Which is better, 7200 RPM or SATA 6.0Gb/s??

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Blazter007

Blazter007

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Apr 25, 2017
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Hello everyone.

I want to pair my SSD with other massive storage drive. Searching for one hard drive, I found the Seagate with this specification: BarraCuda ST2000DM006 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5".
But I don't understand which is better, this or a normal 7200 rpm hard drive (more specific, WD Blue 1 TB)

So, which should I pick??
 
Solution
azaran


The reason your not finding the RPM is because Seagates new mainstream drives aren't 7200RPM but they're trying to underplay that fact by just not advertising the speed of the drive. Western Digital is doing the same thing with the RPM of their drives but they're at least showing the numbers without having to dig in to the details on their website.

When you're looking for a drive, you're looking at 4 types of numbers.

Interface: Thats the SATA...
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Blazter007

Blazter007

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Apr 25, 2017
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I'm sorry, I'm learning about this. I don't care about the size of the hard drive, I just want to know if the seagate hard drive mentioned above is the same or better than the 7200 rpm hard drives.
 
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J

Jamie_69

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The seagate IS a 7200rpm drive.
7200rpm is the rate at which the internal disk spins, the huge majority of 3.5" desktop drives operate at this speed.

Sata 3 is the interface by which it connects to your motherboard, again, almost all modern drives connect using sata3
 
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azaran

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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The reason your not finding the RPM is because Seagates new mainstream drives aren't 7200RPM but they're trying to underplay that fact by just not advertising the speed of the drive. Western Digital is doing the same thing with the RPM of their drives but they're at least showing the numbers without having to dig in to the details on their website.

When you're looking for a drive, you're looking at 4 types of numbers.

Interface: Thats the SATA 6.0Gb/s part. It might also read SATA III. Those two are the same thing, just stated either as the speed or the interface version. As long as it says SATA III or Sata 6.0Gb/s you're looking at an up to date drive.

Spindle speed: That's the RPM part. It's how fast the internal disks spin. Generally, faster the spinning, the faster the data gets read/written. The higher RPM drives also use more power (not enough to matter but good to know) and can generate more noise than the slower speed 5400RPM drives. It can get more complicated than that but it's nothing you need to spend time on unless you want to get to the nity gritty of it all.

Capaicty: 1TB, 2TB, etc. The higher the number, the more storage you have.

Cache: 32MB, 64MB, etc. The higher the better. But don't get too caught up in it. You're system is booting off an SSD so it's a small difference for what you're likely using it for.

Finally, make sure to play attention to the warranty. Different models will have different warranty periods. Avoid refurbs since those tend to only have 30day warranties.
 
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T

TJ Hooker

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Where can one even find that document on seagate's site? If you go to the product page for ST2000DM006 and click on the "data sheet" link, you get an entirely different document which no mention of spindle speed.
https://www.seagate.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/3-5-barracuda-3tbDS1900-10-1710US-en_CA.pdf
 
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seagate_surfer

seagate_surfer

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If you go to this page, then you click the blue icon under "User Manual".
 
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azaran

azaran

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My mistake, the ST2000DM006 does list an RPM of the drive as 7200RPM.

It should be mentioned that it's the product manual, not the spec sheet (which doesn't list the RPM for some absurd reason). However if you go in to the support section for BarraCuda 3.5 HDD drives, the ST2000DM006 isn't listed in the documents for 2TB drives. Only the ST2000DM005 and ST2000DM008 are listed in the two different product manuals, and those don't list RPM of the drives at all.

It nonsense like this that, while I actually like Seagate drives, make it a pain in the ass to recommend them to people. The numbering system seems to be up to a coin toss as to which model is offered in which market, what the specs are and where to find the relevant information on the drives.
 
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seagate_surfer

seagate_surfer

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We understand that sometimes the inconsistencies with where to find certain information about specs on the drives can be frustrating, sorry that you've encountered that as well. Providing information and resources to online communities is why the Seagate Forums Team was brought along, so we are trying to do our part when possible to help provide those kind of values. The odd thing about data sheets is they often don't show the same type of information across model, drive type, or brand/manufacturer. We do understand the need for more transparency in the industry there and we hope that it improves in the future.
 
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