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MacBook Pro C2D 7200 vs 5400RPM Drives

Bare Feats has posted an addendum to their article on the MacBook Pro C2D where they discuss: a) 2GB matching vs 3GB unmatching memory, and b) 7200rpm drive vs 5400rpm drive.

Bare Feats has posted an addendum to their article on the MacBook Pro C2D where they discuss:
a) 2GB matching vs 3GB unmatching memory, and
b) 7200rpm drive vs 5400rpm drive
Comparing the Hitachi 160GB 5400rpm SATA notebook drive to the Hitachi 7200rpm SATA notebook drive on both SATA and FW800 interfaces, I would characterize the 7200rpm as overall 25% faster (combining sequential and random reads and writes).
My recommendation (and personal approach) is to go with the faster, small boot drive and just be careful what’s stored on it. And then augment the capacity with external FW800 bus powered notebook drives like my favorite, the Little Big Disk from LaCie (dual 7200rpm 100GB drives in box level RAID 0 array).


Bare Feats has posted an addendum to their article on the MacBook Pro C2D where they discuss:
a) 2GB matching vs 3GB unmatching memory, and
b) 7200rpm drive vs 5400rpm drive
Comparing the Hitachi 160GB 5400rpm SATA notebook drive to the Hitachi 7200rpm SATA notebook drive on both SATA and FW800 interfaces, I would characterize the 7200rpm as overall 25% faster (combining sequential and random reads and writes).
My recommendation (and personal approach) is to go with the faster, small boot drive and just be careful what’s stored on it. And then augment the capacity with external FW800 bus powered notebook drives like my favorite, the Little Big Disk from LaCie (dual 7200rpm 100GB drives in box level RAID 0 array).

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.

One reply on “MacBook Pro C2D 7200 vs 5400RPM Drives”

Jason, LaCie’s dual disc RAID 0 drives have a long and storied past of dying with your data on them.
I’ve had 4 die personally, that were used in a rack mounted chassis, and only turned on occasionally. Their newer RAID cases are much much more reliable (and carry better warranties – 2 years vs. 1) but overall, unless you’re doing regular backups to DVD/Tape/other HD’s you might want to reconsider using RAID 0 for data storage. Great for video editing and the like, not so good for longer term storage etc.

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