MBA SSD drive versus faster rpm drives, thoughts??

[phatjoe]

Hello:

When the MBA first came out, there were many sites comparing the 80GB drive versus the 64GB SSD. Most folks were interested in how much quicker the SSD drive would be, and if it's worth paying the premium price.

Those tests were against a 4200rpm 80GB drive. I question if the SSD has any really advantages over the 7200, 10,000, and 15,000rpm hard drives? 10K rpm drives are becoming more common, and I know the 15k rpm drives are still a rarity but think about it...it spins over 3 times as fast as the current 80GB drive in the MBA.

I know SSD drives are still relatively new, but I'm curious if benchmark tests have been conducted comparing SSD versus a variety of different rpm hard drives. So do you think the current SSD is much quicker than the faster rpm hard drives? I guess through time the SSD's will become more efficient as well.

I understand the true advantage to a SSD is no moving parts, but this is for fun

 

[NC MacGuy]

Hello:

When the MBA first came out, there were many sites comparing the 80GB drive versus the 64GB SSD. Most folks were interested in how much quicker the SSD drive would be, and if it's worth paying the premium price.

Those tests were against a 4200rpm 80GB drive. I question if the SSD has any really advantages over the 7200, 10,000, and 15,000rpm hard drives? 10K rpm drives are becoming more common, and I know the 15k rpm drives are still a rarity but think about it...it spins over 3 times as fast as the current 80GB drive in the MBA.

I know SSD drives are still relatively new, but I'm curious if benchmark tests have been conducted comparing SSD versus a variety of different rpm hard drives. So do you think the current SSD is much quicker than the faster rpm hard drives? I guess through time the SSD's will become more efficient as well.

I understand the true advantage to a SSD is no moving parts, but this is for fun

I think the kicker here is the Air's use a PATA/ZIF i'face and 1.8", 5mm drive. I'm not 100% certain but don't think there are commercially available faster drives w. the tight dim's to fit in an Air. Been wrong before but sure someone would have tried and I ain't seen 'em yet

 

[Tom J]

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5136291/

 

[mcvaughan]

I'm quite happy with mine -- it launches some apps even faster than my Mac Pro.

 

[clayj]

For me, it almost doesn't matter how fast a conventional hard drive is... because for me the main reason to go with an SSD (beyond geek street cred) is that it has no moving parts and is therefore much less likely to fail.