Relative merits of 5400 vs. 7200 rpm drives

Hi Y'All

Nice to be back.

Does anyone have direct experience of the difference in performance and reliability between 5400 and 7200 rpm drives?

Even some pertinent links would be appreciated - preferably independent tests rather than marketing hype.

On the face of it, it would seem obvious that faster must be better, but I've seen at least one review whose charts showed some 5400s running faster than some 7200s (in both types of task tested).

So it would seem it's not a given that a 7200 will always outperform a 5400.

Also, does anyone know if the slower drives are expected to last longer? It's seems logical that faster rpm would mean hotter running and more wear, but is it so little as to be not worth worrying about?

Cheers

John

 

Here's an IBM analysis of the issue:

The value of 7200 RPM vs. 5400 RPM disk drives for the desktop

Granted, IBM makes drives in both speeds, but so do others, and the info should apply to them as well.

And, an impartial (I assume) article:

ATA/100 "“ 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM

 

Thanks for the info, DoctorDoom.

 

I have no lab analysis to give you, just real world experience.

There are exceptions to the rule; but, overall, I see enough difference in performance between 5400- and 7200-RPM drives that I now buy only 7200-RPM drives.

Another factor to watch is the amount of on-disk cache (also known as buffer). In all cases where disk cache is mentioned, the 7200-RPMs all seem to have two megs. I have noticed thet 5400-RPM drives with two megs of cache/buffer seem to perform noticably close to the 7200-RPM drives. The upshot seems to be that cache may be more important than RPMs.

 

In my experience 5400 works fine... but for a while now I have been only getting 7200. As Alex said... there is enough of a difference that you can tell.

 

Today's 7200rpm drives blow away the 5400 ones even though there are other factors involved beside spindle speed. Try an IBM 60GXP and you'll see what I mean. The first time I installed one, my Duron 650 box seemed just as fast as my 1.2G Tbird box! The Seagate Barracuda IV is another good choice. Hard disk performance has a much greater impact on overall system performance than processor speed.

 

I think that manufactures might tend to put more quality in the 7400 drives... kinda like the difference between the entrance version car and the SE version of the same model. For instance, on Lincon Navigators... they come with a factory sub. The Ford Expedition don't come with that!