Quick HDD Upgrade Question

I have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116095

I pre-ordered Windows 7 and was wondering if I should upgrade my HDD before doing a clean install once I get Win 7.

Would it be worth it for me to get the Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200rpm?

Thanks

 

So quick, there's not even a message! =P

 

The text on NBR's forum disappeared for a bit randomly. Well it's back now.

 

I guess that depends on your computing needs.

Are you a road warrior, meaning that battery life is more important to you than performance? If so, go with an affordable 500GB 5,400RPM hard drive.

Are you more concerned with out-right performance, battery life be damned? If so, go with the more expensive 320GB or even 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive.

Regardless of your decision, you definitely should get a hard drive with more capacity. I had the same exact HDD as you (Toshiba, 250GB) and that didn't last me very long.

 

I use my laptop as more of a desktop replacement than anything else so I should probably go ahead with the 7200rpm.

Is the WD3200BEKT the best 7200rpm HDD for a notebook?
And will there be a noticeable speed increase from my current HDD?

And how do I go about installing a new HDD? Am I correct in saying that I won't need to get an external enclosure since I'm doing a clean install and won't need to transfer my entire HDD back over? I have an external HDD now so I could just backup the files that are important such as pictures and music.

But once I get the new HDD and Windows 7, can I just pop in the HDD and put the Windows disk in?

 

Well, you could opt for the Seagate Momentus 500GB, 7,200RPM monster. Nice hard drive, pretty darn fast with huge capacity. But, if you are really set on a 320GB hard drive, then yes, that Western Digital is one of the best you can get. However, in my experience, I always try to buy the most capacity I can afford. You can never have too much storage.

Ensure that all the files on your old hard drive that you want to keep are transferred to an external storage medium first. This could be discs, a USB thumbdrive, or yes, an external enclosure with your old hard drive in it.

Once you've backed up and/or saved the files you want to keep, remove the old hard drive, pop in the new hard drive, and insert your Windows 7 disc and boot the machine. The OS should/will walk you through the steps to prepare your new hard drive for OS installation, such as formatting, partitioning, etc. Once the OS, drivers, etc. are installed, you can transfer over all your saved files to your new hard drive.

Personally, I would just get an external 2.5" HDD enclosure and put your old hard drive in it instead of burning discs and all that. It's much easier and external enclosures are extremely affordable and convenient. Plus, once your reformat your old hard drive, you'll have a place to store backup images of your new Windows 7 installation on.

Yup. The OS installation process on your new hard drive will/should be relatively simple and easy to do.

 

Yes and yes. WD3200BEKT beats the Seagate 7200.4 in real world performance.

And yes.

 

Thank you both for your help. I'll probably order that HDD soon so I'll have it once Windows 7 arrives.

 

By the way, it will be hard to notice performance differences between WD3200BEKT(7200rpm) and WD5000BEVT (5400rpm) during normal use.

The latter is a little more quiet and power efficient. And of course it gives you 500GB.

The WD3200BEKT is a little faster in application opening and multi tasking.

 

OK thanks. I still have 130GB free on my 250GB HDD so I think 320GB is plenty for me so I might as well go for the extra speed of the 7200rpm.

Just wondering, how does my current HDD compare to the WD5000BEVT since both are 5400?

And comparing my current HDD against the WD3200BEKT which I plan on getting- I know that the WD will be faster, but how do they compare on noise and heat?

Thanks

 

Maybe it's time you start reading some reviews yourself

Techreport.com is good and this one too:
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/storage/intel-x25-m.aspx?page=4

Your Fujitsu is slower than the WD Blue used in the Laptopmag review.

 

Thanks.

Couple more questions:

1. The Western Digital Scorpio's were released early last year. Any chance of a new version coming soon?

2. I'm having a tough time deciding between the 320GB Black and 500GB Blue. I don't need the extra space, but performance-wise, how do they compare?

Thanks

 

1. You will probably see a WD Black 500GB before the end of the year.
2. Not much difference performance wise, though the WD Black 320GB might feel a bit faster due to the lower latency. I would get that is space isn't a concern (should be around the same price on sale, ~$65).

 

Yes new ones are INDEED comming out soon. I suggest you get the 500GB Blue!

 

Will the new ones have any improvements besides bigger size?

And is it worth getting one with the free fall sensor?

EDIT: I just saw this review online:

I have HP Smart Drive Protection so should I get the one without the free fall sensor?

 

1. I don't know. I expect within three months but could take longer.

2. During normal usage it will be hard to notice any difference. During multi tasking the WD3200BEKT will prove to be the fastest.

If your laptop already has a Free Fall Sensor it's better to buy without.

 

Here's my current HDD:



Do you think I'd see a noticeable improvement if I were to upgrade to one of the WD Scorpios? My HDD did better than I expected in this test.

Thanks

 

If you use is average usage, then probably not. But I don't know how you use your computer. If you have a lot of situations where you are waiting for the HDD than yes. If not then it will be very hard to notice.

If you want to know what situations benefit from upgrading to 7200rpm have a look at this review. The Scorpio Blue is about equal to your performance, the Black is the 7200rpm.

 

Thanks for all your help, Phil. I'm probably going to just stick with my current HDD until I decide an upgrade would be a rather noticeable improvement. In the mean time, I think my current HDD is performing well enough. My HDD hasn't given me any problem and it's really quiet and I still have plenty of space for now.

Just wondering - I noticed that in that test, they used a 250GB Scorpio Blue. You said it was comparable to mine. If you were to compare mine to a 500GB Scorpio Blue, how much faster would the Blue be? I've heard some say that it's the speed of a 320GB Black but with the advantages of being quieter, running less hot and having better battery life since it's still a 5400rpm. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

I could answer that with numbers in synthetic benchmarks: the WD 500GB averages at 65MB/sec while your drive does 47MB/sec. But those numbers don't mean much.

But let me ask you this, what are the moments that you are waiting for your hard drive? Probably booting and launching larger programs. During those moments the WD might be 10% faster. Not that exciting in my opinion.

When I upgraded from 5400rpm to 7200rpm I ran a couple of benchmarks to measure how it affects real life performance: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4826309 The 5400rpm drive I used is very comparable to yours.

During normal use it is true. During medium to heavy multi tasking the Black will beat the Blue noticeably.

 

I pre-ordered the upgrade disk for Windows 7 for $50. If I were to get a new HDD, would I be able to install Win 7 or no? And if I decided to keep my current HDD, can I still do a clean install of Windows 7 with the upgrade version of Win 7 that I bought?

Thanks

 

Anyone know?