NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Forums - General › Hard Drive Upgrade: 5400rpm 16mb cache or 7200rpm 8mb cache?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Hard Drive Upgrade: 5400rpm 16mb cache or 7200rpm 8mb cache?

post #1 of 25
1/27/06 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
Right now I have a 100 GB hard drive running at a painfully slow 4200rpm. I am ready to upgrade and was hoping that some of you might lend your insight regarding my question. I want to stay under $200 (US) and so I am looking at these two models:

A) 100GB 5400 RPM 16MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822149030

B) 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822146047

Does the 16MB of cache help with speed as much as the 7200rpm of the other drive?

Thanks for any advice!
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 25
1/27/06 at 4:44pm
The 7200rpm drive will be much faster. That Toshiba drive tends to perform similarly to other 5400rpm drives with only 8mb cache.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 25
1/27/06 at 4:54pm
keep away from toshiba harddrives!! they sucks!!!
go for hitachi or seagate!!
Samsung is a good choice too, not so quick than seagate or hitachi but if you are not a game player you wont notice any diference between segate or hitachi vs samsung!!
If are looking for the best relation price/gb , Samsung is the right choice!!
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 25
1/27/06 at 4:55pm
hmm..well i had a toshiba 60GB 16mb drive...and it lasted only 18 months.

then i switch it for a 60GB 8mb Seagate momentus.

both were/are 5400rpm...and honestly i feel the Seagate's much faster...

start up and shutdowns are really fast, much faster performance than the toshiba, but that might just be due to Seagates technology compared to Toshibas.

i'd suggest the Hitachi...faster rpm and slightly better manufacturer...you will just sacrifice that extra 20GB of space.

now, if you found a 120GB, 16mb 7400rpm drive, then i'd snagged that in a heartbeat.

you know those IBM commercials, where the guys drop their laptops? well, it's their harddrives that have the capability to take that much G-force and can withstand that punishment....they use Hitachi drives.

if you're looking for a good 100GB drive, i'd suggest the Seagate... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148090

they're the only ones in the business that offer 5 yr warranty as well.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 25
1/28/06 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
OK...so I understand to stay away from Toshiba but how much faster is a 7200rm 8mb cache hard drive compared to a 5200rpm with double the cache (16mb)?

I wish there was a 7200rpm 16mb cache but I don't believe there is one on the market as of yet.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 25
1/28/06 at 4:07pm
The cache really doesn't make a difference, at least when you're comparing 16MB to 8MB. Where you will notice a difference is comparing 8MB to 2MB. A 7200 will outperform any 5400 of the same capacity.

Besides, no one other than Toshiba has a drive with 16MB cache. Go with a Seagate if you can find a good deal.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 25
1/28/06 at 5:12pm
--removed--

posted in the wrong topic :P
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 25
1/29/06 at 1:46am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info. I think I have settled on this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...P=OTC-mys1mo17

It's a bit more $ then what I was allowing myself to spend but I think I'll be happy. Before I buy I had another question. The hard drive I have now is ATA-6 interface so of course I am only looking to buy a hard drive with same interface. Now on Newegg's site it states that the hard drive I have decided to get is ATA-6 but when I go to Segate's site it says that it is ATA/100. Is ATA-6 & ATA/100 the same? Is it mislabled on Newegg?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 25
1/29/06 at 4:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xpresser
Is ATA-6 & ATA/100 the same? Is it mislabled on Newegg?
yes...that drive is ATA(6)/100...same thing.

most sites just don't bother putting that extra 6# after ATA, because it's pretty much the standard type anyway.

you're good to go.

enjoy the drive.

Edo
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 25
1/29/06 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdoKoi
yes...that drive is ATA(6)/100...same thing.

most sites just don't bother putting that extra 6# after ATA, because it's pretty much the standard type anyway.

you're good to go.

enjoy the drive.

