MacBook Pro :: 7200rpm HDD Boost Speed?
Jan 11, 2010
I've got a 5400rpm HDD in my MacBook Pro -- see specs below. I really didn't think much of the slower speed compared to a desktop being a big deal back in the day, but now I'm thinking it is. It seems that many things across the board take a little longer to launch or load. I probably ruined my perception of speed by using my dad's brand new iMac, but I don't think my computer should trail his that much on just opening iPhoto or Safari.
The lateral move on storage space -- keeping 320GB but bumping to 7200rpm -- would cost me about $90. I don't think a 500GB 7200rpm drive exists. I also don't want to drop $500+ on a SSD because I really can't and I might as well buy a Mac Mini at that point.
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Jul 7, 2010
I just replaced a 5400 rpm 320 Gb Western Digital (not the stock drive) with a Momentus XT in my late 2007 MBP, and I couldn't be more impressed. The eternal beach balls are gone. Granted, I've never had an SSD, but the speed boost from this thing is unbelievable. I didn't even do a clean install, just a restore from Time Machine. I didn't do formal benchmarks, but I did time my boot sequence before and after:
Old Drive
Chime to Login Screen: 46 seconds
Chime to launch Safari and open web page: 2:58
Momentus XT
Chime to Login Screen: 22 seconds
Chime to launch Safari and open web page: 38 seconds
So, the new drive can boot and open a web page faster than the old drive could get to the login screen. Altogether 2 minutes and 20 seconds faster. Not that I reboot very often, but it gives you some idea of how much faster everything is. I was so fed up with how slow my MBP was that I almost bought a new MBP for $2000, then I almost bought a 200 Gb SSD that wouldn't have had enough space for $340 (would have had to also buy an optibay and worry about losing hibernation or shock protection). So glad I just spent $130 and got a huge performance boost for very little money or hassle.
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Feb 15, 2009
So my BlackBook is horribly slow. I reformatted it, and I swear, it's actually slower now than it was before I reformatted. My RAM is maxed out. I'm not replacing my computer until MacBooks with USB are released. Is there anything else in the interim I could do that would boost my computer's speed? Would upgrading the HDD
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Jan 7, 2008
I have a 1.33Ghz 12' Powerbook with 768mb Ram. I'd like to upgrade this. As I understand it, the max RAM for this machine is 1GB. I'm just wondering if anyone could give me an idea as to how much of a speed boost I could expect from this upgrade? is it worth doing? Will it make a difference? Spoke to Apple technician this morning, and I think he said he would take out the 512mb RAM chip and install a 1Gb one - but wouldn't this give me 1.25GB, approximately? I didn't think this machine could take that. He left me a little confused. Have just found out that I can actually max my machine out to 1.25GB for a fairly cheap price. Seems worth doing then, yes? Anybody made a jump from 768 - 1.25 before? Did it make a big difference?
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Mar 24, 2009
New to the Mac world here,and really diggin my G4,which I got for free.But I need help with a frustrating situation. Here's the specs: Powermac Gigabit Ethernet dual 500 mHz G4,40 GB primary and 160 GB slave HDs,2 GB RAM,and a fresh install of Tiger with almost nothing downloaded,basically,a brand new machine. The issue: both firefox and Safari are sludgy on internet speed--watching Youtube videos,using Facebook,etc. It's not an ish with my router or modem--my older PC's blaze. it's really frustrating,and I've maxed out the RAM,so I want to know if an upgrade to a 1.8 or 2.0 processor will alleviate this problem once and for all,or if I have a boat anchor. Honestly,I don't do hardcore computing,just burn DVDs,a little photoshop,and play on the internet. There's no reason it should be so damn sluggish watchibng streaming video or simply writing on someone's 'wall' on Facebook.
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Aug 17, 2008
I got myself a PowerBook G4, trying to weigh my options as far as upgrades go. The airport inside this laptop gives me horrible reception, always has, always will. Would a wireless card give me a significant boost of speed/reception? If you have experience with it, please add your input as I'm trying to justify this purchase if it will have benefits. Example, I'm in my bedroom, 2 floors down is the wireless router (not that far away), and sometimes reception drops to 0...I'd like to have a solid connection.
