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5400 or 7200 rpm on new Notebook?

Discussion in 'Mobile Computing' started by lopdog, Oct 4, 2007.

  1. lopdog TechSpot Maniac Posts: 378

    I´m about to buy a new notebook, and I´m trying to get a quiet fast system for 3D drawing. How much difference could I expect with a 7200 rpm instead of 5400? I´m talking about speed and reduce battery life. Is it worth the extra money and/or less capacity?
    Btw any experiences on the Intel Turbo Memory? Thanks
  2. poertner_1274 secroF laicepS topShceT Posts: 4,745

  3. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    DO NOT get a 5400 unless you like waiting forever for a boot up. I would not get anything less than a 7200rpm. Also ensure your RAM is maxed out.
    And Yes, it is worth the extra money. If you have to choose between more ram and a faster HD, go with more RAM first.
  4. wogboy12 Newcomer, in training

    Just put a 7200 rpm HDD in my notebook and it doesn't miss a beat. It's very fast and doesn't make much noise at all. So if i was you go the 7200 rpm HDD.
  5. LinkedKube TechSpot Project Baby Posts: 4,180   +23

    I seriously thought this was a trick question.
  6. lopdog TechSpot Maniac Posts: 378

    Thank you guys, I´ll definitely go for the 7200, seems it´s worth the extra money.
     
  7. jobeard TS Ambassador Posts: 12,239   +123

    btw: faster HDs eat more battery power -- prioritize your needs :)
  8. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    but with more ram he will be using his HD less. extra does more than speeding up your system in a laptop - it also decreases page swapping which in turn eats battery life by running the HD more often.
  9. jobeard TS Ambassador Posts: 12,239   +123

    Higher RPM drive will only improve the Rotational Delay by 0.75 (5400/7200).
    However, the biggest factor in HD performance is the Seek Time which is 10x
    slower than the R.D. Yes it all matters, especially when aggregated over long
    time periods, but the HD doesn't stop, rev-up, read and the stop spining --
    it spins continuously DRAINING the laptop battery all the while.

    Like I said, prioritizing your needs is important for a laptop choice :)
    eg: Battery life, graphic rendering speed, raw compute power, storage capacity
    and memory.

    Top on the list of evey purchase is RAM and HD capacity and other factors fall
    in line thereafter.