buffer size vs rpm in hd

[triska]

i was curious
what the major difference would be between the 7200 rpm hd for laptop i hear about
vs a 5400 rpm w/ a large buffer?
like is sound a problem with teh 7200 cuz it spins faster?
pros? cons?

 

[rimshaker]

The spindle speed will affect your performance the most, so go for the 7200rpm drive. If it were a choice between a 7200rpm 8MB buffer vs. 5400rpm 16MB buffer, hands down the 7200rpm drive would be the choice.

With today's fluid-bearing technology, noise is less of an issue nowadays.

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: rimshaker
The spindle speed will affect your performance the most, so go for the 7200rpm drive. If it were a choice between a 7200rpm 8MB buffer vs. 5400rpm 16MB buffer, hands down the 7200rpm drive would be the choice.

With today's fluid-bearing technology, noise is less of an issue nowadays.

agreed.....also important to remember, data density on laptop drives is higher then equivalent desktop drives...but i had a 5400 rpm drive...upgraded to a 7200 and OMG i'll never go back. Its amazing

 

[klaviernista]

I agree with both of the previous answers. Indeed, the platters in a laptop drive are smaller than that of a desktop. If the platters spin faster and each bit is closer together, speed is increased in two ways.

Check these out

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/mediaSize-c.html

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=284&p_created=1023746093&p_sid=sDnTBJeh&p_lva=713&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NCZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPXNlYXJjaF9leCZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT05MSZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj05MiZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PXBsYXR0ZXIg&p_li=

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=284&p_created=1023746093&p_sid=sDnTBJeh&p_lva=713&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NCZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPXNlYXJjaF9leCZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT05MSZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj05MiZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PXBsYXR0ZXIg&p_li=

One more thing to consider given that your considering this for a laptop. A 7200 RPM drive requires more power to drive the spindle at the higher RPM. Thus, most laptops using 7200 RPM drives have less battery blife than those using slower drives.

 

[Matthias99]

THG article

Actually, the 7200RPM drives don't dent your battery life much, if at all. There are two factors at work here -- first, the drives are generally more efficient power-wise (the uber-cheap 4200RPM drives that most notebook manufacturers use are not), and second, the drive spends less time actively reading data (since it's faster), which lets it sit in a low-power state more often than the slower disk.

 

[Sahakiel]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
THG article

Actually, the 7200RPM drives don't dent your battery life much, if at all. There are two factors at work here -- first, the drives are generally more efficient power-wise (the uber-cheap 4200RPM drives that most notebook manufacturers use are not), and second, the drive spends less time actively reading data (since it's faster), which lets it sit in a low-power state more often than the slower disk.

Comparing the Hitachi 7200RPM drive to my Hitachi 4200RPM drive, the specs listed showed the 7200RPM drive using between .1-.3W more across the board. Given a 48WHr battery and a run time of about 3:30, it basically shaved off about 30 minutes.
This is without comparing actual usage statistics.

 

[jagec]

yeah, but if you get work done that much faster anyway...

 

[nortexoid]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
THG article

Actually, the 7200RPM drives don't dent your battery life much, if at all. There are two factors at work here -- first, the drives are generally more efficient power-wise (the uber-cheap 4200RPM drives that most notebook manufacturers use are not), and second, the drive spends less time actively reading data (since it's faster), which lets it sit in a low-power state more often than the slower disk.

interesting

 

[Sahakiel]

Originally posted by: jagec
yeah, but if you get work done that much faster anyway...

Either way, even idle power usage is higher with the 7200 rpm drive.