5400RPM vs 7200RPM

[dibogart]

I'm in the process of thinking about buying a new hard drive and would like to know what the difference is between 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM (other than the obvious numbers)? Is one noisier than the other? I do not have much tech knowledge so any info will be very helpful. Thanks for your help and information. Also, any suggestions as to which one to buy..

 

[anthrax]

7200 RPM hard drives are faster...Tranfer rate,,seek time.....
but they are nosier..(haven't had I issue with it thou ) and run hotter...

 

[ElFenix]

baracuda IV is very quiet, you probably won't hear it over the rest of your computer. not the fastest 7200 rpm drive, but its faster than any 5400 i can think of.

 

[nortexoid]

probably not a greatly noticeable performance difference...(note noticeable).

but anyway, 5400 would dissipate less heat, be quieter, and consume less power....if u're going w/ a slimline desktop case, u might want to consider a 5400rpm drive.
personally, there's some quiet 7200rpms out there too - my fujitsu w/ fluid dynamic bearing for example...the new seagate BC IVs also use this type of bearing and allegedly quite quiet....i also hear that the latest WD drives are quite silent too...

 

[Kingofcomputer]

big difference, 25% higher internal transfer rate on paper, and you can really feel the difference for read/write - installing os, loading game, etc.

 

[Zoltarc]

When loading maps in games the 5400 takes *alot* longer than the 7200s I have.

I would get a 7200, reguardless of anything else. Always good to have the latest and greatest sometime

 

[cleverhandle]

For the extra $15, the speed of a 7200 is definitely worth it. I wouldn't use a 5400 for anything other than a backup drive with very infrequent use. If your tight on funds, spend $15 less on your CPU and put it into the drive instead.

 

[Aragorn]

I don't think I would switch back to 5400 rpm drives. The other day I was installing XP on a 5400 rpm drive I thought it was going to take all day. The only time yo will noticee a diference is when installing and if you do any intensive read\write to your hd.

 

[CraigRT]

Can't justify the price difference which is so small it seems.. I never buy a 5400 RPM drive, there is no point... the money you save is almost nil and the 7200 RPM makes a pretty good difference in somethings which matter to some people.. boot time is one. cuts it way down. map load time as well for games like q3..

7200 RPM should be a standard, all drives should be!

 

[Zoltarc]

Until 10000 RPM drives become the standard and we use something even faster than SCSI

 

[Suki]

the difference is noticeable. i usually use 7200 for my main hdd for os, games and video/photo editing. i used 5400 for data and archiving.