Question:
? for W3J users with 7200rpm
Im getting a W3J sometime nextweek and I'm wondering if I should get a 7200upgrade. I'm probably gonna be using it for a few hours at a time and probably gaming on it as well. Hows the heat generated by the 7200? Is it bothersome at all especially since theres a heat vent at the right side where your hand usually is if you have a mouse. Also if anyone had a 5400 and upgraded to the 7200, how much of a difference is there?
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
Well from everything I've read and heard about, the upgrade to 7200 is not necessary and you would not even notice it. Not only that but it voids the warentee and causes more heat and lessens battery
I'd say stick with the 5400
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
yes i agree with smokeshot7
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
It depends on what you do, but performance increases can be 30+% if doing the right thing....... gaming is a tough call depending on what is actually be accessed... if it's mainly the optical drive, then no.... but a 7200rpm is good for a lot of things and is useful for a lot of people..... gaming, maybe not so much, but I mean you can determine what you're going to need before hand. If you're thinking of the upgrade, get it stock and see what you think and you can always keep the drive for external use or backups in a second hard drive kit down the road.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
Unless someone can prove me wrong, 7200rpm drives don't really use a lot more power than 5400rpm drives. Here are the spec sheets:
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/5k160/5k160.htm
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/7k100/7k100.htm
So it uses at most 0.5 more Watts on average. The 8-cell in the W3J has 71Wh of energy, so if you manage to get 3 hours out of it with a 5400rpm drive, that means now you will lose a whole 4 minutes.
Regarding heat, since it uses 0.5 more Watts, it cannot dissipate more than an extra 0.5 Watts due to basic thermodynamics (unless the hard drive was designed in a completely different way to make it use power more inefficiently, but this is not likely). And you know what, you aren't going to notice an extra 0.5W.
However, you will notice the 7200rpm hard drive each time you move files around, load up a map, copy a DVD, etc.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
..ho,ho,ho... green giant!
Sorry, you've got to expect that, right? Listen, real world experience means more than anything. If you want to tell this member that they will lose a difference of only 4 minutes over the course of 3 hours, be my guest. Your theory is good, the logic works.... but the practicle application isn't right. The only thing that could really help your case is if you work in that those who buy a 7200rpm drive typically use their system harder and have faster cpus and gpus as well and that's why most people with those drives report a decent difference between the two... but even that doesn't help either side.
In my experience the Hitachi's are the worst (although a **** solid drive and probably physically a little better than the seagates), but on my W3v that I used for close to a solid year........ a few months witha 5400 and the rest of the year with a 7200, my averages were close to 4 hours with the 5400 and more like 3:15 with the 7200. Now, I've got a 7200rpm seagate in my V6va and that actually isn't all that much worse than the 5400 hitachi that was in it, but we're still talking more than 4 minutes.... even if we're talking 16 minutes over that time, that's three times the life you're suggesting...... I'd say the seagates split the difference between the hitachi's, but that's still at the very best, 22 minutes over the life of the battery which is around 15% or so.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
Thanks for the info, Justin! :) I didn't know the hard drive speed made such a difference in battery life before.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
I do agree with some of that info, that Justin posted... however just for basic tasks... browsing the net etc. Not copying large files here and there, you really are only looking at like 5-10 mins less of battery life with the 7200RPM drive. But then if your just doing tasks like that, there is no point of the drive. It really all comes down to what you are doing with it. And how often you run on battery power and AC power etc.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
Hrmm, so other than being able to access file faster, it isn't worth it to upgrade the HDD, unless the person is doing more intense applications. But, in a norm sense, well it makes somewhat a difference, but not a whole lot?
I've read some posts from the hardware section
And this sticky, also from the hardware section
Sorry to jump in.
Some do make good points, but positive/negative and counter points. On the heart issue, from what I've read, its miniscule as Green Giant stated.
So then are the ensembles already optimal at their factory state? No need for upgrades for normal usage situation?
Sorry, for budding in. I am kinda of a newbie at computers, just trying to learn on the way.
Answer:
Re: ? for W3J users with 7200rpm
No, don't trivalize it like that......
there are a lot of things that benefit from the 33% faster spin rate.... For those of you who do typical office tasks, it's a waste of money, battery life, potential heat, and noise, that you're never going to make use of.
On the other side of the story, photoshop and premier productivity can be greatly increased, and by a seemingly bigger margin, the bigger the file. Also, 3d rendering programs like Maya and 3Ds Max loooove the faster speed drives and renderings, when coupled with a good graphics card and lots of memory, will show you exactly what the faster speeds will do for you. In a desktop, I prefer 10k raptor drives running in a raid set up for that sort stuff, but you don't have much of an option when you're talking about a notebook under six pounds.
The "average" user certainly doesn't need a 7200rpm drive and I really hope that doesn't offend anyone, but I'd rather you save your money than put it into something that basically only gets gives you bragging rights, if you're not going to be able to really put it to use.
Ensembles come ready for their average buyers needs....... They're high end, but not everyone needs all the performance you could get out of a hard drive, and yes still benefit from the cpu and memory and graphics card and screen..... Something like a stock W3j, coupled with a 100gb/7200rpm seagate hard drive and another 1gb stick of ram, you've got a portable 3d graphics workstation that you can really sit down with and pump out renderings with and you're only looking at putting in another less than $300 to do so. But it's not what everyone needs.