# Power consumption between hard drives 7,200 and 5,400 rpm



## PC Hobbyist (Sep 3, 2009)

I need to get a new hard drive for my laptop (Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T). I was wondering if getting a WesternDigital hard drive with 7,200 rpm would considerably drain the battery faster than a 5,400 rpm, or if the difference would be negligible. 

I'm debating between the WD Scorpio Blue and Scorpio Black.

Maybe someone can help me with the following specs. The only differences are in the Sleep setting.

*Scorpio Blue specs:*

Current Requirements
    5 VDC
    Read/Write    500 mA
    Idle              400 mA
    Standby          50 mA
Sleep             20 mA

    Power Dissipation
    Read/Write    2.50 Watts
    Idle              0.85 Watts
    Standby        0.25 Watts
Sleep            0.10 Watts

*Scorpio Black specs:*

Current Requirements
    5 VDC
    Read/Write    500 mA
    Idle              400 mA
    Standby          50 mA
Sleep             30 mA

    Power Dissipation
    Read/Write    2.50 Watts
    Idle              0.85 Watts
    Standby        0.25 Watts
Sleep            0.15 Watts


If anyone has any other suggestions of a good compromise between speed and energy consumption at a decent price, please let me know.


UPDATE: From what I've been reading online, it doesn't seem to affect your battery in a noticeable way. So, I think I'm leaning toward getting the Scorpio Black 320GB @ 7200 rpm over the 5400 rpm Scorpio Blue.


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## Cromewell (Sep 3, 2009)

Yeah it shouldn't affect the battery life much.


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## johnb35 (Sep 3, 2009)

Get the 7200 rpm drive, computer loads a little bit quicker that way.


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## PC Hobbyist (Sep 4, 2009)

Thanks guys!  I'm going to buy the 7200 rpm one.


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