Computer help

[ItsOnVoy]

Hey guys kinda random but its a off topic discussion so hope it's fine to ask this. I know there are some smart comp people on here so I want to ask a question on some hdd drives. I want a new MacBook Pro (don't want to hear how windows is better from some ppl i don't care) and I have an option to upgrade my hdd. There is a 750gb 7200rpm or a 1tb 5400rpm. How much of a difference in performance, speed, heat etc will there be between a 5400rpm or a 7200rpm? I personally have a 3tb external and that is half way filled and that's is obviously something I can't take around as an option so I thought a 1tb drive will be good but my cuz says to do the 7200rpm one for better performance. I know ssd drives are good but too expensive for now and anything under 500gb is too little at that point for me so for now not an option really.

Any help is appreciated thanks!!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Windows is better



















Sorry...I had too.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

Loll saw that one coming.

 

[Phantom]

Windows is better

But with that being said everybody has their own likes. But as far as the hard drive is concerned I would get the 7200. you can always store stuff in your external if the 750 isn't big enough.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

But with that being said everybody has their own likes. But as far as the hard drive is concerned I would get the 7200. you can always store stuff in your external if the 750 isn't big enough.

I have a windows comp now I mean if I really want or need it I can install it on the Mac not a huge deal really. I hear that the 7200rpm one heats up quite a but which I don't want the comp to heat up too much you know.

 

[irwinmb5]

I wouldn't waste my money on a Mac, but i see you have already drank the kool aid, so their is no help there. If you have external drives, then go with the 7200 rpm drive. It will be much faster than the 5400 rpm drive. The rpms are how fast the drive spins and so the faster the drive spins the quicker it can move around to pull off your data. Solid states are the way to go and the prices are coming down pretty fast. They are much more reliable and heck of a lot faster. Hope that helps you out.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

See ssd drives are great but I read they only have so much of a life. They go off of how many times you transfer stuff to and from I guess. I do have the option of a retina display one that has a 256gb ssd but that's kinda low really. I would have to take a portable around etc

 

[navigator]

I understand the Macs are better if you are into video/photo editing type stuff and PCs are better for business type computing.
The average person though can get by just fine with the cheapest of either off the shelf or even a tablet in most cases.

I bought the cheapest laptop BestBuy had a few years back, a $250 eMachine. It does everything I need it to do.
The DVD drive on it has crapped out though, I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[Voymom]

I have a Sony Vaio, it has 320GB and 5400rpm and it stays pretty cool. Mats is an HP with the same specs, and his gets awfully hot, so I think it varies in which computer you actually get. I can sit mine on my lap and do just fine. If I sit Mats computer on my lap I am liable to get 2nd degree burns. My computer is actually older than his as well.

When I upgrade, I will be looking to get a 7200rpm, in a Sony Vaio of course, since that is my preferred choice in laptops.

I paid $750 for mine, and $650 for Mat's

 

[McGMT]

A 7200 isnt going to affect the temp... Hardly go above 100F and the rest is much hotter... Another vote for 7200 as the main drive.

 

[Melaronius]

I don't know what you use your computer for. If you aren't constantly moving several large files to/from the drive then you will never notice the difference. The read/write speeds between 7200 and 5400 is maybe 25 ms. Personally I would take the space over the speed.

I understand the Macs are better if you are into video/photo editing type stuff and PCs are better for business type computing.
The average person though can get by just fine with the cheapest of either off the shelf or even a tablet in most cases.

That isn't true. If you take a $3,000 Mac and a $3,000 PC, the PC will out perform the Mac in every aspect (by far).

I have a Sony Vaio, it has 320GB and 5400rpm and it stays pretty cool. Mats is an HP with the same specs, and his gets awfully hot, so I think it varies in which computer you actually get. I can sit mine on my lap and do just fine. If I sit Mats computer on my lap I am liable to get 2nd degree burns. My computer is actually older than his as well.

The heat you are referring to is coming from the processor, not the hdd. Hdds only get about 40-50C. A CPU's temp will vary depending on what the computer is being used for, but under a load it could easily get to 80C (176F). Laptops naturally have worse ventilation and restricted air flow, putting it on you lap just makes it harder to cool off since the intake is right where your lap is.

A 7200 isnt going to affect the temp... Hardly go above 100F and the rest is much hotter... Another vote for 7200 as the main drive.

7200 rpm drives run about 10C hotter than 5400 rpm ones. They don't have as long of a life span due to that and the extra wear that comes with spinning faster.

 

[Sparky]

I don't think we really need to go into the mac vs pc thing, as he already requested we don't, so... I'll keep my mac hate to myself lol

Anyway, I'd probably go with the 7200 RPM drive. Sure, it might use a tiny bit more power but it'll be a tiny bit faster. Not just for large file transfer but even just random stuff - generally, the higher rotational speed of the drive, the lower the seek times, and that will make a difference in even just boot time, program load time, etc.

For a laptop I don't see most people needing enormous amounts of storage and besides, you already mentioned you have a large external for bulk storage. Plus 750GB is pretty huge anyway.

I've been working in IT for quite a while and I've seen a large number of failed drives. I have not been able to make any sort of correlation between drive RPM and lifespan. Operating temp, yes a little bit, but even that is dependent on a number other factors also.

 

[GCTB1289]

I personally feel that the 5400rpm would be better. i got 2 hdd that i swap between one is a 5400rpm 500GB and a 7200rpm 500GB. you can hardly see the difference between them.

I vote for more storage.

and also on a side note MACs are great computers, I used to repair them in NYC. Me personally I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on them

 

[ItsOnVoy]

Yeah it seems kind of a toss up on which to get. I do agree that 750gb is a good amount of storage and that the 7200rpm will run well too but if the life span isnt too long or if it gets hotter then that can be an issue also. I tend or used to not anymore because I got a tablet put my laptop on my lap watch tv and search. I have a 12 cell battery in mine so it getting too hot wasn't an issue because it was able to cool off easily. I personally move big files like my movies and those HD movies run up to 15gb each for some, so if the 7200rpm is a good noticeable difference then that is what I will consider. I mean I have a easy 40gb in songs, 40gbs in pictures and they files for school and you also have programs etc etc which can give me up to a good 200gb taken up already right there. On my hard drive which is a 500gb one I have half of it full without putting movies and such on there. Also the external hard drive is USB 3.0 and my new comp will have it so transfer to the hard drive isn't a problem its from it.

Spoiler

Yeah guys I am not trying to make this a mac vs windows thread because we all have different ideas in what we want in a computer. Just asking about the hardware on what to consider is all

I have another question, A video card from 512mb to 1gb, would I personally need it? I do not do anything heavy but the random once in a while video editing, picture editing and also I do dual monitors every so often also. I was told that the video mem will come in handy if I do the dual monitor and if I run some programs. Also with the mac I can use apple tv to mirror my screen on that, does that use mem if anyone uses apple tv on here? Would I need the extra mem or not worry about it too much?

 

[Sparky]

Mostly the video memory is used for texture rendering and stuff. Straight up video won't use a ton of that. 512MB is probably fine. Heck my laptop has only 128MB at best and I have run dual screens on it quite often.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

Mostly the video memory is used for texture rendering and stuff. Straight up video won't use a ton of that. 512MB is probably fine. Heck my laptop has only 128MB at best and I have run dual screens on it quite often.

Yeah I have 128mb on mine also right now and I have done dual screens no problem. Just some programs are the best when it comes to photo editing and video making and all.

 

[deekster_caddy]

I have a 2011 MacBook Pro with the 7200 RPM drive and heat is not an issue. I do play games on it (under my Windows/Boot Camp installation) and it performs very well. I don't have a way to compare how the 5400 RPM drive runs on the same system.

I would go with the 7200 RPM drive again.

 

[djthumper]

Personally if it is in a mac the 5400RPM will be fine. The bottle neck of transferring your files is the method used to do it.

 

[ScarabEpic22]

My laptop is a 17.3" HP dv7t Quad, I bought it with a 750gb 5400rpm drive last year. I then promptly ordered the additional SATA cable so I could add another drive, I put a 128gb Crucial M4 SSD into it. Let me tell you, after using a SSD as my primary drive, I will NEVER go back to spinning drives. My desktop has a 2TB Western Digital Black 7200rpm drive, until recently it was THE fastest 7200rpm drive on the market (faster than the 1TB version because of the platter density). An lower-mid level SSD puts it to SHAME.

If you have an external HDD, get a SSD. If you had a PC, Id say buy whatever HDDs cheaper and then stick your own SSD into it, but if you do this with a Mac you'll void your warranty. Plus, with the MacBook Pro/Air, you cant actually upgrade the HDD or RAM because they're soldered to the motherboard.

If you want to carry a bunch of stuff around on your laptop, then get a spinning drive. Do you care about battery life and/or heat output? If so, the 5400rpm drive will be a better choice because they do not generate as much heat and use slightly less power. If speed is your preference, 7200rpm. Wait, no if speed then get a SSD.

As for graphics cards, if you dont actually game then the integrated Intel HD3000 (Sandy Bridge) or HD4000 (Ivy Bridge) graphics will be just fine. Ive got a 1GB Radeon HD 6770M in my laptop that I rarely use because it kills my battery life (go from 7-9 down to ~2-3hrs) and forces the fan on all the time because it generates much more heat. The HD3000 graphics I have run 1080p just fine, I usually run dual monitors with my integrated 17.3" screen and HDMI out to my 42" LCD to watch movies. No issues at all.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Unless you are doing serious video editing, you will not notice the slightest difference in day-to-day work or in playing games. Rotational speed of the hard drive is virtually irrelevant to most people.

The reason they offer the option is for the people who do serious video editing on the Mac. If you use iMovie once in a while, get the 5400 RPM drive. However, if you are using Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Pro X, get the 7200 RPM one. (Also, spend some money and max out the RAM.)

Plus, if you are doing serious video editing (I work in the film business) then make sure your external drives are 7200 RPM. Trust me on this; you will thank me some day.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

I have a 2011 MacBook Pro with the 7200 RPM drive and heat is not an issue. I do play games on it (under my Windows/Boot Camp installation) and it performs very well. I don't have a way to compare how the 5400 RPM drive runs on the same system.

I would go with the 7200 RPM drive again.

How is the battery on it?

My laptop is a 17.3" HP dv7t Quad, I bought it with a 750gb 5400rpm drive last year. I then promptly ordered the additional SATA cable so I could add another drive, I put a 128gb Crucial M4 SSD into it. Let me tell you, after using a SSD as my primary drive, I will NEVER go back to spinning drives. My desktop has a 2TB Western Digital Black 7200rpm drive, until recently it was THE fastest 7200rpm drive on the market (faster than the 1TB version because of the platter density). An lower-mid level SSD puts it to SHAME.

If you have an external HDD, get a SSD. If you had a PC, Id say buy whatever HDDs cheaper and then stick your own SSD into it, but if you do this with a Mac you'll void your warranty. Plus, with the MacBook Pro/Air, you cant actually upgrade the HDD or RAM because they're soldered to the motherboard.

If you want to carry a bunch of stuff around on your laptop, then get a spinning drive. Do you care about battery life and/or heat output? If so, the 5400rpm drive will be a better choice because they do not generate as much heat and use slightly less power. If speed is your preference, 7200rpm. Wait, no if speed then get a SSD.

As for graphics cards, if you dont actually game then the integrated Intel HD3000 (Sandy Bridge) or HD4000 (Ivy Bridge) graphics will be just fine. Ive got a 1GB Radeon HD 6770M in my laptop that I rarely use because it kills my battery life (go from 7-9 down to ~2-3hrs) and forces the fan on all the time because it generates much more heat. The HD3000 graphics I have run 1080p just fine, I usually run dual monitors with my integrated 17.3" screen and HDMI out to my 42" LCD to watch movies. No issues at all.

Your able to upgrade the ram and HDD before you buy it, they give you the option to what can be upgrade. Depending on the comp they vary what can be upgraded but all the pro and airs can upgrade on HDD and the RAM. Just the 13" will be less HDD then the 15". But to do them yourself is a different story. Upgrading the Ram doesn't void the Warranty but the HDD and anything else will from what I was told from them.

