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    500GB Travelstar 5K500.B to 7K500: A Worthwhile Upgrade?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Muttley, Feb 17, 2010.

  1. Muttley

    Muttley Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've been running a 500GB 5K500.B in my Santa Rosa Macbook Pro, and been quite happy with it. I've been wondering, though, whether upgrading to a 500GB 7K500 would be worth it in terms of real-world performance. I've seen all the synthetic benchmarks, of course - but I've also seen (and experienced) multiple scenarios where those benchmarks did not pan out in terms of real-world performance.

    I'd be very interested to hear from people (both OS X and Windows users - I run both OS) who've actually tried out this upgrade, and what their experience has been.

    Many thanks in advance for all your help.
     
    Muttley, Feb 17, 2010
    #1
  2. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Where do you find your hard drive to be a bottleneck?

    If your current drive works fine and you have no issues with it . . . I wouldn't bother. The difference between your 5K500 and the 7K500 will not be even close to night and day.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Feb 17, 2010
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  3. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    It should be a noticable improvement... Its faster ... more power efficient and certainly worth spending... especially if u can find it at $75 at tigerdirect.com
     
    sean473, Feb 17, 2010
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  4. Muttley

    Muttley Notebook Enthusiast

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    Charles and Sean, thanks for the input.

    Charles, I see bottlenecks when I'm doing heavy multitasking (e.g., a video render or a lengthy compile in the background while doing data analysis plus web research in the foreground). Otherwise, machine responsiveness and reliability have been great.
     
    Muttley, Feb 17, 2010
    #4
  5. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    I upgraded from a 7K320 to a 7K500. If anything the performance of the harddrive decreased. I returned the 7K500 and continued on with my 7K320.
    I wouldnt advise upgrading your drive at all. You will not notice any difference in terms of everyday performance.
    If you had say a 7K200 and wanted to upgrade to a 7K500, than I would say that that is a good idea. Upgrading from a 5K500.B to a 7K500 is not worth the cost of the new drive.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Feb 17, 2010
    #5
  6. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    You would probably get better result if you used software such as eboostr and set a bit of your ram as cache. You will notice night and day difference when the hdd is stressed.
     
    jackluo923, Feb 17, 2010
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  7. Lykhan

    Lykhan Notebook Consultant

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    SSD if you really must.....
     
    Lykhan, Feb 18, 2010
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  8. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    but 7K500 is a way cheaper upgrade... get 7K500!
     
    sean473, Feb 18, 2010
    #8