5400RPM/16Mb Vs 7200RPM/8Mb

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SBMongoos

[H]ard|Gawd
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Been looking into upgrading the hard drive on my laptop. Currently the drive is a 30G with 2Mb cache and 4200 RPM. I'm looking at a Toshiba 60G that's 5400RPM with 16Mb cache as well as a Hitachi that's 60G and 7200RPM with 8Mb cache.

Would the cache on the Toshiba give it close performance to the Hitachi that has higher RPMs? I' m guessing not but wonder if someone really knows this stuff. The price on the Toshiba is noticeabley better.

Thanks!
 
I would get the 7200 rpm, it will have a "snappier" feel to it despite the lack of cache on the drive. The lack of rotational latency will help alot.
 
Im outside of my laptop warranty by a couple months now (had 3 yr coverage) and the drive just died. They put a new one in it before the warranty died, but it never sounded right and was always warm. Finally started to crap out and I'm transferring to a 7200 RPM drive soon.

I'm putting the replacement dell is sending me in a USB 2.0/Firewire case.

My old drive was an 8mb cache 5400 RPM 60 gig drive. Going to the Hitachi 7200 RPM 60 gig drive you mentioned. If you wanna know how the change feels just lemme know because for the past 3 and a half years the drive in this laptop has been 5400.

I know it's not the same as a 16mb cache but extra cache isn't going to help the seek time much like 7200 RPM will for one thing. That and the Hitachi 7K60 has been reviewed and overall one of if not the fastest laptop drives you can get.
 
looks good. Appreciate the feedback!

Emorphien: let me know what you find out when you get your 7200 RPM installed. Best deal I can find on the Hitachi is about $147 delivered. I'm hoping to get outbid on the Toshiba drive (5400 RPM/16mb) on eBay. I'm the only one that has a bid in with a little over 2 hours left.

Anybody seen a better price than $147?
 
7200 is where i'd go too, just keep in mind it'll take more battery. set it to spin down after 15 minutes or so.
 
Are you talking about the power option under the screensaver tab to turn OFF the drive after 15 minutes?
 
SBMongoos said:
Anybody seen a better price than $147?
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Dell frequently has the Travelstar 7K40 series for less than that, but the catch is you have to wait for the sales to come. Just watch the major deals sites, as Dell has a sale almost every day.
 
xonik said:
Dell frequently has the Travelstar 7K40 series for less than that, but the catch is you have to wait for the sales to come. Just watch the major deals sites, as Dell has a sale almost every day.
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He's talking 60 gigs and thus the 7K60.

I bought it from dell with 15% off or so and free shipping so it was about $150.
 
emorphien said:
He's talking 60 gigs and thus the 7K60.

I bought it from dell with 15% off or so and free shipping so it was about $150.
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Yeah, 7K60, I was going off of memory on this one.
 
i posted a similar upgrade question in the Mobile Computing forum. everyone recommended the 7200rpm drive as well.
 
There are some very strong performers in the 5,400 RPM line, especially when you compare read/write performance. Also, almost every recent 5,400 RPM 2.5" drive will run quieter than the Hitachi 7K60 series.
 
Im gonna take a different opinion on this one. First I'd like to say that I'd never buy anything under 7200rpm for my desktop, however! With my laptops I look for longer battery life, and it to be relatively silent. So my recommendation would be to go with the higher cache, lower rpm which will offer comparable "real-life" results, then again I dont look for laptops to be powerhouses.
 
xonik said:
There are some very strong performers in the 5,400 RPM line, especially when you compare read/write performance. Also, almost every recent 5,400 RPM 2.5" drive will run quieter than the Hitachi 7K60 series.
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I've got the 7k60 sitting out in the open transferring files, it's VERY quiet. I am surprised.
 
Yes, it's all relative, of course. If the 7K60 is very quiet, then the latest from Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, and Fujitsu are very, very quiet.
 
xonik said:
Yes, it's all relative, of course. If the 7K60 is very quiet, then the latest from Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, and Fujitsu are very, very quiet.
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I think we're getting to the point with some of these drives where the argument of quiet is becoming moot because they are all so quiet.
 
Ok so I got the 7K60 drive up and running and it is FAST. I'm up and at my windows (XP Pro SP2) logon screen after less than 20 seconds once the bios screen goes by--and this isn't a new laptop nor has it been stripped of unnecessary processes to boot faster. It used to take a little over twice that long.

I don't have any definitive answers on battery life or heat yet, however all the reviews I've read are favorable considering its speed.
 
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