Much performance difference between 5400rpm drive and 7200?

Dell has a e1705 with 120GB hd @ 5400rpm, but has a 80GB hd @ 7200 for $100 more. Is it really worth it? would my performance be any better? load times for games and os?

 

The higher density of the 5400 drive will help to make up the performance different. Better load times would be about the only advantange.

Just as a comparison: I own both a 100GB@7200 drive and a 160GB@5400 drive. I cannot tell the difference, aside from having an extra 60GB of storage.

 

it depends on what you are doing on your computer.
there are instances that a larger yet slower HD runs relatively the same speed as the smaller yet faster. For gaming, a faster HD is usually prefered but not alwasy necescary. If you are playing the latest and greatest games and they include the high demanding games then the faster HD should present you with a somewhat better performance.
the problem for this particular case lies with the fact that the faster yet smaller HD cost $100 more than what I am assuming is the base/standard HD that comes with the laptop.
So you should ask yourself this:
what do I value more, speed or space? If you need lots of space then 9/10 you should get the 120GB. if you put most of your data on an extHD, and want the most performance you can possilby squeze out of the e1705 then maybe an extra $100 isn't so bad. But you really need to be wanting that extra speed for the extra $100 to be worth it.
Also, as mentioned earlier, there are some instances where the large slow HD performs equally to the small fast HD.
Do some reasearch into what the performance is of each.
if there is only a small difference, then you might as well get the cheaper one and save yourself the $100.
Plus if later on down the line you find yourself to be needing a faster HD you can always buy another one from an online place such as newegg.com and install it yourself.

good luck with your decision

Phillip