick with the 5400 drive based on reviews of this drive in comparison to a couple of 7200 models. You can see a very in depth review here:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/mobile-hdds/index.x?pg=1

(for the record, the MBP uses the Momentus 5400.2 by default)

I couldn't bring myself to pay more money for the same capacity, I figure that I could always plug in a 7200 model in a year or so when disk capacity is better (at least 160GB perpendicular drive). Based on what I read, the platter size plays a big part in performance.
 
brett4got said:
I plan to stick with the 5400 drive based on reviews of this drive in comparison to a couple of 7200 models. You can see a very in depth review here:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/mobile-hdds/index.x?pg=1

(for the record, the MBP uses the Momentus 5400.2 by default)

I couldn't bring myself to pay more money for the same capacity, I figure that I could always plug in a 7200 model in a year or so when disk capacity is better (at least 160GB perpendicular drive). Based on what I read, the platter size plays a big part in performance.
Click to expand...

100GB is plenty for me. If my music collection ever starts to become a problem I could get a 60GB Ipod and use that for all my music. But I think 30GB for music and 70Gb for everything else will be fine.
 
In this day and age you couldn't pay me to use a computer with a 5400 RPM system drive. External firewire file hoarding drives are one thing... but system drive? Few things are more annoying than disk lag.
 
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