What's the best 7200 RPM HDD

I just purchased a Z1 with a 128 GB SSD and would like to replace the optical drive with a high-capacity HDD. I would like one that's 500-750 GB, reasonably priced and fast. I was looking at this one- Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Black wd5000bpkt 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
but I think 500 GB may not be enough for me.
Can you tell the difference in performance between a 5400 and 7200 RPM and how is battery life affected?

 

WD scorpio black 7200 750GB is the fastest, followed by the hitachi.

I always wondered what width the velociraptors are, they're a 2.5 inch drive in a 3.5 caddy so if they're 9.5mm then there's no reason why someone shouldn't try it out in a notebook.

 

They don't work because they require a 12V power line. From what I heard, notebooks only supply the 5V line.

That's pretty expensive. If you're not going to be putting most of your programs on the drive, I'd get a 750GB 5400RPM instead.

 

The Hitachi 7K750 750GB HDD is the overall best mechanical HDD you can buy right now. Quiter than a WD Scorpio Black, not noticeably slower and a better price too.

See:
Hitachi 750GB Travelstar 7K750 SATA II 2.5in HDD w/ 16MB Cache at Memory Express


Btw, not only do the vRaptors require much more power - they will also melt if used in a notebook without their 'IcePack™ Mounting Frame' (it's not simply a caddy). Not to mention their crazy (for notebook's) prices.

See:
Western Digital VelociRaptor 600GB 10,000rpm SATA III w/ 32MB Cache at Memory Express

 

Voltage and heat aside.... those raptors are 15mm high... so can't even fit in laptop.......

 

Are these hard drives faster than the Momentus XT hybrid drive?

 

^^^ good question, http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...scorpio-black-500gb-vs-momentus-xt-500gb.html

Hope this helps, Josea

 

No, Momentus XT boots and launches application at SSD speeds, as long as you dont use too many applications or OSes.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6071&p=2

As a secondary drive for the Z I'd recommend Samsung M8 1TB. It's fast enough, uses little power and makes no noise.

Scorpio Black in small and light notebooks often create noticeable noise and/or vibration. They're also power hungry.

If you do want 7200rpm go for Hitachi 7K750 series, 750GB or 500GB.

 

Besides the 12v power requirement, that heatsink is there for a reason, not just as a spacer.

 

I have my doubts if that heatsink is anything more than a spacer. They sell versions without the heatsink. Velociraptors draw less power (documented) then regular desktop 7200rpm hard drives and when I've run them outside of a case without a fan, they are cooler to the touch than any 3.5" 7200rpm drive I've done the "touch test" with. Obviously this is subjective.

funky monkey - They are not 9.5mm. My best guess is they are about 15mm. I can only approximate as I don't have one not in the heatsink and I can only approximate with my calipers because of that.

 

They are 10mm: WD VelociRaptor (click on specifications)



They spin at 10,000 RPM, and they do not sell versions without the heatsink (unless you can provide a link that shows otherwise?). It's probably cooler to the touch because of the heatsink. Also, all of the highest heat generating components are at the bottom of the drive that makes direct contact with the heatsink. You may be able to get by without it, but with adequate ventilation.

 

Look at your own link. Click on specs and it lists 2.5" versions along with the 3.5" versions. Click on one of the 2.5" versions and it lists the metric height as 15mm. The 10mm is the internal physical height, it does not include the casing of the drive.

From the popup off the WD spec page on one of the 2.5" :

Metric
Height 15 mm
Depth 100 mm
Width 69.85 mm
Weight 219 g

Also:

Link: Western Digital Raptor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From the above link: "Western Digital later released a 2.5 inch Velociraptor (BLFS models) which is nearly identical to the 3.5 inch version, but without the IcePack heat sink. These drives are designed for use in blade servers and are normally unsuitable for laptops because of their power requirements and 15 mm thickness. Of course, TLER is also enabled by default on BLFS models."

Also from the wiki:

GLFS models - 2.5" in a 3.5" IcePack frame (serving as a heatsink)
HLFS models - 2.5" in a 3.5" redesigned IcePack with proper SATA connector position (see below)
BLFS models - 2.5" bare drives (incompatible with notebooks)

Also from the popup, the operating temp is "5° C to 55° C"

Also from the WD on their desktop black drives, operating temp is "-0° C to 60° C"

Soo... the velociraptor needs an icepack to stay in the same range as a their black series?

Also, if you just hold one in your hand you'll realize there is very little contact with the drive and the heatsink, which makes no sense if the heatsink is really all that necessary.

