10,000RPM vs 7200 RPM Hard Drives - Lifespan

[GamerGuyX]

Quick question, are 7200 RPM hard drives generally expected to last longer than 10,000RPM (or faster) hard drives due to it spinning slower? Is that one reason why it might be better to get a 7200 RPM hard drive with 16mb cache compared to a hard drive with 8 mb cache but at 10,000RPM's?

[Riptide]

Well all other things being equal sure the 7200 would last longer. Less heat and stress on the internal components. That said if the manufacturer builds the 10,000RPM a little tougher then it might last just as long. It's really hard to say w/certainty.

Check the MTBF specs on the drive and go by that.

[zoomy942]

thats a pretty good question. its hard to get an average life span number (besides what the manufacturers say) cause if i was to have a hard drive rnuning for 5 years straight, by the time it died and i had accurate numbers... noone would care how long my little 200 GB HD lived. also, HD's have become so cheap per gigabyte, that replacing one that may die in 2 years is no large financial investment. and lastly, with SATA, alot of people are mirroring hard drives so if one dies.. oh well, no data lost.


wow, that was alot of info for one simple question. :)

[GamerGuyX]

wow, that was alot of info for one simple question. :)

Oh thats fine by me. The more the better. ;)

[FastM]

assuming they both have proper cooling i would say its the same.

[ynnek]

"alot of people are mirroring hard drives so if one dies.."

I seriously doubt that.

[zoomy942]

"alot of people are mirroring hard drives so if one dies.."

I seriously doubt that.


looking back on my pos, that was a little over-zealous huh?

[1337_Like_ThaT]

I'd go with the 10,000 RPM drives, as in WD Raptor drives, due to extensive 5-year manufacturer warranty. So that in itself says a little about the quality of the drive, and the standing WD has behind their drives. But knowing electronics, I honestly think it's a matter of luck because any component can go out at any given time, doesn't matter if it's 1 year or life time warranty.

:afro: