TiVo Community Forums Archives - 7200RPM vs. 5400RPM

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7200RPM vs. 5400RPM
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Posted by: tivo333

I have a 14HR Tivo that I have backed up and restored to a 20GB drive as a test (hinsdale & MFS tools). Since that has been working fine, I would like to upgrade to a single 120GB drive. I have read that 5400RPM drives are preferred because of less heat and noise. I have also read that the newer 7200RPM drives are quieter and generate less heat. I know 7200RPM drives have faster seek times and are higher performance overall but I don't know if that matters in a Tivo (are Tivos UDMA at all?). Lastly, it looks like 7200 120GB drives may have a higher failure rate than the older 5400 units.

Does anyone have any views on 7200 vs. 5400 120GB drives for Tivo use?

Thanks.

Posted by: Chris Gerhard

I have not tried one of the new 7200rpm FDB drives which are supposedly as quiet as the 5400rpm drives. I believe the Samsung SV1204H will be cooler and perhaps quieter, usually cheaper, use less electricity and will come with a 3 year warranty. Unless you can get a better price on a 7200rpm with a 3 year warranty, I would choose a 5400rpm with a 3 year warranty. I don't believe you will see any performance difference between 5400 and 7200.

Chris

Posted by: Pictor Guy

No increase in performance as Chris stated going from 5400 to 7200RPM. I have a WD 120G drive in one of my TiVo's and noticed at most a 1 degree (maybe two) increase in temp. Noise is the same or a little less than the older Quantum LCT20 drive I had in there. Note this is the older 120G WD drive I'm running, not the newer 8meg cache version. I do plan on putting in a bigger 5400RPM drive but only because it was a good deal.

Posted by: rsnaider

My TiVo branded box was upgraded with WD120's (7,200 8/meg) and they are a bit loader then the original WD 60 gig drive.

My Sony unit was upgraded with Seagate Fluid Bearing (7,200 2/meg) and they are just as quite as the Maxtor 80 gig that I pulled out.

As for temp, each of my units are about 3 to 5 degrees hotter with the two drives as opposed to the single drive.

It boils down to what you can find at this point and warranty. The WD's I have are 3 year vs the Seagate 1 year. Speed should become a non issue since it is getting harder to find 5,400.

Posted by: Rwood

I replace the 80GB in my series 2 with 2 Samsung 120 5400's using Weaknees PowerTrip and TwinBreeze - temp went down 5 degrees.
It looks like the TwinBreeze works very well and could be a consideration when using a higher speed/power drive.
Randy