1TB 7200RPM or 2TB 5400RPM

[mvnb]

I want to get a new hard drive for games but I can't choose between a WD Blue 1TB 7200RPM or Blue 2TB 5400RPM.

Wich one do you recommend?

[QuantumBit]

I mean go for the 1tb, thats more than enough unless you have a massive steam library

[Zando_]

Two of the 1TB ones. 

[Zando_]

Just now, QuantumBit said:

I mean go for the 1tb, thats more than enough unless you have a massive steam library

or you edit video. 

[PorkishPig]

3 minutes ago, Martin12249 said:

I want to get a new hard drive for games but I can't choose between a WD Blue 1TB 7200RPM or Blue 2TB 5400RPM.

Wich one do you recommend?

The number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) determines how fast the drive functions. If you are looking for speed, go with a 1TB WD Blue or WD Black. If you are looking for slower speeds but more storage, go with the 5400RPM.

[Jurrunio]

Depends on whether you will use more than 1TB. 7200rpm and 5400rpm used to make a difference to choices, but not now since SSDs beat them hands down.

[Tedster]

I'd choose a 2TB drive because it's more storage, and because it would likely have better longevity from spinning at a slower speed.

If you want performance, you should probably go for the 7200RPM one.

[TheV_Machine]

3 minutes ago, Homeless_Pineapple said:

The number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) determines how fast the drive functions. If you are looking for speed, go with a 1TB WD Blue or WD Black. If you are looking for slower speeds but more storage, go with the 5400RPM.

ui always thougt rpm meant rounds per minute aka how often the discs can make a full turn/spin in a minute

[Nup]

If its for string games i'd say get the 7200 one, long load times can be a pain, unless you're a tidy person and don't mind swapping games' install location before you play them (assuming you have an ssd), in which case the 2tb one is probably nice to have. 

[PorkishPig]

1 minute ago, TheV_Machine said:

ui always thougt rpm meant rounds per minute aka how often the discs can make a full turn/spin in a minute

It basically means the same thing. I used to know it as Rotations Per Minute.

[Tedster]

Just now, TheV_Machine said:

ui always thougt rpm meant rounds per minute aka how often the discs can make a full turn/spin in a minute

Indeed. However it's not 'rounds' but 'revolutions'.

So a drive that runs at a higher RPM given the same platters and heads and all can access the same data more quickly.

[LienusLateTips]

1TB for me.

[mariushm]

Go for 2 TB 5400 rpm

 

The rpm (rotations per minute) is not the only thing that determines the read and write speeds on a drive.

The maximum transfer speeds depend on :

1.  the rpm ( more is better)
2.  the data density on the platters which is determined by
   1. the number of platters (discs) inside the drive
   2. the number of disc heads inside (there can be two for each platter, one on each side of platter)

For example, your 1 TB 7200 rpm drive may use 2 platters inside but only three surfaces (one side of a platter being unused), which gives you a data density of around 330 GB per side of a platter.

The 2 TB drive however may also use 2 platters but four heads (all four surfaces used) , but the platters could be a newer generation that has slightly better density of data... therefore this drive may have a data density of 500 GB per side of platter

 

So 330 GB per surface x 7200 rpm  could result in smaller speeds  than 500 GB per surface x 5400-5900 rpm , because once read heads locate a track, there's more data in each track in the case of the 500 GB per surface drives, more data goes under the read heads with each rotation.

 

The rpm matters most when you have to read or write data from lots of random places on the drive, when you need to seek for data in lots of places. Basically higher rpm means the heads move and locate some data faster compared to slower rpm drives.

 

Most games have very few files and these files are very large, so once the hard drive positions itself at the start of a file, the game load code simply transfers huge chunks of data from these files into memory and maybe decompresses them.  For such operations, higher rpm speeds don't matter, once the drive starts reading a long file, you get about the same speeds.

 

You want to use SSDs (because they have super low access time, they locate files and start reading chunks of data almost instantly) with games like GTA 5 that constantly load from disc textures like clouds, trees, banners, buildings, weather stuff (when moving from desert to winter terrain for example while flying plane)... in such games you care about access times and that's where 7200 rpm may matter a bit (but SSDs would be way better).