5400 vs 7200 vs solid state

[Tom Metro]

Stephen Adler wrote:
> One of the options available are 5400rpm drives vs 7200rpm drives. I
> assume the trade off is between disk IO performance vs power
> consumption.

As David said, noise can be an issue too, though I think if you select a 
good drive, that will be a minimal issue. I just bought a notebook with 
a 7200 RPM drive (Seagate), and in my initial limited use, I haven't 
noticed the drive noise.

Heat could also be a problem, but again choosing a good model should 
avoid that. So the main tradeoff is power consumption.


> Does anyone have a preference for one over the other?

I'd say if the machine will be used primarily tethered to power, then go 
for the 7200 RPM drive.

Check out the user reviews at NewEgg for anecdotal accounts of the 
improvement you get from 7200 RPM drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148336

Between the Western Digital and the Seagate, the Western Digital seems 
to be more popular, and has somewhat better reviews, while the Seagate 
has 2 years more warranty. I'm not sure there is anything to distinguish 
them in their technical specs. Notably absent from the specs (at least 
on NewEgg) is power consumption, so it is hard to say exactly what 
you're trading off by moving from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM, or which of the 
two 7200 RPM drives is more efficient.


> ...the new macbooks come with solid state drives (for a small
> fortune...) I was thinking about the possible noise and vibration
> that hard drives can make. Any vibrations would dive me nuts.
> Are the solid state drives worth the extra bucks?

Solid state drives are at the point in their life cycle where they'll be 
experiencing substantial price declines. Unless you really can't 
tolerate using a mechanical drive, I'd wait a year and then upgrade.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/