Ableton Forum

Typical workload is Max/msp Rewired into Live and it's own effects plus vst's like Reaktor and even Guitar rig can be quite a load. Would the ATA @ 5400 rpm do the job or is it really necessary and how long do these fast discs last on macs ?

i can only pass on what i know from others, a local mac shop (not an apple store!) where i want to upgrade my 120gb / 5400rpm to a 320gb / 7200, recommended the 320gb / 5400rpm, and i said i need the comp only for music production, recording, etc. they also told me to not go for the 500gb yet.

the same info came from a friend who is a IT guy at HP.

it applies apparently to 2.5" drives... don't know myself, really just rely on those infos (any suggestion i followed given by the friend working for HP was totally satisfying!)

p.s. actually never had speed issues with the 5400rpm... then again for very large projects i use an external eSATA 500gb / 7200rpm drive.

subfunk
are you saying then, don't chosse the ATA 7200 for MBP ?

This article is a bit dated, but it gives you the bare essentials for this question:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard56.html

Bottom line is that there are some great advantages to 7200rpm drives if you do a lot of audio tracks and data transfer. A good example would be if you're tracking a live band, which takes about 9-15 tracks of audio just for the drums alone...then add vocals, guitars, bass, overdubbing, etc etc. If you use a lot of softsynths and are not streaming a lot of audio tracks, you probably won't see a difference.

In either case, go with 5400rpm minimum...meaning 4200rpm drives will likely be too slow for audio work.

A lot of the rules changed with the SATA standard, so these days, 5400rpm drives are plenty for many people. I personally would always opt for a 7200rpm drive, as everything is way faster, from program launches to boot times, to shutdown, etc etc.

brianbacio wrote:subfunk
are you saying then, don't chosse the ATA 7200 for MBP ?

i really have no proper knowledge about that stuff, just telling what i know from others and i usually followed there advise, successfully.

the choice is yours.

wouldn't it be better to get an external USB or FireWire drive for PCs thy are soooo cheap now they must work on Macs too? It's better to have a seperate drive for audio files.

djsynchro
i' m talking about sheer processing power like : mlr and max runtime, live and effects and reaktor with guitars being processed through these effects, all that adds up : will a faster disc show the difference in processing power ?

brianbacio wrote:djsynchro
i' m talking about sheer processing power like : mlr and max runtime, live and effects and reaktor with guitars being processed through these effects, all that adds up : will a faster disc show the difference in processing power ?

No difference at all. NONE. Processing power comes from CPU alone.

The drives are so easy to replace yourself and are cheaper than Apple's upgrade prices. I'd get the standard one, try it and then upgrade if necessary.

The MBP HD used to be tricky to upgrade. This is no longer true with the new models.

robin wrote:The drives are so easy to replace yourself and are cheaper than Apple's upgrade prices. I'd get the standard one, try it and then upgrade if necessary.

The MBP HD used to be tricky to upgrade. This is no longer true with the new models.

probably a good idea... even if you don't do it yourself... and upgrade done by a shop, at least the one i asked in, from 120gb to 320gb is dead cheap, much cheaper the apples prices. and you can keep the old one, stick it into an external enclosure and you have an extra disk.

UPgrade £35. Drive is £60, and you have a spare to put in a caddy.

You can also get 10000rpm SATA 2.5" laptop drives now - £200.

The optimum are the new 5400rpm 500GB at £100. Half a terabyte in a laptop!

Can anyone comment on the solid-state option?

assessingaccess wrote:Can anyone comment on the solid-state option?

I've seen reports it's slower. Which is a surprise.

If you don't have a lot of audio traffic then you don't need a fast HD. Sorry didn't read your post that well...

FWIW on my pathetic single core laptop (which is only for performing live i have a seperate DAW) I have a 4200 RPM built in drive and I'm always surprised at how much audio that can handle anyway.

I can play 40+ tracks on my 5400rpm internal drive.