Best 320GB 7200RPM HDD for the M860TU

MY WDC 320GB 7200RPM runs really hot with my M860TU so I'm deciding to buy a new one.

Which brand and model is the best as of the moment for this laptop? Considering the speed, noise, and primarily heat. Thanks for your help

 

I heard the Seagates run cool or you can look into the Hitachi hard drives. I have one in my system and it never goes above 57 even in intense sessions.

 

So 57's alright? I tend to worry while playing Burnout Paradise as mine hits 58.

 

Is a 500GB 7200 RPM necessarily better, in terms of speed, than a 320GB 7200RPM?

In terms of temps, should they run the same?

 

One thing that will help your hdd temps is to turn off indexing on the drive, if you are running vista. Just right click on your c drive and one the bottom of the tab take the check out of index for faster search. Click apply and ignore all if needed, reboot. My drive runs 4-5 degrees C cooler now because my OS isnt constantly accessing the drive to index it(gotta love those feature ><). I monitor my temps with HDtune.

 

Done that a long time ago. Turned off all the unnecessary services, still hot running HDD.

 

Then I would aim for a seagate then. The 500gb 7200rpm is supposed to be quite nice. Hopefully the trick I posted will at least help someone else out there.

 

Are Seagate always better than WDC drives?

 

No in my experience I prefer wd. I have found that since Seagate bought out maxtor, some of seagates desktop drives have taken a dive, but seagate does seem to have a slight edge in the laptop drives.

 

Well I run the 7200.3 320Gb Seagate and it idles at 48c, goes to 53c while gaming and sometimes when I move lots of files it goes to 57c. Ambient temperature is 20-22c.
Indexing and super fetch are still on.

 

Considering they're both spinning at 7200 Revolutions Per Minute, I'd imagine they function at the same speed. A 10k RPM drive would be faster, not to mention hotter. From what I recall reading, they just squeezed more data onto the four platters by reducing the size of the clusters on the platters.

 

Ahh.. So, Seagate or WD?

 

If both have 7200rpm... there is no speed difference. Just the space.

I have a Seagate one, and it's under 60. Usually ~50 idle, ~55 load, and ~60 if I'm doing all that I can possible at the same time ie. downloading, installing, etc.

I would imagine the WD would be similar? If it's under 60 most of the time, there is absolutely no need to change your HDD. Waste of $$.

 

Yeah but sometimes it reaches 64ish..

Is your right palm rest also hot?

It's just that when I open the back panel while the laptop is running and try to touch the HDD, it's really super hot, that's why I'm concluding that it is the culprit in making the right palm rest hot also?

 

Call me crazy but I don't think you should do that.

 

If it goes over 60 under idle or normal use, that's a problem. But I have to agree, you shouldn't screw around with it, ie. opening the computer and TOUCHING it. 60C is around 140F if you need the conversion. OF COURSE it's hot.

If it's still under the warranty, contact your vendor. Don't make it more problematic than what it is now, especially if you don't know what you're doing.

 

sabricaze, I'm assuming you never followed the PC Mircoworks thread.

Kevin, you may want to consider getting a 5400RPM or even an SDD. The difference between Segate or WD will only be a couple degrees and I don't think its worth it.

I have a Samsung 160GB 7200RPM and idles at 48 and sometimes pushes 53 when gaming.

 

i dont have a problem with my WD 320 7200
its running at 54c at the moment but it is 29c outside so very hot in the house.
i have superfetch activated as well.
only time mine hits 60c is when its defragmenting or running a virus scan.

if youve got the money lying around then get another HD but dont be surprised if the temps run the same give or take 1-2c

 

Sorry to go off topic, but do 7200 RPM drives heat up much more than 5400 RPM drives?

For instance I have the choice of purchasing either a Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200 RPM drive, or a Seagate Momentus 500GB 5400 RPM drive.. Which would run hotter? And what is the difference in performance between the two? Significant in gaming, for instance? Overclock.co.uk tells me the average seek time on both is 14.0ms..

 

I know what I'm doing when I said I touched the HDD while the computer is running. Of course I touched the plastic part of the HDD and was very sure that I won't touch any electronic component.

Well, regarding temps I think my HDD is still OK but I was thinking that it's the cause of the hot right palmrest of my lappy, I don't know if that's reliable guess though. This is the main reason why I was thinking of replacing my HDD but you guys can give me your opinions