5400 RPM HD vs 7200 RPM HD

Hi all,
What are the specific advantages of upgrading to a 7200 RPM hard drive in the Macbook Pro vs. the 5400 RPM drive that comes standard?
I am a commercial/editorial photographer and am considering obtaining a 17" Macbook Pro for use as a tool on location and in the studio for tethering to my camera so that files can be stored directly to a hard drive and clients can see images that can be manipulated right away on a nice large display. All of my color critical Photoshop work is done on my Mac Pro and cinema display.
Thanks in advance.
Best,
Dennis

I suggest you have a read through this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049659&tstart=0
I would consider holding off purchasing any Macbook Pros until we know they have fixed the issue that is causing regular clicks, beeps and 30-40 second system freezes.

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5400 rpm v. 7200 rpm

Does anyone have first hand experience to how much slower the 5400 is? is it THAT noticable?
and does the 7200 really hog THAT much more energy/battery life than a 5400?
thankkk you.

Here's a pretty good article in reference to your post:
http://barefeats.com/rosa06.html
IMHO, get an external Firewire 7200 rpm drive and fuhgettaboutit.

Upgrading the 5400 RPM Harddrive to 7200 RPM.

Hey guys. I just bought the new 17" MBP yesterday at the Apple store. The only drawback is that I was wanted to get the 7200 RPM harddrive rather than the 5400, but the store only got in 5400's since the 7200 is a BTO option. So today I ordered a compatible (Hitachi Harddrive -- bought off of macsales.com) that is a 7200 RPM (100 GB). My question is: Do I need to have anything else besides my screwdriver kit, new harddrive, and macbook pro service manual? Does this void the warranty if I perform this upgrade myself? I read the "one-year" warranty and you could interpret it both ways according to what I read. Also, are the power requirements the same between the two drives? It looks like it, but I just wanted to run this accross the pros incase I need to be made aware of something. Thanks and I will look forward to giving out the points. Take care.

William, I'm not too sure about that interpretation.
Apple lists lots of user-serviceable parts on my PowerMac, both in the user guide and on the Support site. I've got a clear go-ahead to replace or add a hard drive, for example and instructions on how to do that. So doing that (assuming I don't damage anything) doesn't void my warranty.
The only explicitly listed user serviceable (add/replace) parts for the MacBook Pro, however are RAM and the battery. Given the language of Apple's Warranty provisions, it's not a given that changing anything inside the MBP case (or even opening the case) wouldn't void the warranty.
Another example might be the "Rev. C" iMac. Previously, there were lots of user-serviceable parts. When Rev. C (iSight iMac G5) came out, that was reduced to RAM only. Anything else inside the case was supposed to be taken to an authorized Apple repair center to do the work.
Apple's Support site has DIY (do it yourself) links for lots of models, but not for the MacBook Pro. But from Apple's description of DIY activities, it's pretty clear that opening the case of the MBP wouldn't qualify.
Given the potentially high cost of repairs on a notebook computer, I would be cautious about voiding my warranty or AppleCare. I would encourage someone to get an official response in writing from Apple about what users can and cannot do without risking warranty/AppleCare coverage. (But I'll bet the lawyers would hedge the language, so that MPB owners would never get clear, express permission to pop the case and install a different hard drive.)

Option to go from 5400 rpm HD to 7200 rpm? Apple waiting for my phone call.

Hi,
My new 15" Macbook Pro is being replaced with a new laptop due to problems. I am in discussion with Apple regarding confirmation of my current laptop specs. When the HD spec was discussed, 5400rpm 500g, I asked about upgrading to a 7200rpm. Apple indicated that would be possible.
So the question is; is it worth upgrading to the 7200 HD? I heard from a local Apple store that the 7200's can cause heat problems and quick draining of the battery. But they couldn't tell me why. I don't have a lot of confidence in what I was told by then, due to other experiences.
So, 7200 or 5400? Your opinion would be much appreciated. Upgrade cost btw is only $60. So it's not a money issue.
Thanks in advance.
Peter
Message was edited by: Petermgr