Edo
Thank you!
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 25
1/29/06 at 9:04pm
Related to the Orignal Topic; What type of battery lost would we be dealing with from a 4200/5400/7200 RPM drive? The figures below are from Seagates Momentus drives:

4200RPM: ?watts
5400RPM: 2.0watts
7200RPM: 2.6watts

Hitachi:
4200RPM: 1.0watts
5400RPM: 2.0watts
7200RPM: 2.3watts

This will be in a form of the Yohan Duo Core unit. Per the specs on the laptop I am looking at the battery has a 60watt charge. Guessing at 3 hours, that would be 20watts on average use. So would going from a 5400 to a 7200RPM drive cost me a great deal? If I recall, the Yohan is a 25watt processor, so it does not seem that .3-.6watts would be anything important (10mins? maybe)

Speed is important, but I would like to actually have a laptop that can play a DVD without the battery life stopping me.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 25
1/30/06 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdoKoi
....if you're looking for a good 100GB drive, i'd suggest the Seagate... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148090

they're the only ones in the business that offer 5 yr warranty as well.
Well I changed my mind.....again. Instead of getting the 7200 rpm, I went for the one suggested above. Thanks EdoKoi!!! I don't have a gaming laptop and I just mainly use it for everday apps so I just couldn't justify the extra $100. Plus I think I will notice a big enough difference going from my current 4200 rpm to the Seagate 5400 rpm drive to satisfy me. Battery life will be a tad better as well by not getting the 7200.

Thanks for all your help....this forum rocks!
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 25
1/30/06 at 3:16pm
Just so you know, a 100GB 5400RPM performs just as well as a 60GB 7200RPM due to the areal density on a platter.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 25
1/30/06 at 3:20pm
Here is an ultimate review of the mobile hard drives:http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=92

Also see here for a new Seagte 'vertical' drive:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=104
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 25
1/30/06 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dagamer34
Just so you know, a 100GB 5400RPM performs just as well as a 60GB 7200RPM due to the areal density on a platter.
SAAA-WEEEET!
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 25
1/30/06 at 9:49pm
Well, not quite, but close. In sustained read speeds, it'll be pretty close between the two, but usually in random reads, the 7200RPM will still be faster. So it'll depend on whether:

1. You defrag a lot.
2. If you're working with a lot of small files or a few large ones.

The Seagate is very nice however. I've got the 80GB 5400RPM one and I've been very happy with it.

As for the power consumption, you'll probably notice Seagate and WD touting that their newer 5400RPM drives consume the same amount of power as the 4200RPM ones. (I'm talking about the 5400.2 and up for Seagate and the WD Scorpio larger capacity drives)
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 25
1/30/06 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck232
...As for the power consumption, you'll probably notice Seagate and WD touting that their newer 5400RPM drives consume the same amount of power as the 4200RPM ones. (I'm talking about the 5400.2 and up for Seagate and the WD Scorpio larger capacity drives)
Yes I noticed this when I researched the drive before buying. I consumed the info with a one eyebrow raised but we will see. I am pretty sure that the new 5400 rpm doesn't consume as much power as their old ones, but the same as a 4200 rpm....hmmmm? Not sure about that. The review I read, link submitted earlier in this thread, shows the Seagate to be a very good performer all the while being one of the quietest in the round up. Sounds good to me.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 25
1/31/06 at 4:12pm
I have a toshiba 7200 80GB and am very unhappy with it.

99% of the time it sits on my desk, never abused. The first one lasted a whopping 9 months before it died.
Toshiba's RMA process is quite painful, but I got it sent in after many many emails to the company.

They had the freeking thing for 2 months!!! Eveyr week it was some new excuse why they hadn't sent the replacement.
Their service sucks, their support blows and they are the last company in the world I'll ever buy another hard drive from.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 25
1/31/06 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonsterMaxx
I have a toshiba 7200 80GB and am very unhappy with it.

99% of the time it sits on my desk, never abused. The first one lasted a whopping 9 months before it died.
Toshiba's RMA process is quite painful, but I got it sent in after many many emails to the company.

They had the freeking thing for 2 months!!! Eveyr week it was some new excuse why they hadn't sent the replacement.
Their service sucks, their support blows and they are the last company in the world I'll ever buy another hard drive from.
Yeah the more I hear about Toshiba drives the better I feel about not getting the 16mb cache drive. Thanks for sharing your Toshiba experience, it makes me feel even better about my choice.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 25
1/31/06 at 6:10pm
Dont forget Samgsung drives. I know there desktop drives are great and very quiet. I have a 60 gig Samsung notebook drive and I love it.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Notebook Forums - General
NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Forums - General › Hard Drive Upgrade: 5400rpm 16mb cache or 7200rpm 8mb cache?