A lot of folks make the mistake that since it is a 10k drive, it must be a power hungry toaster, and it's not. They run cooler and draw less power than all desktop 3.5" 7200rpm drives. Every spec sheet and review supports this.

That heatsink is a spacer.

Edited to add:

Link to actual temp testing: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/699/7/

So the heatsink drops the temp 7.1 deg C per Western Digital, but without it legitreviews had an overage temp of 41 deg C, which is WELL below the recommend ceiling.

It is a spacer.

edited to add: buy the 2.5" here: http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=216230753&sellerid=31464451

 

Hmm, strange, if you look at the drive specification sheet: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701282.pdf

It says dimensions are 26.1mm height (all 3.5" dimensions basically) in the BL.

Also: http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_velociraptor_review

" The 2.5” VelociRaptor has its circuit board designed in such a way to keep all the heat-generating components tightly pressed to the bottom of the drive body. This allows the body to act as a heatsink instead of making the chips shed heat into the open air."

edit: I misread this, the components are at the bottom of the HDD body not in contact with the heatsink.

And http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/AAG/ENG/2178-771102.pdf

" IcePack™ mounting frame: The 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor is enclosed in a backplane-ready 3.5-inch enterprise-class mounting frame with a built-in heat sink that keeps this powerful little drive extra cool when installed in high-performance desktop chassis."

It acts as more than just a spacer. If all they needed was a spacer they wouldn't have gone through the expense of making a hulking piece of metal with fins attached to it.

In any case it doesn't matter much because it requires 12V to run, and most likely runs hotter than your typical laptop drive, and there's definitely not excellent cooling in most laptops. 7200RPM HDD's rarely exceed 40C, typically below 35C. If the Velociraptor ran at 40C in open air (assuming, not sure testing conditions), I'd hate to see it stuffed inside a laptop.

 

That just looks like WD did not completely update the spec in that pdf for those models as the 2.5" versions came out much later than the 3.5" - note that 26.1 is the spec for those with the heatsink.

As I mentioned before, I put my calipers as close as I could to mine in the heatsink and my guess at that time was 15mm, which is consistent with the spec on the pop-up.

 

I've decided to get the Samsung M8 750 GB for $110. The 1 TB is $190 and I don't think that I wanna spend another $80 for an extra 250 GB. Now where can I get a caddy for the Z and possibly a disassembly guide. Thanks for the responses

 

Actually I just read user reviews on the M8 on newegg and many people reported the drive failing within the first 2 months

 

Some people seem to recommend this one:
2nd hard drive / SSD caddy - Sony VAIO Z, Z11, Z12, Z13, VPC [SONY-2BAY-Z11] - $43.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks
Instructions: Sony Vaio Z installation guide 18

Hmm, I've got a 1TB M8. (power on time: 74 days)

No bad sectors, but it's got about 85,000 load/unload cycle count...

 

I'm late to this conversation, but I LOVE my Hitachi 7K750. See my sig for the benchmark thread I started when it was released.

Right now? None of the drives are the best, considering the near doubling in prices.

 

Weird... the 750 GB Samsung M8 has great reviews with barely anyone saying it failed on them and the 1 TB model has many complaints on this. Add to the fact that its $80 more. I think Ill get the 750 GB M8, Samsung products have always worked great for me.

 

I found a 1 TB Samsung M8 on Ebay that is much cheaper than the one on newegg. It is $139, should I add a 3 year squaretrade warranty or is a warranty not necessary on a HDD?

 

Is it new? Get the Manufacture date on it. Most hard drives are warranted for at least 3 years. You usually just have to send the hard drive in and they replace it with a refurb or new.

 

In my experience Samsung supplies warranty based on serial number. If It's an M8 it will have more than 2 to 2.5 years warranty.

 

In to this thread late but I've had great results with the scorpio blacks.

I've got one in my laptop my wife uses at her place and 2 of them in the little small usb enclosures that I use at work. They get TONS of use and have proven to be rock solid.

Right now prices are still pretty overinflated due to the flooding over in malaysia. I would wait until after december and see what the prices look like. Those 750~1tb scorpio drives should be less than $100 easily.

 

Can't speak directly for the 750s, but at least my twin 500s have been spinning like whisper quiet tops for the past two years. Thanks to the suggestion from this site and others, I would buy again.

 

While i can't say that my 7K750 is entirely whisper quiet, aside from a click once in a while, i can't hear it at all. Note that i use it as a data drive, so the click might very well be when the drive wakes up after some period of idle. I can hear the drive only slightly when it's running a defrag or benchmarks too. Performance drives don't really get any quieter than the 7K750.

 

I ended up ordering the 750 GB Samsung M8 for $80 from newegg.