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Jan 7, 2011
Ok, so I'm not even sure this would be worth doing but I figure it's easy enough to ask the question.
So I have a 2Ghz Core Duo MacBook and the RAM has been maxed out (2GB) so increasing that for a speed boost isn't an option. I was thinking that maybe upgrading to a HDD/SSD hydrid drive would give me a nice speed boost. I decided against a solely SSD drive simply because of the cost.
Currently I have a Samsung HM320JI in my MacBook (5400rpm, 1.5Gb/s), and was thinking of replacing it with a Seagate ST95005620AS (500gb 7200rpm HD/4gb SSD hydrid drive, 3.0Gb/s). What kind of performance boost would I see with that?
Also, with drives like that, they're meant for you to just install the OS (and maybe a couple important applications) on the SSD, right?
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Oct 13, 2010
So to avoid buying new hard drives one after another I decided to do something about it. I had this annoying vibrations in the palm rest area that spread to the left side also. Of course I did not want to part with the speed of 7200rpm HDD so I decided to take a step forward. I have Unibody MBP 2010. What you will need: Phillips screwdriver, elastic eraser, some paper napkin or something like that. Also a small hex screwdriver, however I could never find such a small hex screwdriver to twist those HDD mounting screws.
1. Unscrew the back panel of your MBP (Make sure you switch it Off and unplug power cord before you proceed)!
2. Remove the back cover.
3. Locate the HDD in the lower left corner ( i suppose you have you MBP flipped).
4. If you want you can take our ur HDD and make sure that your mounting screws are well screwed on the sides of the HDD.
5. Put ur HDD back in place make sure it is secured with that special black piece of wood with 2 screws.
6. Now look closely on the gaps between HDD and MBP Case from UP bottom and RIGHT (close to the battery) this is where you need to stuff something into those gaps to makes sure that HDD is well secured in it's position.
Note: Do not put anything from side of SATA Jack
7. I found that eraser is the most suitable material to absorb vibrations. So I had to cut it in pieces in fit it around the HDD.
8. Now you will most likely notice that the gap on the right is very narrow so here you would need something like paper napkin or a tissue, this place in particular was causing vibrations on my MBP 13 2010. I used a small screwdriver to stuff that place with soft material as it is too narrow to be done with hands. Obviously the eraser has to be slightly wider than gaps otherwise ur HDD will keep vibrating.
9. Make sure you screw everything back.
10. Put the back panel in place and screw it firmly in place.
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Aug 28, 2009
i'd like to know which MBP is better in terms of perfomance and speed..
The 2.66 Ghz one with a 7200rpm hd or the 2.8 Ghz one with a 5400rpm hd?
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Apr 16, 2010
Will be using my new 500GB 5400 rpm as an external and wanted feedback on the best aftermarket 7200rpm drive. Price / Speed / Battery Impact. I would appreciate some info from all you techies.
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Apr 17, 2010
this is my first post here but i am reading you since the beginning of the "arrandale waiting!"
Since i am going to buy a new 17" Macbook pro i want to know what kind of 7200rpm drive Apple will put in my mbp. It is a seagate, a WD or a hitachi?
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Mar 18, 2010
I was wondering if there is a program that i can download that will let me speed up my macbook pro's cpu.
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Apr 13, 2010
Can anyone tell me, point me to a link/chart that describes the performance boost the i5/7 chips get over a c2d chip? I've heard both: some say it's significant, some say not so much.
Which is it.
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Mar 19, 2009
I just bought a Macbook last week. I realized after i put alot of stuff on the macbook 120GB isn't enough space. I want some suggestions for a good HD up to probally 200-300GB with 7200RPM. I Prefer less noise, heat, and less suction of battery life.
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Jun 4, 2009
I've almost sold my MBP and I'm gonna order MB early next week, so I'll need a good 7200rpm HD (320Gb) for my new baby.
