MacBook Pro - 7200 vs 5400 rpm drives - Heat and Noise

Posted by webworm on Super User See other posts from Super User or by webworm
Published on 2010-05-06T12:22:07Z Indexed on 2010/05/06 13:08 UTC
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macbook-pro

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hard-drive

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rpm

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overheat

I am looking at a new 15" MacBook Pro for development purposes. I am planning to run a Virtual Machine for about 50% of my work (Windows 7 x64, IIS, SQL Server, and VS 2010). The upgrade from a 5400 rpm drive to a 7200 rpm is only $45. From what I understand the faster rotational speed of the 7200 rpm drive will help virtual machine performance. However, I am concerned that additional heat and fan noise might be an issue. I will be running mostly on A/C power so decreased battery life is not a major concern for me.

Since I would be running with a Core i7 processor which gives off a fair amount of heat already I was wondering if it might be best to stay at 5400 rpm for the hard drive. What do you all think? Thanks!

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