5400 RPM Time to upgrade?

Nieldo · 9 Mar 2006 at 20:29

Over the past few years I've upgraded everything except my harddrive, I have just found out what type it is:

Seagate
40GB(of course I new that before

)
Seek time of 8.9ms
5400RPM

Is it time to upgrade?

Duke · 9 Mar 2006 at 20:34

Certainly is! A modern HD can speed a system up nicely (remember it's one of the slowest parts so can make a difference).

monaco87 · 10 Mar 2006 at 10:11

The rotational speed of the drive has a direct impact on how fast the drive can serve up data. A 7200rpm disk will be a big plus, also a new disk will hava more effiecient cache and probably lower seek times. FYI the norm in the server world is now 15000rpm.

monaco87 · 10 Mar 2006 at 10:15

Sorry I should also point out the sight downside of faster disks, i.e. they draw more power and run hotter. However if your PSU is reasonable the cooling shouldn't be a problem

Baplad · 10 Mar 2006 at 17:28

monaco87 said:
Sorry I should also point out the sight downside of faster disks, i.e. they draw more power and run hotter. However if your PSU is reasonable the cooling shouldn't be a problem

Don't forgot about the added noise, can be the most irritating noise coming from a PC

Duke · 10 Mar 2006 at 21:25

Most fluid bearing drives are near silent.. I would think an old 5400rpm drive will whine/grind a lot more.

Nieldo · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:52

alright I plan to get a new one, 120gb SATA with generaly better specs then my old one

Still going to keep the old one as somewhere to store music/videos and backup data and all that.

Anyone recommend a well trusted hard drive maker?

Sumanji · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:09

I always go for Western Digital or Seagate, as they are fast, silent and reliable. I hear good things about Samsung drives too (very quiet).

A 7200rpm 8MB cache drive will give you a very noticeable boost... if you went for a 10,000rpm Raptor it will literally blow you away

Suman

Amp34 · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:49

As others have said there will be a noticeable difference. When i install xp on a 160GB SATA drive it takes about 40 minutes but installing it on a 5400RPM IDE drive like i did the other day took over 2 hours. :eek:

There is definitly a difference in windows too.