Elliot B. Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I'll be gaming on the laptop. It won't be used for much storage. My options are: HDD, SATA2, 5,400 RPM (around 500GB-1TB) HDD, SATA3, 5,400 RPM (around 500GB-1TB) HDD, SATA3, 7,200 RPM (around 500GB-1TB) SSHD, SATA3, 5,400 RPM (500 GB) SSD, SATA3 (around 120-250GB) Or, I could have two of the above. I was thinking about having a smaller SSD for the boot drive and a 7,200 RPM drive for storage (games etc.) but is a 7,200 RPM drive overkill for a laptop's battery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahid Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Go for Only SSD, its a great boost specially for laptop, even if you have to pay little more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted July 10, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted July 10, 2014 I was thinking about having a smaller SSD for the boot drive and a 7,200 RPM drive for storage (games etc.) but is a 7,200 RPM drive overkill for a laptop's battery? It is less power efficient but the difference is going to be only a small percentage of the total battery life of the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 It is less power efficient but the difference is going to be only a small percentage of the total battery life of the system. Thinking about it, since I'll only be installing games on the secondary HDD, so I can probably make it 7,200 RPM since the laptop will be plugged in whilst I play games. When I'm not playing games (i.e. running on battery), the 7,200 RPM hard drive will, presumably, be idle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H. Veteran Posted July 10, 2014 Veteran Share Posted July 10, 2014 Yeah, no point in getting 5400RPM drive anymore IMO. Not much power difference to make it worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 You say storage isnt a concern - so forget about HDDLook @ the crucial MX line - cheap & fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted July 10, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted July 10, 2014 When I'm not playing games (i.e. running on battery), the 7,200 RPM hard drive will, presumably, be idle. It's the acceleration of the drive's components that consumes the majority of power. If I remember (from 2008), the difference between SSD and HDD was around a couple minutes per hour of total capacity. The performance boost is worth it if the decision is between a 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM drive, since you'll make up those minutes by spending less time staring at progress bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 You say storage isnt a concern - so forget about HDD Look @ the crucial MX line - cheap & fast I need "storage" to install games on, though. I'll be installing 500+ GB of games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian M. Veteran Posted July 10, 2014 Veteran Share Posted July 10, 2014 I agree with the above. a 128-256GB SSD + a 7200rpm drive is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I need "storage" to install games on, though. I'll be installing 500+ GB of games. Do you play all of these games @ the same time ? Bouncing back and forth from day to day ? Just wondering because, do you "need" 500GB of games installed ? I have a friend who is a big gamer, and he has so many games on his PC, and his phone (hundreds) he doesnt even know what he has, and certainly doesnt play all of them. I realize I am not normal. I never have more than 2-3 games installed @ the same time. Once I am done with it - its gone. This has a lot to do with my anal tendencies about things running in the background (even though I have 24GB RAM) & garbage on the HDD (even though I have a 2TB HDD with only 600GB on it) - this has to do with the fact I got started on computers when you had to go into DOS and run things like memanager just to be able to run a game or get into windows 3.1 -- that mindset is hard to let go of So, if you think you only play 2-3 games @ a time - then maybe you can just do SSD.... everyone is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted July 11, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hello, You might want to consider a small(ish) mSATA SSD for OS and apps, with a larger 2.5" form-factor SSD just for games, assuming the laptop has both types of connectors. Even a lower-performing high-capacity "value " SSD will outperform the fastest 2.5" laptop HDD. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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