I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
run reasonably cool, no?
("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
notebook. Will this make any real difference?
Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
elsewhere?
Thanks for any feedback!
Liam

The drive is the slowest part of the system. How slow is acceptable to you?

Liam wrote:

> I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
> With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
> run reasonably cool, no?
> ("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
> So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
> drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
> know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
> notebook. Will this make any real difference?
> Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
> processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
> the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
> Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
> Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
> elsewhere?
> Thanks for any feedback!
> Liam
>

Bob I wrote:
> The drive is the slowest part of the system. How slow is acceptable to you?
>
Well, that's my question, isn't it.
How much of a difference is 7200 from 5400? Noticeable? Sometimes
noticeable during certain tasks? All the time noticeable?
In just numbers 7200 is what, 25% faster than 5400? But I know in
actual useage that doesn't mean performance is exactly 25% faster all
the time.
So, some feedback on the difference between the two would be nice.
Thanks!
Liam

> Liam wrote:
>
> > I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
> > With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
> > run reasonably cool, no?
> > ("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
> > So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
> > drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
> > know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
> > notebook. Will this make any real difference?
> > Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
> > processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
> > the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
> > Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
> > Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
> > elsewhere?
> > Thanks for any feedback!
> > Liam
> >

So are you getting LOTS of memory to prevent program swaps to pagefile?
Are you the kind of person that has to have every program you might use
open at the same time? Do you play music and movies? A good 7200 is
nearly 50% faster than a 5400. So, how slow is acceptable to you?

Liam wrote:
> Bob I wrote:
>
>>The drive is the slowest part of the system. How slow is acceptable to you?
>>
>
> Well, that's my question, isn't it.
> How much of a difference is 7200 from 5400? Noticeable? Sometimes
> noticeable during certain tasks? All the time noticeable?
> In just numbers 7200 is what, 25% faster than 5400? But I know in
> actual useage that doesn't mean performance is exactly 25% faster all
> the time.
> So, some feedback on the difference between the two would be nice.
> Thanks!
> Liam
>
>
>>Liam wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
>>>With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
>>>run reasonably cool, no?
>>>("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
>>>So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
>>>drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
>>>know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
>>>notebook. Will this make any real difference?
>>>Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
>>>processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
>>>the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
>>>Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
>>>Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
>>>elsewhere?
>>>Thanks for any feedback!
>>>Liam
>>>
>
>

You only need to ask one question really. Are you going to be doing any
editing of large files (Music, pictures or Video) now, soon or in the
future? If you are or might then you have to go for the 7200. In fact, the
difference in price you should always go for the 7200 anyway. Don't even
think about it, the 5400 shouldn't even be an option. I think you probably
get my point!

72007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200720072007200
Hope that helps.
Lenny

"Liam" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
> With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
> run reasonably cool, no?
> ("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
> So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
> drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
> know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
> notebook. Will this make any real difference?
> Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
> processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
> the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
> Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
> Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
> elsewhere?
> Thanks for any feedback!
> Liam
>

You really can't generalize. It is probably true that the average 7200
rpm drive runs hotter than the average 5400 rpm drive, but when you get
to talking about specific drives, there are 5,400 rpm drives that use
more power than specific 7,200 rpm drives. In the end, power = heat,
and it's kind of become a standard that the hard drive is allocated 2.5
watts (5 volts @ 500ma) because that is both what the drives themselves
had been converging to as a power requirement (even 5+ years ago) and
because that is the maximum spec of power available from a USB port.
And since you are really only concerned with the difference between two
drives, it just isn't likely to be that big of a deal except in very
extreme cases.

However, the cost of the 7,200 rpm drive is likely to be significantly
higher than that of a 5,400 rpm drive.


Liam wrote:

> I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
> With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
> run reasonably cool, no?
> ("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
> So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
> drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
> know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
> notebook. Will this make any real difference?
> Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
> processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
> the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
> Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
> Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
> elsewhere?
> Thanks for any feedback!
> Liam
>

Very noticeable, but only on some tasks.


Liam wrote:

> Bob I wrote:
>
>>The drive is the slowest part of the system. How slow is acceptable to you?
>>
>
> Well, that's my question, isn't it.
> How much of a difference is 7200 from 5400? Noticeable? Sometimes
> noticeable during certain tasks? All the time noticeable?
> In just numbers 7200 is what, 25% faster than 5400? But I know in
> actual useage that doesn't mean performance is exactly 25% faster all
> the time.
> So, some feedback on the difference between the two would be nice.
> Thanks!
> Liam
>
>
>>Liam wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I'm looking at getting an Alienware Sentia m3450 notebook.
>>>With the dual-core Centrinos, the Intel 950 graphics chip, it should
>>>run reasonably cool, no?
>>>("Cool" as in heat, of course. *g*)
>>>So, I'm deciding between a cheaper 5400 rpm drive or a faster 7200
>>>drive, and was wondering if the faster spin causes additional heat? I
>>>know that notebook drives already produce a lot of the heat in a
>>>notebook. Will this make any real difference?
>>>Is 7200 over 5400 worth the extra cost? I'm basically using it for word
>>>processing and Office tasks, but sometimes games (obviously because of
>>>the graphics chip, older games like EVE-Online, Sid Meyer's Prirates!,
>>>Civ-2, Neverwinter Nights 1, etc.)
>>>Should I stick with 5400 or is 7200 worth the extra money I could use
>>>elsewhere?
>>>Thanks for any feedback!
>>>Liam
>>>
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> You really can't generalize. It is probably true that the average 7200
> rpm drive runs hotter than the average 5400 rpm drive, but when you get to
> talking about specific drives, there are 5,400 rpm drives that use more
> power than specific 7,200 rpm drives. In the end, power = heat, and it's
> kind of become a standard that the hard drive is allocated 2.5 watts (5
> volts @ 500ma) because that is both what the drives themselves had been
> converging to as a power requirement (even 5+ years ago) and because that
> is the maximum spec of power available from a USB port. And since you are
> really only concerned with the difference between two drives, it just
> isn't likely to be that big of a deal except in very extreme cases.
>

There are plenty of 2.5 inch drives that use more than 500mA. If you buy
any decent 2.5 inch drive enclosure today, they come with a USB lead that
has 2 USB plugs on. The second plug is purely for extra power.

M.I.5¾ wrote:

>Lately I find myself
>wishing for a 10,000RPM drive. :-)

Is there laptop that has that kind of Hard drive speed?......

"Roy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

M.I.5¾ wrote:

>Lately I find myself
>wishing for a 10,000RPM drive. :-)


No I didn't.