Unless its bearings are failing, the hard drive temperature sensor will typically show the lowest reading of all the sensors in a MBP, often by a wide margin. How a hard drive could "cause heat problems" is a complete mystery to me. As for power consumption, most users notice no perceptible difference in battery run time after switching from a 5400 to a 7200 RPM drive. Some manufacturers' specifications show nearly or exactly the same power demands for 7200 RPM drives as for 5400s.
It is likely that you will hear a 7200RPM drive more of the time than a 5400, though it may still be pretty quiet. And it's possible that you will feel more vibration through your hands on the keyboard and wrist rests.
I wouldn't have Apple upgrade the drive, though. I'd save $60 and have them install a 5400RPM unit, and then I'd spend the $60 and maybe a little more besides to get a bigger 7200RPM drive, install it myself, and use the 5400 RPM drive for backup or extra storage. Then I'd have two drives for $10-$30 more than just the 7200RPM drive would have cost me if Apple had installed it.

Swap 5900 RPM HDD for 7200 RPM OS/Programs?

This is my hard drive arsenal for HD editing in Premiere
Internal Hard Drive 1: 2TB Seagate Barracuda Green, ST2000DL003-9VT166, 64MB Cache, 5900 RPM, ATA/ATAPI-8, Stores-Operating System and Programs
Internal Hard Drive 2: 2TB Seagate Barracuda, ST2000DM001-1CHI64, 64MB Cache, 7200 RPM, ATA/ATAPI-8, New just installed and empty.
Internal Hard Drive 3: 1TB Seagate Barracuda, ST1000DM003 SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache, New not installed.
Internal Hard Drive 4: 1TB Seagate Barracuda, ST1000DM003 SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache, New not installed.
How would you configure these in a four drive setup? Should I change out the 5900 RPM operating system and programs with one of the 7200 RPM?

I would make drive 3 or 4 system and programs disc and then make disc 1 to store renders or backup of projects etc.
Ulf

5400 versus 7200 rpm firewire disk: does it matter?

I'm in the market for an external firewire drive. The model I'm considering (LaCie Rugged Hard Disk) comes in 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm versions. I will be using my iMac G5's FireWire 400 connection. Given the transfer speed limitations of FireWire 400, will I see a difference between the 5400 rpm and the 7200 rpm models?
I will typically use Retrospect to backup my entire hard disk, and Synchronize Pro to synchronize folders between the external and internal disks.
Thanks.

Probably not with 400 transfer, however if you want to upgrade your computer later to an intel with 800 Firewire, you might be glad of the greater speed.

Hard Drive Upgrade from 5400 to 7200 RPM

Well my logic board died and i have gotten that replaced and now i need to upgrade my hard drive from 5400 to 7200 rpm. I just dont know how to replace it. I have the memory upgraded so im good there just need help upgrading the drive
So how would i replace it?
Please help
thanks
and if there are any websites that could help me upgrade my HD

It is easy....
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook-Core-2-Duo-Hard-Drive-Replacement/514/1

How do I know if a core I5 and 5400 rpm drive is ok for me or if I should get a core I7, 7200 rpm dr

Buying a new laptop. My old Dell Inspiron is giving up the ghost.
How do I know if a core I5, 5400 rpm drive is good enough for me or if I should get a core I7, 7200 rpm drive laptop? Also can I get an I5 with 7200 rpm or an I7 with 5400 rpm? Need some recommendations. I am not a computer expert so need some good explanation on what to get and why? I don't do video games on the laptop. Mainly use it for mail, Excel, word, internet searches, internet videos, etc.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

I actually have the Envy Ultrabook is why I asked. HP provided me one for a testing unit so we here on the Forum could keep abreast of their latest offerings. The mSSD accel cache is amazing. It gives ultrafast boot times and hard drive access. It does make the laptop hard to work with for tekkies, but for most users who will not try to monkey around with the OS, like dual boot with Linux or reload with a clean install of your own Windows 7 and other similar stuff it is a great performer...no need for a 7200 rpm drive.

Portable external raid - should I get 5400 or 7200 rpm?

