500 GB 7200 rpm or 640 GB 5400 rpm?

I have a big dilemma: What should I buy for my new laptop? A Seagate 500 GB 7200 rpm or a (don't know name yet) 640 GB 5400 rpm?

I'm looking for a faster HDD, as the laptop comes with a 500 GB 5400 rpm.

Which one you suggest I buy? Price is almost the same, so I didn't mentioned it.

 

Then get the 500GB Momentus XT.

 

QFT. One spinning drive will only be marginally faster than any other spinning drive. If you want a perceptible performance improvement, you're going to need an SSD or something like the Momentus XT as ZaZ suggested, which is a hybrid drive. Otherwise the only difference you'll see is in benchmark scores, but not actual use.

 

get a faster 500GB Seagate Momentus XT.. trust me , a 7200rpm drive is way better anytime compared to a 5400rpm one.

 

Current 7200RPM drive aren't noticeably faster than 5400RPM drives. As stated previously, get a Seagate XT for speed or SSD if you can afford it (and don't require that much storage space).

 

Seagate XT or WD 500GB Black.

 

I beg to differ. There is a huge difference between 5400 vs. 7200 RPM HD's.

The XT is in a league of it's own (above many 'last gen' SSD's too).

But, with all mechanical HD's, to really see these differences you need a program like PerfectDisk 11 to really make them shine.

Where the 7200 RPM drives especially outshine the 5400 versions is as boot/OS/app drives and when transferring large amounts of data where they can be easily 40 to 60% faster.



One thing thought that I noticed is that everyone assumes that the OP is asking about the XT - he's not. At the same price (to the 5400 RPM version) probably means that he is looking at just the 'regular' 7200 RPM Seagate - and that one, I would recommend against.

I suggest the Hitachi 7200 RPM 7K500 Instead (if the XT is out of his price range).

 

Yes, I'm looking for a regular HDD, not SSD or Hybrid. Those are too expensive for me right now. The Momentus XT is 167 $ here in Romania, where I'm located right now.

For the simple Seagate 500 GB 7200 rpm (ST9500420AS) I'd pay 82 USD. For the 640 GB 5400 rpm HDD, I don't know the brand yet, I'd pay 90 USD. The reason why I don't know the brand is because it's an external 2.5" HDD and I will only find out after I buy it and open it.

For now I don't have other options, brand or price wise. So! Which one to choose? I must mention that if the two HDD's above would be slightly similar in speed, I would choose the bigger one of course.

Later edit: WD Scorpio Black 500 GB 7200 rpm, for 98 USD.

 

For a non-hybrid drive, just get the Scorpio Black. It destroys all other 7200 rpm drives, I've used them all. 5,400 rpm drives are still really really slow, I used a Scorpio Blue (the fastest 5400rpm drive out) in this machine the other day and it was painful.

 

Be careful with that. Some external drives don't have an internal SATA connector; they're soldered directly to the USB controller. If that's the case, then you won't be able to pop the external drive into your notebook, and you'll be left with a (warranty voided) external drive.

 

How was it painful? This is not what I have experienced with several notebook 5400RPM vs. 7200RPM drives. There was a slight difference when I used the Black and Blue when say copying a movie file over but hardly noticeable when loading Windows or applications. When I reformatted my WD Blue, I got it to boot up a little over 20s with it, while others have gotten as low as 16s. The WD Black has only managed to reach around 15s.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6648031-post428.html

 

The Blue's were just much slower in every way, very noticeably so. File copying is a lot slower. But in general usage, I think it's the slow access times of the Blue and other 7200rpm drives that make them feel sluggish compared to the Black.

 

I know, I know. I'll check it first.

Bad news: can't find any WD Scorpio Black in stock. (

 

WD6400BEVT is quite slow.
Seagate 5400.7 640GB is reasonably fast.

WD5000BEKT and Hitachi 7K500 are the fastest non hybrid drives.

Momentus XT blows them all away.

 

I would still choose the Hitachi 7K500.

Quiet, fast, cool running and dependable.

I have heard that the WD 500GB Black runs a little warmer (maybe too warm?).

 

Depends on which 7200RPM drives you are talking about. However, as a general statement, 7200RPM drives are significantly better performers than 5400RPM drives (assuming similar capacity/generation). My laptop feels a lot "snappier" with a Hitachi 7K500 vs. the WD Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400RPM.

The Momentus XT is the best solution for those not wanting to spend the money for an SSD but looking for a noticeable improvement in performance for everyday use.

 

Maybe it's just that when I tried out a SSD, the differences became minimal between them to me. *shrugs*

 

sgogeta, it's also because your WD5000bevt is the fastest 5400rpm hard drive one could get. The difference you experienced is there for not that big.

 

If you can't afford the Seagate Momentus XT, then I would just save until you have enough money.

If you buy a 7200rpm hard drive now, you get a 15% increase in performance over a 5400rpm hard drive for $80. Or, you could buy a Seagate Momentus XT, and get a 100% increase in performance over a 5400rpm hard drive for $160.

Which one makes sense to you?

 

I agree to all of the above, especially this; and well said.

 

This review shows exactly how the WD Scorpio Blue 640GB, Scoprio Black 500GB and Momentus XT compare:
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640GB Review

 

well if momentus XT is not in ur area/choice , hitachi 7K500 is certainly and excellent choice.. compared to a normal momentus , its faster and way more reliable and also quieter.

 

I don't understand the appeal of the 7K500. Is it the fast sequential speeds? They're pretty useless for a primary drive. The 500gb Scorpio Black sequential speeds are as fast if not faster, and completely blow away the 7K500 in access times. I get 150mb/s+ burst rates in my 320gb Black, and it's probably even faster on the 500gb.