My external drive isn't portable and the SSD drives are great no lie but to have to worry about always taking a portable around with me will start to bug me quick lol

I deff do not do any gaming on my comp other then a once in a blue moon simple online game maybe and that is it. So the more video mem will kill the battery life more then?

Unless you are doing serious video editing, you will not notice the slightest difference in day-to-day work or in playing games. Rotational speed of the hard drive is virtually irrelevant to most people.

The reason they offer the option is for the people who do serious video editing on the Mac. If you use iMovie once in a while, get the 5400 RPM drive. However, if you are using Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Pro X, get the 7200 RPM one. (Also, spend some money and max out the RAM.)

Plus, if you are doing serious video editing (I work in the film business) then make sure your external drives are 7200 RPM. Trust me on this; you will thank me some day.

Like on my comp now I have sony vegas pro and the whole adobe package and I used to have autocad and inventer but all these programs I use once in a while (like once every blue moon when I need them). Autocad and all are already preloaded on my work comp so its not often I touch it on my personal pc. But when I do it takes time to open and VERY laggy which really bugs me honestly. But then again I have 128mb video mem lol so not sure if the 512mb will be enough or just do 1gb. So looks like the 7200rpm would be my best bet because I do want good performance. The 7200rpm will open programs quicker also right?

My external is USB 3.0 so as long as the new comp has that I should be fine with speed on that.

 

[Chickenhawk]

Like on my comp now I have sony vegas pro and the whole adobe package and I used to have autocad and inventer but all these programs I use once in a while (like once every blue moon when I need them). Autocad and all are already preloaded on my work comp so its not often I touch it on my personal pc. But when I do it takes time to open and VERY laggy which really bugs me honestly. But then again I have 128mb video mem lol so not sure if the 512mb will be enough or just do 1gb.

Those programs are RAM hogs and also really hit the video processor very heavily. You are lucky to get them to even run at all with 128mb video memory!

So looks like the 7200rpm would be my best bet because I do want good performance. The 7200rpm will open programs quicker also right? My external is USB 3.0 so as long as the new comp has that I should be fine with speed on that.

Unless you are doing serious video editing, programs will not load faster or perform better in any noticeable way. Get the 5400 RPM.

If you ARE getting into serious video editing, get the 7200 RPM drive, max out the video memory and RAM and get an external hard drive that's 7200 RPM and runs on either Firewire 800 (best) or USB 3.0.

Trust me; I know Macs and I know video. (My first Mac was a 1985 Mac Plus, not much after the "1984 will not be like '1984'" introduction of the Macintosh.)

However, if you want to talk about heavy video editing on the Mac, keep one thing in mind. Final Cut stores the files on a scratch disk, which should NOT be your internal hard drive. Given if I had to choose a fast internal or a fast external, I would always choose the fast external drive. With Final Cut, the more RAM you have the better. When it comes to slow-downs like rendering, RAM helps a lot.

(That being said, I did a slo-motion smoothing render on a 10-second slo-mo shot on a film the other month and it took 6 hours to render, so some days, nothing speeds it up much! On the bright side, I was invited to a film festival in Monrovia California when it was done and we even won an acting award at the gala awards dinner at the fab Santa Anita Race Track in L.A., which is not too bad for a simple boy from the Canadian prairies like me.)

 

[ItsOnVoy]

Those programs are RAM hogs and also really hit the video processor very heavily. You are lucky to get them to even run at all with 128mb video memory!


Unless you are doing serious video editing, programs will not load faster or perform better in any noticeable way. Get the 5400 RPM.

If you ARE getting into serious video editing, get the 7200 RPM drive, max out the video memory and RAM and get an external hard drive that's 7200 RPM and runs on either Firewire 800 (best) or USB 3.0.

Trust me; I know Macs and I know video. (My first Mac was a 1985 Mac Plus, not much after the "1984 will not be like '1984'" introduction of the Macintosh.)

