HDD RPM

Lither · 11 Jul 2016 at 10:41

I'm looking for a 2TB HDD for storage (movies, photos, files) and games so was wondering should I get a 5400RPM or 7200RPM drive?

nutcase · 11 Jul 2016 at 10:44

Games isn't the same as storage - that might mean a 7200 is best. But for light demand, 5400 is fine.

div0 · 11 Jul 2016 at 11:09

You just have to balance up what you'll get from each drive.

5400 RPM drives will generally produce quieter operation, lower power consumption and so be marginally cheaper to run. They tend to be better suited to simple file storage (movies. photos, files).

7200 RPM drives will give quicker file access times, so will tend to feel a bit more responsive when the disk is getting used a lot (playing games, copying/moving files).

If you're looking for a drive which works well for both gaming and file storage, then I'd be tempted to go with 7200 RPM unless you are really concerned by things like hard drive noise. But to some degree, that will depend on what sort of games you're playing - if you're just playing solitaire, then 5400 RPM isn't going to hold you back!

Bluecube · 11 Jul 2016 at 11:15

If you're a heavy gamer then consider investing in a SSD. Games are so large these days that they really benefit from the extra speed. For storage a 5400rpm drive will be just fine.

JanxSpirit · 11 Jul 2016 at 11:33

Bluecube said:
If you're a heavy gamer then consider investing in a SSD. Games are so large these days that they really benefit from the extra speed. For storage a 5400rpm drive will be just fine.

^ This.

Most of my games live on a 5400RPM spinner without any noticeable problems, but any that do suffer noticeably from excessively long level loading times or sporadic in-game stutter due to drive accessing go on the spare room left on my 256GB Samsung SM951 OS drive.

It's the best of both world's IMO as the spinner is almost silent and runs very cool, and the SSD is obviously silent too as well as being mind-bendingly fast. If you're on a tight budget and have to pick just the one drive, I guess it's going to have to be the 7200RPM spinner ideally.

Lither · 11 Jul 2016 at 12:51

Bluecube said:
If you're a heavy gamer then consider investing in a SSD. Games are so large these days that they really benefit from the extra speed. For storage a 5400rpm drive will be just fine.

JanxSpirit said:
^ This.

Most of my games live on a 5400RPM spinner without any noticeable problems, but any that do suffer noticeably from excessively long level loading times or sporadic in-game stutter due to drive accessing go on the spare room left on my 256GB Samsung SM951 OS drive.

It's the best of both world's IMO as the spinner is almost silent and runs very cool, and the SSD is obviously silent too as well as being mind-bendingly fast. If you're on a tight budget and have to pick just the one drive, I guess it's going to have to be the 7200RPM spinner ideally.

Not really a heavy gamer, just occasionally play GTA, Rocket League, Overwatch and have a 250GB SSD OS drive.

div0 · 11 Jul 2016 at 14:07

Lither said:
Not really a heavy gamer, just occasionally play GTA, Rocket League, Overwatch and have a 250GB SSD OS drive.

In that case, I'd just use the SSD for OS and games and get a 5400 RPM drive for storage. 250GB should be more than enough for the OS and any of your games which might benefit from fast access times.

linktoinsanity · 11 Jul 2016 at 15:28

div0 said:
In that case, I'd just use the SSD for OS and games and get a 5400 RPM drive for storage. 250GB should be more than enough for the OS and any of your games which might benefit from fast access times.

This sounds like it would suit you best OP.

Lither · 11 Jul 2016 at 18:02

div0 said:
In that case, I'd just use the SSD for OS and games and get a 5400 RPM drive for storage. 250GB should be more than enough for the OS and any of your games which might benefit from fast access times.

I only have 36GB free space left on my 850 Evo so my options are either to get a 250GB Sandisk or Samsung SSD and a 5400RPM 1TB or 7200RPM 2TB.