Hi,
I'm in need of a portable external raid 1 for live data protection. I do illustration work in photoshop and I use bridge to access and view files and reference. I would like to write all my files and read all my files from an external raid 1 and I am wondering if I should get a 5400 or 7200 rpm setup.
My concern is read and write speeds.
My portable setup is a mbp 2.16 intel core duo. I'm thinking of getting the g raid mini 2.
Thanks in advance

Thanks for the response.
To clarify my question though -
1. I'm wondering if either will be fast enough to work off of - I'm planning on keeping the internal drive clean and all data would reside on the raid(so no incremental backups will be needed).
2. will the difference between 5400 and 7200 be worth the difference in price - ie. lag time or a noticeable speed difference.
Thanks

Is the new mac mini $799 320GB HD a 7200 RPM or 5400?

Is the new mac mini $799 320GB HD a 7200 RPM or 5400?
Meaning is it actually bigger and faster than the $599 or just bigger?

I forgot where, but I read a website where they benchmarked that the 320GB was a bit faster due to having 2 platters. In real-world terms though I don't think most people would notice the speed difference.
If you got one of those fancy Solid State Drives heh...

5400 rpm vs 7200 rpm on new MacBook pro?

What is the difference? Will I really notice it when video editing? Does it change battery life and longevity?

About 1800 RPM? But seriously, folks. It's a matter of speed. The 7200 RPM drive will typically be faster at i/o than the 5400 RPM drive. Any activity that requires a lot of disk i/o will benefit from a faster drive.
Battery life will be slightly but not significantly less - maybe as much as 10 or 15 minutes. There is not a huge difference in power consumption between 5400 and 7200 RPM drives.

5400 rpm or 7200 rpm?

Will i be able to notice a big difference between the 5400 and 7200 rpm hard drives? If so in what area will this change be noticed?

there are lots of other threads already discussing this. search '5400 7200'

5400 ROM & 7200 RPM HD's

I hope this is the right place to post this.
I have a 250GB 5400 RPM HD in my Macbook Pro. I want to replace it with the biggest HD I can find. I think I will get a 500GB or a 400GB @ 7200RPM. What I was wondering is if you guys think that the 7200RPM drive will run warmer than my 5400 drive? I need more space, please give me some suggestions?

The largest drive you can actually fit in your MBP is the Samsung 500 GB Spinpoint. You will also need to know how to disassemble the computer and you will need a few specialized tools. User replacement of the drive is not authorized or approved by Apple, so if you have any warranty remaining that warranty will be void with respect to any consequential damage caused by replacing the drive. To prevent that you would have to arrange for the work to be done by an authorized Apple technician or by your local Apple service center.
7200 RPM drives are not noticeably warmer than 5400 RPM drives in the same size class because they both use nearly the same amount of power and, thus, dissipate about the same amount of heat.

7200 rpm vs 5400

hello,
after 5 years of good work, my 100/7200 rpm HD went dead and the store has a 160/5400 HD to offer, while the 100/7200 has to be ordered to apple (1 more day). i do not exactly realize the performance difference between the 2s. i mostly use word processor, while sometime i use iphoto and aperture for my digital pictures and other time i run an audio editor software.
any advice and/or personal experience would be very welcome!

No one has manufactured 7200RPM ATA/IDE drives that will work in Powerbooks for at least two or three years now. New ones are almost impossible to find. I would be very surprised if you could obtain one from Apple, so I suggest that you ask whoever is offering to order it for ironclad confirmation that they really can get one. Otherwise you may end up waiting a long time, only to be told that it's not available after all.
Of the uses you mention, only the audio work might benefit significantly from a 7200RPM drive. If I were you, I'd install a large (up to 320GB) 5400RPM drive.

5400 / 7200 RPM. How To Check That?

hi guys.
the box with a brand new external usb drive i am planning to purchase from my local computer store doesn't say whether it's as fast as 5400 or 7200 rpm.
how do i normally check that parameter through my computer? i tried checking that on my current usb drive with system profiler, but can't see such a section anywhere!

Aram Rian wrote:
thanks for the reply.
hmm, well i still need to somehow make sure the rotation speed of the usb hard drive i am going to purchase is 7200 rpm
I don't think it really matters from a practical point of view. The maximum sustained transfer speeds you can get out of Hi-Speed USB (USB2) is about 30-35 MB/sec. This is well under the speeds that most current 5400 RPM notebook drives are capable of. For example, a Hitachi Travelstar 5K320 drive is capable of up to 729 Mbit/sec, which is higher than 90 MB/sec.

5400 RPM HD vs 7200 RPM HD

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