PB G4 AL Hard drive upgrade worth it?

octaneoctane
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I've seen hard drive upgrades range from $149 for 100GB 5400RPM or $159 for 80GB 7200RPM. I'm ordering a 1GB stick of RAM (for a total of 1.25GB), guestion is, would upgrading the HDD speed to 5400RPM or 7200RPM make a dramatic difference on this machine? I'd like the extra space, but I want the speed more, I'm a little concerned about possible heat issues w/ 7200RPM, but I'm trying to get more out of this machine until I can get a new MB or MBP. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by octane

    I've seen hard drive upgrades range from $149 for 100GB 5400RPM or $159 for 80GB 7200RPM. I'm ordering a 1GB stick of RAM (for a total of 1.25GB), guestion is, would upgrading the HDD speed to 5400RPM or 7200RPM make a dramatic difference on this machine? I'd like the extra space, but I want the speed more, I'm a little concerned about possible heat issues w/ 7200RPM, but I'm trying to get more out of this machine until I can get a new MB or MBP. Any suggestions?



    Firstly, definitely the RAM will do far more for speed than anything a HD can. From what I've heard, there isn't that much difference, especially because although the platter is moving slower in the 5400, the extra data density means that the number of bits moving under the head in a certain time isn't that different.



    You'd probably do best to find out what exact drives would be used, and looking up their tech specs (power consumption, heat, noise may also be more important than you first thought).



    Hope this helps,



    David
  • Reply 2 of 2
    octaneoctane Posts: 157member
    Thanks for the input, David.



    I looked at the specs, the numbers make one look better than the other for obvious reasons, but I'm questioning real world performance. I do a lot of browsing, some iPhoto & iTunes stuff, occasionally encode a movie (more often if it weren't so painfully slow), but I move files frequently.



    So would $120 be better spent to go from 1.25GB -> 2.0GB RAM or

    $160 to go from 80GB 4200RPM -> 7200RPM? (in a 1.25GHz G4)



    (I'm looking at a Travelstar 7K100, 80GB)



    (Maybe I should just keep all the money I would spend on upgrades and buy a MB in four months. )
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