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    WD scorpio blue 500gb 5400rpm vs WD black 320gb 7200rpm

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Totemobakadesu123, Nov 27, 2009.

  1. Totemobakadesu123

    Totemobakadesu123 Notebook Geek

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    I have a question,

    I am researching these two drives and I am getting confused. Some reviews say that the 500gb 5400rpm perform very close to the 320gb 7200rpm due to newer technology built in the 5400 rpm hard drive. I found that both are the same price. Need help to clarify the performance on each drive. If the 5400rpm 500gb performs closely to the 72--rpm 320gb, then I am going for that.

    Any opinions/thoughts about this?
     
    Totemobakadesu123, Nov 27, 2009
    #1
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    tilleroftheearth, Nov 27, 2009
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  3. Totemobakadesu123

    Totemobakadesu123 Notebook Geek

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    Not sure about Hitachi reliability...and it is more expensive than the scorpios too.
     
    Totemobakadesu123, Nov 27, 2009
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  4. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    eight zero dollars for the highest performing 500GB HD of all time is expensive?

    Zero reliability issues with over 12 Hitachi's - almost all 7200 RPM models. YMMV

    Edit: 4 of them known still working (have sold all of them) since 2003/4 when first bought: all 2.5" models - Travelstar.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Nov 27, 2009
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  5. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

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    The HDD that came with my TP is three gens older than the 7K500 but its still a 7200RPM 160GB. In deciding I cheked the stats and its been on close to 6500 hours with well over 1000 powerup and downs. This is in 2 years with most of it in the past year. To me Hitachi reliability is unquestionable. The drives which have failed on me or made strange noises? Seagate, Maxtor, WD.
     
    BaldwinHillsTrojan, Nov 28, 2009
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  6. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    On average, reliability of all manufacturers are pretty much the same, else they'd probably be out of business. Comparing a few samples doesn't really show anything, hence the variance in replies.
     
    sgogeta4, Nov 28, 2009
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  7. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Phil, Nov 28, 2009
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  8. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    7K500 from Hitachi owns all and altough its more expensive , it worth it considering this hard drive has about the half the performance of an SSD.
     
    sean473, Nov 28, 2009
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  9. wasupdog

    wasupdog Notebook Consultant

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    the 500gig drive is slightly slower than the 320gig drive. i'd go with the 500gig because it's quieter and has more storage.
     
    wasupdog, Nov 28, 2009
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  10. Totemobakadesu123

    Totemobakadesu123 Notebook Geek

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    thank for the reply. I ordered one but I think I will be returning it due to its thermal threshold. 55C max operating. I own a sager NP8662 and my hard drive temps are high due to the design of the chassis. WD hard disks threshold are 60 celsius. That is why I want to get a WD.
     
    Totemobakadesu123, Nov 28, 2009
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  11. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Even in the Sager, your temps shouldn't be hitting 55 deg C. On heavy load, it should be low 50s at max.
     
    sgogeta4, Nov 28, 2009
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  12. SoundOf1HandClapping

    SoundOf1HandClapping Was once a Forge

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    Oh. I never knew that about the Hitachi. With the mods I've done, my HDDs do run a bit warmer that others. Hmm. I haven't breached 48C while doing heavy gaming, but then again, it's rarely over 70F ambient at this point. This is the WD3200BEKT that only has gaming files on it.

    I guess I could switch the Hitachi's and stock Seagate's slots, since the Seagate would be next to the hot northbridge.

    Or more copper never hurts.
     
    SoundOf1HandClapping, Nov 29, 2009
    #12