7200RPM vs 5400RPM

[Gamingphreek]

So I got my shiny new MacBook Pro (Core i5) on Saturday; unfortunately, Best Buy didn't carry the 7200RPM HDD model, but with a 5400 RPM 320GB HDD.

I happen to have a 250GB 7200RPM drive lying around from my previous laptop. Is the performance really great enough that I should switch after the semester is over?

-Kevin

 

[corkyg]

So I got my shiny new MacBook Pro (Core i5) on Saturday; unfortunately, Best Buy didn't carry the 7200RPM HDD model, but with a 5400 RPM 320GB HDD. I happen to have a 250GB 7200RPM drive lying around from my previous laptop. Is the performance really great enough that I should switch after the semester is over? -Kevin

I found that in my laptop, a 7200 RPM does provide noticeably better performance over a 5400.

Here's what I would do in your zapatos . . . I would clone my 320 5400 drive to the 250 GB 7200 drive, and swap the drives. I would then keep the 320 drive all ready to as a "spare tire."

 

[Gamingphreek]

I found that in my laptop, a 7200 RPM does provide noticeably better performance over a 5400.

Here's what I would do in your zapatos . . . I would clone my 320 5400 drive to the 250 GB 7200 drive, and swap the drives. I would then keep the 320 drive all ready to as a "spare tire."

If I were to clone the drive, would the OS (In this case OSX) realize on boot that, despite the cloned image saying there is a 250GB drive there, that there is really a 320GB drive?

I'm wondering if the areal density of the platter in the 320GB drive makes up for the 250GB drive's faster speed. Assuming 1x platter, the 320GB has an areal density that is 22% greater than the 320GB drive. The switch to 7200RPM from 5400RPM yields a 25% increase. Wouldn't this mean that the 5400 performs nearly as fast at sequential I/O?

-Kevin

 

[MisterDonut]

SSD or bust 😀. If you can pay for a MBP, you should snag a 60gb OCZ and keep an external (I don't really know if this would actually be a good idea, but I felt like saying it 😀).

 

[MisterDonut]

If I were to clone the drive, would the OS (In this case OSX) realize on boot that, despite the cloned image saying there is a 250GB drive there, that there is really a 320GB drive?

I'm wondering if the areal density of the platter in the 320GB drive makes up for the 250GB drive's faster speed. Assuming 1x platter, the 320GB has an areal density that is 22% greater than the 320GB drive. The switch to 7200RPM from 5400RPM yields a 25% increase. Wouldn't this mean that the 5400 performs nearly as fast at sequential I/O?

-Kevin

Generally speaking, those are just numbers. The 7400 will still probably be faster, but either drive, the difference won't be life-changing. While back, I did a swap between my 500AAKS and 640AALS. The 640 is obviously rated faster, and there were some semi-noticeable changes, but it's nothing that I would hassle over. Just to give a real world experience with density/# of platters. So I'm just saying 5400 to 7200 would probably be the bigger difference, but I haven't done that switch before so...

EDIT: Could just take the easy way out and run HD Tune/Tach on them, and just go with the higher numbers.

 

[Gamingphreek]

SSD or bust 😀. If you can pay for a MBP, you should snag a 60gb OCZ and keep an external (I don't really know if this would actually be a good idea, but I felt like saying it 😀).

Ha - well I spilled a drink (first time ever happened near a computer) on my old T61. Went out and bought this with my savings for after college (That was earmarked for rent and a new car payment).

So I would rather not spend any more of it 😉 (Even though I would love a shiny new SSD).

-Kevin

(The T61 actually was resurrected after a week. Wouldn't turn on 1-6 days, but on the 7th day it was like "HEY I'M HERE" 😛 )

 

[corkyg]

Your OS really could not care less what size drive the OS is on, as long as it is all there and the MBR is in the right place. Changing drives via cloning has been around and working for years. I do it about twice a month on different systems.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Your OS really could not care less what size drive the OS is on, as long as it is all there and the MBR is in the right place. Changing drives via cloning has been around and working for years. I do it about twice a month on different systems.

That's cool! I might actually do that 🙂

Where does the OS get its partition information though? Since it was installed on a 250GB drive, wouldn't the ghosted copy have the partition table for that particular drive?

-Kevin

 

[TheStu]

That's cool! I might actually do that 🙂

Where does the OS get its partition information though? Since it was installed on a 250GB drive, wouldn't the ghosted copy have the partition table for that particular drive?

-Kevin

Use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! to clone the drive. Macs do not use an MBR but the EFI instead. When you create the clone, you just check a box in the program to make it bootable, and that will copy over the EFI data.

The clone does not care what the rated capacity of the source or destination is, just so long the destination has enough space to hold the contents of the source. I have cloned this way dozens of times on OS X.

All you will need is 2 drives and an enclosure. Once the clone is complete, just swap the drives and it will boot off the new one no problem.