What brands/models do you consider most reliable? On this forum I've read good impression about Seagate Momentus line, what do you think?
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Jan 17, 2010
I've seen a few of these threads but I need more information.
5400rpm HDD is a bit slower but uses less power.
Exactly how much power is lost to upgrading? I know its not much but its important. The 7200rpm upgrade is like an extra 40 GBP or if I downgrade the spec to a 320gb its cheaper than the 5200rpm 500gb.
If I get 4 hours of battery life on a 5400rpm, how long would a 7200rpm last? Is there a loss of an hour? or a mere 15 minutes?
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Apr 17, 2010
I've come to the conclusion that I will be opting for the 15" i7 MBP, after originally wanting to go for the 13' (due to lack of ix processor and such).
My dilemma is that I want to purchase the MBP through Bestbuy/Futureshop, mainly so I can go on a payment plan of around $100 per month, rather than dishing out $2000+ in one shot.
The issue with this is i am unable to BTO my MBP, so I will be stuck with the 5400RPM HD. Is it really that much of a difference from the 7200RPM HD? I'm used to a 7200RPM HD on my imac, so I don't want to feel any slowdowns.
Also, on my 20' early 2009 iMac, I notice that I need to turn my brightness down to about 3/16 (can't really explain it any other way. i guess this would be good with the MBP, as i'd get longer battery life, haha) or else i'll get a headache fairly easily after about 30-45 mins of use. Would the matte option help with the headaches?, as I assume the glossy screen is part of the cause for the headaches on my imac. I had originally returned the 24' imac i purchased and went for the 20' because the screen was too large.
So I am somewhat torn between going for the 15' i7 from a reseller, or just biting the bullet and ordering through the apple site.
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Jul 6, 2010
Thinking of doing an inexpensive upgrade on my mid-2009 MBP. It's got the 5400rpm 500gb drive in it. I was thinking of upgrading to a 7200rpm drive. Strictly speaking math, the rpm's are 33% higher. Will this upgrade result in a noticeable decrease in time to boot or decrease in time to load programs (bounces)?
Also, what brand/model hard drives do Apple put in MBP's?
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Jul 29, 2010
I am looking at buying a 15" MBP next weekend. I was nearly set on the i7 model with the high res AG screen, but now I am looking at other configurations and am wondering if that is the best choice.
I'll be doing a lot of coding but I do that fine on my 1st gen macbook, so I am not worried about performance in that regard.
The main thing I am thinking of is video editing with Premier Pro CS5. If I get the i5 I can upgrade the hard drive to the 7200 RPM version which I think will get me better performance on editing HD video than the i7 will as it will be accessing the hard drive a lot for the video. Will the performance boost of the 7200 RPM beat out the i7 in video production?
Also I am wondering about battery life, I have heard that the i7 gets around 4.5 hours in normal usage. That is fine but will the i5 + 7200 get more than that or about the same? (Not while editing video, just web browsing, email, maybe photoshop)
Anyone have any thoughts on this? or any experience editing video with the i5 or i7 mbp?
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Aug 4, 2010
I have a year old 15' MBP, with a 2.66GHz C2D, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB 5400RPM drive. I just purchased a 250GB Seagate 7200RPM drive which I use in an external enclosure for my Time Machine. I have no complaints for my computer being terribly slow, but I was wondering if I would get a significant boost from having the 7200RPM drive in my MBP. Before anyone recommends that I get a SSD, I do plan on buying one once prices keep dropping. Right now $1600 for a 480GB OWC SSD is a little steep for me.
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Sep 9, 2010
Does anyone know of a menubar app or somethign that will report current cpu speed. Just want to know when my i5 is using it or not.
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Jan 14, 2009
I am considering upgrading my RAM from 2GB to 4GB today at the Apple Store, and was wondering if I will notice a significant performance boost. 2GB is fine, but occasionally I'll get that annoying beach ball. It's $150 for a 4GB boost, and I have the 2.0GHZ aluminum MacBook. Would it be worth it for me to upgrade it?
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Sep 18, 2009
I run a late '08 15" UMBP. 2.53, 4 gigs of RAM.
Would upgrading to 6 gigs of RAM increase the performance of my machine when running VMware with Vista? I can't get any answers in any of the other threads.
I know about Bootcamp, that's not my question. I have another pc.
I use Windows for Lectora Publisher, which is an authoring software for online learning modules. It's basically interactive PowerPoint. It's not a super heavy software, but the content can get heavy with video, sound, animations, etc.
My Activity Monitor says I'm using nearly 4gigs when I open VMware and a few of my Mac apps, but don't actually load those apps with content: (Keynote, audacity, acorn, draw it, quicktime)
Would upgrading even help since I'll lose dual channel? I know nothing about how RAM benefits machines aside from higher numbers = good.
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Apr 7, 2012
I am planning to get a Macbook Pro 17" and It seems im just itching to get one but i also want to know if the 17 inch 2.4Ghz does turbo boost cause it says on the 17" 2.5 GHz it does 3.6GHz on turboboost with 8mb of l3 cache. Generally Im just asking can the 2.4 GHz version of MBP 17" do Turboboost and what would be the speed when truboboost is active if ever it has one?
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Jun 13, 2012
what is turbo boost and does my mac have it? all answers are appreciated
Info:
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
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Oct 7, 2010
Anyone care to advise?
Would love to hear any past experiences and direct comparisons etc
Have written off the Momentus XT due to endless reviews of noise, heat and battery zapping. Is this just the way all 7200 internals are likely to perform though?
If so, should I maybe continue using my 5400 internal for apps and os, and buy a FW800 7200rpm for my media?
Oh, I'm using my MBP mainly for video editing (FCP, Motion, Shake) and some audio and graphics too.
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Feb 21, 2009
i bought high spec black macbook refurbished which came with a 5400rpm drive inside it.
Im using logic pro, and its been running fine with small projects, but when i have a medium sized project using several vst instruments and exs24s using many audio samples, all of which are running off the internal.... i get error messages, system overload messages...and i am unable to bounce to audio file (in logic pro)
im thinking its the slow hard drive which is causing the main problems.
I have 2gb ram. It also takes sometimes over 5 mins to open this logic file.
Or is this poor performance par for the course, if using just one internal drive, for both system files and audio storage....... ?
Are there possible probs which may arise from taking out the 5400 drive and fitting a faster 7200 drive in to my macbook? I hear it will heat up more....so could this mess with other macbook componets?? the excess heat...... or are macbooks bulit to handle 7200rpm drives too? dont remember is 7200 was an optional upgrade with my model or not......
2.4ghz intelcore2duo.
Anybody fitted a 7200 drive into their macbooks? all running ok??
Would i simply put the new hard drive in..... and then boot up from boot dvds and my time machine backup....to have a full up to date system, all apps and file intact as they are now? Im worried it will get messy and problems...... my current drive is packed to rafters with apps and files and work i have done......i dont want to lose a thing.....would it be a simple easy fool proof transition to faster hard drive?
And could i still use the current hard drive? With an enclosure?
Ive heard people have ripped out the opticla dvd drive and fitted ANOTHER hard drive into their macbooks, so the laptop housing two hard drives..... that sounds good...but crazy..... maybe later ill do that....as i hardly use the cd/dvd drive...... and you can always hook it up with wire if need be
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Jun 26, 2009
I'm going to swap in a 7200RPM 500GB drive tonight. I have all my stuff backed up to an external drive. However, is it possible to take my old hard drive, place it in an external case, and then access/transfer my files from that as well? I want to keep the drive as is for now until I know everything is working fine on my new drive, then convert it for use as a Time Machine drive.
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Jul 1, 2009
Does anyone have any thoughts on the pros/cons on a 7200 RPM drive over a 5400 drive? I'm looking to purchase a MBP 15" in the next couple of days.
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Oct 10, 2009
Can anyone provide advice on whether i should get the 7200rpm drive? Is there a noticeable difference in boot time between each?
Do they normally have MBPs already built with the 7200 drives or do you have to order them?
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