However, if you want to talk about heavy video editing on the Mac, keep one thing in mind. Final Cut stores the files on a scratch disk, which should NOT be your internal hard drive. Given if I had to choose a fast internal or a fast external, I would always choose the fast external drive. With Final Cut, the more RAM you have the better. When it comes to slow-downs like rendering, RAM helps a lot.

(That being said, I did a slo-motion smoothing render on a 10-second slo-mo shot on a film the other month and it took 6 hours to render, so some days, nothing speeds it up much! On the bright side, I was invited to a film festival in Monrovia California when it was done and we even won an acting award at the gala awards dinner at the fab Santa Anita Race Track in L.A., which is not too bad for a simple boy from the Canadian prairies like me.)

I will be maxing out the Ram for sure to 8 unless I do the retina display which goes to 16gb but I will not be putting the money into a retina display just yet. Yeah I wont be doing any serious video editing at all, just that once in a while idea. My external is a USB 3.0 not sure if its 7200 rpm though. I can making it Firewire 800 but then I have to buy the dock for it and put the drive on that and will get that. I wont need firewire since I do not do video editing as a daily thing or as my job. I know USB 3.0 is much faster and that will fit my needs much better since I do lots of music, picture, and movie transferring from one to another. The 3.0 is suppose to be 5Gbps and the Firewire 800 is 800Mbps. Unless I do thunderbolt technology then I will be looking at double the speeds then that.

 

[meerschm]

I have a dell e6420 for work with a SSD. (128GB) I love this thing.

it boots faster, and responds faster. I end up editing/reading 50-80 MB word files and it is very happy.

there is an net backup utility installed.

I would not worry about the lifetime of the SSD. you still have to back up. odds are something else will break. battery life is longer as well, no moving parts. the apple site totes enhanced durability for the ssd.




good luck.

 

[deekster_caddy]

Battery life is pretty impressive to me. I can get through almost a whole 8 hour day of basic office stuff with aggressive energy saver settings, and if I'm in boot camp win 7 playing a game with heavy graphics I get 2-3 hours depending on how intense the game is. I'm very satisfied with the battery life. I usually keep it plugged in though.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

So what would be better. Building a custom desktop which comes out to be a pretty good desktop or get this laptop?

HP Envy dv6t Quad Laptop, Intel® Core

differences?
laptop I get to take it around with me which I love that and I am usually sitting in front of the tv or at school etc.

desktop I can get better faster longer lasting comp, can put mac os on there and have more then one drive for windows and that.

not sure what I want to do :/

 

[Porkins]

So what would be better. Building a custom desktop which comes out to be a pretty good desktop or get this laptop?

HP Envy dv6t Quad Laptop, Intel® Core

differences?
laptop I get to take it around with me which I love that and I am usually sitting in front of the tv or at school etc.

desktop I can get better faster longer lasting comp, can put mac os on there and have more then one drive for windows and that.

not sure what I want to do :/

I like desktops better, mainly the extra space for addons. (says the person typing from a laptop)

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

So what would be better. Building a custom desktop which comes out to be a pretty good desktop or get this laptop?

HP Envy dv6t Quad Laptop, Intel® Core

not sure what I want to do :/

it would depend on what you plan to do while on the new computer I guess?

I just bought a new laptop (HP ENVY 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive m6-1105dx - Best Buy) I LOVE IT ! and I built a VERY durable desktop this summer. I too use the laptop for school and such but I use my desktop as my media center and connect the tv as my monitor. (hundreds of movies bluerays, music etc in combination with a 1TB hard-drive and external 1 TB hard-drive, graphics cards, hdmi, etc...etc..)

So for entertainment id go with desktop considering all of the available customization and storage space etc, but for school work, just internet browsing, music, some movies Id go with laptop. I am personally hesitant to put too much stress on the fragile infrastructure of the laptops that I have serviced (overheating, memory constraints, fan failure, etc) but if they arent over used they can last a long time and are GREAT for school work and most multitasking / web browsing / music / gmtnation ...

also, when I bought my laptop I asked for windows 7 because windows 8 is too new and there could be some potential risks / bugs that take awhile to get ironed out and its slightly annoying to have huge updates everyday for a few months, but thats just my . And You can install MAC os onto the new laptop as well

hope this helps.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

it would depend on what you plan to do while on the new computer I guess?

