5400rpm vs. 7200rpm - big difference?

[Ethan_Kaizer]

Well, I've been researching a lot to find the best possible deal for a laptop for college. I've come across this:

Newegg.com - HP Pavilion dv7-1270us NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P8600(2.40GHz) 17.0" Wide XGA+ 4GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Laptops / Notebooks

I really like the dv7 series from the ones I've used. And this one looks great for the price. Good CPU, great graphics, blu-ray drive, and more. The hard drive is 320gb, which is plenty of space for me, however it's only 5400rpm. Will this make for a big performance drop? I'm not going to be benchmarking this machine, or running Crysis, mostly for multitasking, schoolwork, itunes, AIM, a few games here and there. Other than that the laptop looks perfect for me, and it just fits my budget. Any input/suggestions on a laptop in the 850 - 950 dollar price range that would be better than this would be great. Thanks.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, there's also the possibility to upgrade the hard drive in the future. Worth it?

 

[Yami]

Personally I'd prefer to get a 7200rpm drive, but it's not entirely necessary; look on google or bing for comparisons.

 

[saltynay]

No to answer your Q

 

[ricanflow]

Yes, it does make a difference when it comes to hard-drive seeking intensive tasks such as loading games or moving large/multiple files...but for normal everyday use it doesnt really matter.

 

[saltynay]

Which is precisely what he wants to use it for therefore the difference is negligible.

 

[Ethan_Kaizer]

Ok cool, thanks for the input. I really like the computer and I'll hopefully buy it soon. Just out of curiosity, does it affect performance while playing games, like in terms of fps, or does it just affect the loading time of the game? I won't be playing Crysis, just some mid-level intensive games for the most part, and maybe some new games when they come out like Starcraft II, COD6, etc. As long as I can multitask and game smoothly on occasion, I'll be content.

 

[Harper]

Unless you are doing music recording or DJing, then not really.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

imo 7200 won't cost you that much over 5400, and you WILL see a difference if you ever run something a little more intensive. So for me, I'd say go with the 7200 model.
If you can't afford it, then obviously don't. If you can, then it's worth it. Even in just general usage, you should see some performance gain. e.g. installation times, system load time, etc.

 

[aaronkupen]

Mechanical hard drives are currently the biggest bottleneck in mostly any computer, if there is a way for you to upgrade to a faster one for a price reasonable to you, then you should take teh opportunity. After owning my laptop for years and loving it, I honestly could say that I don't know if I would have used as much if it did not have at least a 7200 rpm hard drive.

 

[snowsurfer]

I posted the exact same question several months ago when the 5400 rpm drive in my Dell XPS 1330 died, and just let me tell you my experience. I ended up getting a Seagate 7200 rpm drive. The performance increase is hardly noticeable in the tasks that I use my laptop for. I personally can't notice any increase in noise. What is pretty bad is that in a hot summer like here, the laptop gets quite a bit warmer than with the old HD. Back when I got it in Spring it was OK though.

My .02....