hard-disk for laptop 5400 or 7200rpm?

Getafix

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i already asked this question on another forum thought i'd try here too..i'm buying a Dell inspiron 6000..i'm getting the following specs:

Intel® Pentium® M740 (1.73GHz 2MB L2cache 533MHz FSB
1 GB 533mhz DDR2 SDRAM

I can't decide whether its worth it going for a 7200rpm hard disk since its around a $100 more for it..should i instead use this $100 for a 1.86GHz processer? which is more important for making music? thanks for the help..
 
hmmmmm ..... I'm sure I am stating the obvious here but,

The faster hdd will help when playing back audio ....

The faster cpu will help when playing soft synths / plug-ins etc ....

So, its swings & roundabouts as they say here in Milton Keynes

:Smile3:
 
I'm not to hot on the whole lap top thing but is it possible to upgrade a laptops HDD? If so couldn't you go for the better processor and then get a better HDD later? I sware I've seen laptop HDD's on ebay so I'm assuming you can upgrade these. Someone who knows please tell us.
 
i'm sure u can but i'd rather get a good system now..lately i haven't been able to make music because my P4 3.0GHz with 1GB of ram kept choking up..so i've sold it and am now buying a centrino which will hopefully solve my problems!
if i really could only choose one which one would be a better option..i'm assuming just 0.13ghz more processer speed isn't enough considering the harddisk will be a lot faster?
 
theyellowbrickroad said:
omg 3gig processor and 1 gig of ram was choking up????

thats quite a powerfull system,

me confused
Well it deepends on how many track you are useing and how many FX you have going. My PC is 3200 AMD 64 but can still stop if I have to much going on. This is where you bounce stuff down and so on.
S cube if you want a good system NOW that will be better than you old one then you have to spend the money to get it. No piont getting something cheaper if it's not up to what you want it to do. I my self haven't got a great deal of money and this is why I get my stuff bit by bit.
 
yup its weird i don't know if it was just my Pentium 4 or if everyone with p4's has these problems..once it heated up the fan would turn on and the performance would drop significantly..
hopefully the new centrino will be a lot faster since its got a 2MB L2 cache and 1 GB 533mhz DDR2 SDRAM which means the ram is running at double that speed..
 
That dosn't sound like you had a problem with your processor. Not if the performance was only effected when the sytem heated up. The cooling fan over the CPU should allways be running as should the other cooling fans as soon as the PC is powerd on. Sounds like you had some wierd power consumtion problem but if your PSU wasn't saficient in the first place then the PC shouldn't have powerd up at all. Did you try getting a priest round to exorcise you PC?
 
Ross has a point, though as I understand it a 1.73GHz Centrino will happily match a 3GHz P4 clock-for-clock. Doubt you'll get substantially more processor kick out of it...

Though sometimes it's just a clean slate that's needed - I'm *touch wood* still doing OK on my AthlonXP 2600+, but then I'm the kind of sad, techie geek that spends time arranging sends, inserts and plugins to get the most bang for my buck from the CPU.

J.

[Edit : Just read your later posts... your power settings should have the fans on all the time if you're aiming for raw horsepower. Have a look at your power settings in the BIOS and Windoze - should be 'Always On'. If your fan is stopping you've probably got some 'Quiet' settings enabled that could seriously hobble your machine. DDR2 will make a difference, but not as much as setting things up to give you as much power as possible...]
 
hmm i just noticed i had it on as portable/laptop in my windows settings! funny i didn't see that before, i'll see if it makes a difference..
the centrino is supposed to be 33% faster than the old p4's according to intel..the ram is also faster..so i hope it will solve things performance wise..the p4's days are numbered anyway since its obsolete so i thought i'd sell it while i could still get good money for it..i'm only putting in $300 to get a new one so i think its a good deal..
 
ok i just ordered my laptop..Decided to get both the 1.86Ghz processor and the 7200rpm harddisk..lets hope its worth the extra money..thanks for the help people!
 
S Cube said:
hmm i just noticed i had it on as portable/laptop in my windows settings! funny i didn't see that before, i'll see if it makes a difference..

Dude, it'll make a *hell* of a difference.

the centrino is supposed to be 33% faster than the old p4's according to intel..the ram is also faster..

Windows 95 was supposed to make "everything you do more fun", according to Microsoft... :Wink3:

The speed jump from DDR to DDR2 will be noticeable but it'll be more of a "hmm, nice" rather than an "oh, wow!" reaction.

so i hope it will solve things performance wise..the p4's days are numbered anyway since its obsolete

It's still got the most grunt at the moment though - Pentium M (Centrino) is only achieving parity rather than overtaking it in terms of raw speed, even though technically it's 'faster' clock-for-clock.

so i thought i'd sell it while i could still get good money for it..i'm only putting in $300 to get a new one so i think its a good deal..

It's your money mate. Personally, unless I was planning to do a lot of travelling I'd be more inclined to build a really powerful desktop for the hardcore production, that way upgrades become cheap and easy - and use a slightly less powerful but rugged and cheaper laptop for playing out.

With laptops once you've got one, you can upgrade the RAM and HDD, but other than that you're stuck with what you bought until you fork out for a new one. You can frankenstein your desktop for years (for example, Goz used the same case for almost a decade! :Wink3: ).

J.
 
Anyone got a laptop you just want to give me. Go on you know you want to.
And if you would also like to give me a bucket full of glold and spanners I would also be very greatfull. Oh and maby so meds to level me out.
 
JPsychodelicacy said:
It's your money mate. Personally, unless I was planning to do a lot of travelling I'd be more inclined to build a really powerful desktop for the hardcore production, that way upgrades become cheap and easy - and use a slightly less powerful but rugged and cheaper laptop for playing out.

With laptops once you've got one, you can upgrade the RAM and HDD, but other than that you're stuck with what you bought until you fork out for a new one. You can frankenstein your desktop for years (for example, Goz used the same case for almost a decade! :Wink3: ).

J.

I agree but at this point i need a laptop for my uni.. since i can't buy an extra desktop just to make music on i wanted to get a powerful laptop that i could use for both..
 
S Cube said:
I agree but at this point i need a laptop for my uni.. since i can't buy an extra desktop just to make music on i wanted to get a powerful laptop that i could use for both..
Where are you buying the laptop from? Could probably build two desktops for the price of a decent laptop.
 
And what do you need the lappy for in Uni?

(Incidentally, we're not meaning to sound like the Grand Inquisition, I'm just curious... I know how much fun getting a sleek little box of tricks can be :Smile3: )

The other reason I suggest a cheaper laptop for playing out is because you can afford to get that knocked about (and it will).

J.
 
@ psyfi
I'm buying the laptop from www.dell.ch there's a really good deal going on..for 1700 swiss francs (£745) i get a 1.86ghz processor, 1gb 533mhz ddr2 sdram, dvd-rw+, 128mb graphics card, 100gb 7200rpm hdd, plus all d usual crap & a free printer!

@JPsychodelicacy
i'm doing hospitality & tourism management here in switz & we need laptops for several of our courses..especially for surfing the net during lectures!

eventually when i'm done with the course & move back home i'll start to build a proper studio with a desktop pc..
 
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