I just bought a new laptop (HP ENVY 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive m6-1105dx - Best Buy) I LOVE IT ! and I built a VERY durable desktop this summer. I too use the laptop for school and such but I use my desktop as my media center and connect the tv as my monitor. (hundreds of movies bluerays, music etc in combination with a 1TB hard-drive and external 1 TB hard-drive, graphics cards, hdmi, etc...etc..)

So for entertainment id go with desktop considering all of the available customization and storage space etc, but for school work, just internet browsing, music, some movies Id go with laptop. I am personally hesitant to put too much stress on the fragile infrastructure of the laptops that I have serviced (overheating, memory constraints, fan failure, etc) but if they arent over used they can last a long time and are GREAT for school work and most multitasking / web browsing / music / gmtnation ...

also, when I bought my laptop I asked for windows 7 because windows 8 is too new and there could be some potential risks / bugs that take awhile to get ironed out and its slightly annoying to have huge updates everyday for a few months, but thats just my . And You can install MAC os onto the new laptop as well

hope this helps.

I do use my laptop as a entertainment center with all the movies and pictures and songs etc on there. MAC os I do want to install on the desktop if I go that way which is why I looked into motherboards that can support MAC os and run it smooth. I looked into putting that MAC os on that laptop but I am not sure if it can handle it. I split my drive the other day and put windows 8 on it and I have to say it runs a lot better then 7. It takes time to get used to and its different but its not bad. Start up time is WAY faster then 7. My 7 takes about a good few minutes and 8 takes like 15-30 seconds max. big difference to me.

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

yeah it isnt too bad. and hp makes a good laptop (from my experience) and its the least common i have had to work on out of all the repairs I get.

 

[navigator]

yeah it isnt too bad. and hp makes a good laptop (from my experience) and its the least common i have had to work on out of all the repairs I get.

we're getting off topic but just hope you don't have to talk to their support team about a recall item (like my F1703).

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

we're getting off topic but just hope you don't have to talk to their support team about a recall item (like my F1703).

true however, for every 1 hp computer I have ever needed to service I have had at least 20 dell laptops haha. but good point I agree support almost anywhere anymore is no fun.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

This is a kick in the nuts for many haters on here for this brand but apple has the best support team! Never had an issue with them always fixed the problem etc.

 

[Porkins]

This is a kick in the nuts for many haters on here for this brand but apple has the best support team! Never had an issue with them always fixed the problem etc.

I don't hate on MACs just iPhones. MACs are really great video & graphic editing computers if you have the money to shell out.

 

[Melaronius]

I don't hate on MACs just iPhones. MACs are really great video & graphic editing computers if you have the money to shell out.

Actually if you were to shell out the same amount of money on a pc, you would have something much more powerful and capable.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

I don't hate on MACs just iPhones. MACs are really great video & graphic editing computers if you have the money to shell out.

thats whats holding me back right now

 

[CdnGMan]

That's why I love building my own PC's and using torrents... :wootwoot:

 

[ItsOnVoy]

That's why I love building my own PC's and using torrents... :wootwoot:

too bad laptops cannot be built like a desktop can

 

[ScarabEpic22]

That's why I love building my own PC's and using torrents... :wootwoot:

Ill refrain on the torrents part...

Ive got 2 PCs sitting in my room that are for clients right now, one is getting shipped out the week after Thanksgiving so Im still benchmarking it. I bet you'd think Im bs'ing you if I said for less than $400 I built a Sandy Bridge i3, ASRock mobo (H77 chipset so Ivy Bridge ready if an upgrade is desired), 8GB RAM, a good case (not a cheapy $30 POS), Antec 400w 80+ Gold PSU, dvd burner, and a 90GB 2nd gen Sandforce SSD. Yep, all that is going for right around $400, toss in a copy of Win 7 Pro I have lying around for $50 and for $450 thats a pretty bad@ss PC if I do say so myself. And I bought all these parts at retail (Newegg.com), dont get any supplier/etc discounts. Its a hobby of mine, built the most reliable, cheapest, and throw in things that make a HUGE difference like a SSD.