Hitachi drives also have much louder (that scratching sound) seek noise in my experience with the 7K320's. Seagate, a bit quieter having briefily used a 7200.4. And Western Digital and Fujitsu have both been completely silent for me whether that be 5400 or 7200rpm.

For day-day usage, I strongly believe it's access times that count (and burst rate to an extent). This is why the Momentus XT is so damn good.

 

1) Reliability, 2) quite, 3) speed! Basically, it's the best compromise HD currently on the market.

I haven't notice any "scratching sound from my drives. Mine are whisper quite.

 

My 7K500 is also very quiet, I can barely hear it even in a silent room. I have to put my ear within ~6 inches of the drive to hear the platters spinning. It also has nearly no vibration; clicking sounds are muted and ignorable.

If I had to buy another 500GB 7200RPM drive (excluding the Momentus XT), it would be the WD5000BEKT though -- it is faster than the 7K500 overall. I doubt I would notice any difference going to the WD5000BEKT from the 7K500 I have now, hence I am not upgrading.

 

I'm not stunned by the Momentus XT. It's good, but the Scorpio black is often almost as good or better for half the price.

Anyway, here is a comp of the two, XT and Scorp black to add to your information.

Western Digital Scorpio Black 500GB Review (WD5000BEKT) | StorageReview.com

 

Hitachi's are extremely reliable, no question about.

There are other drives that are quiet(er).

The form of speed it's fast in isn't very useful. The one that's important, it isn't. I can see why Seagate (non-XT) and Hitachi focus on sequential speeds though, seems to be a good marketing tool for a lot of people. Compared to the 7200.4 I used (again focus on sequential speeds), the Scorpio Blue felt just as fast for almost all tasks.

 

Storagereview's testing does not reflect real world usage and it's not done in a notebook.

The SR bench simulates multi tasking played back at a speed faster than real world usage which creates differences between drives to levels that will not occur in real life. For example, according to their bench 120GB Sandforce drives are three times faster than Crucial C300 64GB. A quick look at several other reviews will show this is not something to be encountered in real life.

Add to that that their testbed is a desktop with a desktop controller.

For a review that does reflect real world usage in a notebook:
SSD vs Hard Drives: Performance Tests and Conclusion

You'll see that the Momentus XT blows away the WD5000BEKT in common tasks and even beats it in tasks that weren't cached.

Techreport's review has proven that the WD5000BEVT is often faster than Seagate 7200.4

PS. Seagate Momentus XT is a completely different drive than the 7200.4, even the mechanical part.

I've had both drives in my notebook. The WD5000BEKT is a bit faster but no one is going to notice these differences without running benchmark software.

Hitachi 7K500 and WD5000BEKT are in the fast HDD league. Momentus XT is in a league of it's own. The only league above that are SSDs.

 

To me, both your comments sound like you don't use a defragger like PerfectDisk.

Only an optimized file system will fully show the differences these drives are capable of.

 

I know the XT is completely different than the 7200.4. You won't get a debate from me that it's in a different league to every hdd. The appeal of that drive extends past the nand, since it even multitasks a lot better than the Scorpio Black.

The reason I brought up the 7200.4 is that it too has very fast sequential speeds, but is in fact not so fast even compared to the Scorpio Blue. So in the real world, I can't see the 7K500 touching the Scorpio Black when it's lacking in everything but sequential speeds just like the 7200.4.

 

Well you may be right. It's unfortunate we don't have a real world / real usage review of the 7K500 head to head with the Scorpio Black.

 

The 'normal' 7200.4 is a horrible drive (real world performance-wise) - I replaced 4 of them with a WD 500GB Scorpio Blue which was faster.

Although I haven't played with a Black, the 7K500 is a Hitachi - and they are well known for making a fast and responsive system drive. Regardless of the 'scores' synthetic benchmarks show.

 

I think I'm stuck with the 500 GB 5400 rpm that comes with my Y560 Lenovo. I can't find Black anywhere here in Romania and I don't think I'll see much improvement in a 640 GB 5400 rpm HDD over the stock one.

 

I'd expect lots of German, UK and Dutch resellers will ship to Romania.
Western Digital Scorpio Black 500GB, SATA II (WD5000BEKT) Preisvergleich bei Geizhals.at EU

In the unlikely event that they don't, Ebay sellers will.

 

I know, I looked on eBay, but I don't want to buy at the same price (HDD+shipping=same price) with the warranty outside my country. If the price was better maybe, but in this case, it's NO.

 

I strongly doubt WD will not give you warranty if you buy abroad.

 

I'm sure WD or the vendor would solve the warranty, but I'm looking at the hall picture here: the hassle to send it, time and money spent shipping it abroad etc.

 

I've never seen a test or a review where drives are compared in a variety of tests and one brand/model aces every one. Have you?

I completely agree with the gist of your statement and would add that any HDs (like SSDs) have a segment of the things they do best. As consumers, we determine which of those are most important to us, then pick the model/brand that best fulfills those requirements.

p.s. It goes without saying that "price" is the most important factor for most of us. Just in case someone knows of a device (from NASA )that IS the best at every task.

Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith. Either that, or remain forever in the 20th century.

 

i disagree with you on that.. It really dependson your luck.. i bought a Mybook in India and my adapter failed in UK.. they sent me one although there was no warranty coverage in UK for that product... only thing.. it took 6 weeks to come

 

I would be a bit hesitant on getting a hybrid at this point. My experience with things, like computer models and components, is to let the first wave go by until they get all the kinks out (such as the noise issues). You'll save money and a lot of grief, the longer you wait on things like that.

If you want to stay with an HHD, I have always used Hitachi. Very reliable and a great performer and they are very quiet (I use two in a music studio because of those reasons). Apple puts them in their macs.