Anyone found a 5400 rpm drive too slow; anyone really thrashed one and found it OK?

[xarqi]

I have a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint 7200rpm drive in my Duo and I'm finding the noise a bit annoying. Some of it may be resonance of something in my cabinet, but I'm considering putting a 5400 rpm drive in instead.

I'm concerned that the slower drive may not be able to cope with recording multiple events while also doing background file transfers, etc.

I've had a browse and a search through the forum and I can't find anything definitive on this. There are lots of people reporting success with 5400 rpm drives, but how hard are they being worked?

So - has anybody really thrashed their 5400 rpm drive, and if so, how did it fare?

Thanks!

[Sicilian]

If your going to go with a slower driver I'd get a 2.5" sata.

[xarqi]

What's would the advantages be with a 2.5" drive?
Is the track density higher on them making the average seek time lower or something?

[bassethound]

I have used Samsungs F2/F3/F4 and found that the F2 to be the best in my duo/et9000 runs really quiet and spins up really quick compared to the F3/F4

[Larry-G]

2.5 drives are quieter use less power and produce far less heat than their 3.5 counterparts.

[xarqi]

Thanks.
Spin-up time isn't a big factor for me, but I guess if it only has to get to 5400, it is going to do it faster than if it has to get to 7200. Maybe that's an advantage for a 2.5" drive too - lower (umm what's the property I want) - moment of inertia?

How hard have you had the F2 working without problems?

[xarqi]

2.5 drives are quieter use less power and produce far less heat than their 3.5 counterparts.

Over and above their being 5400 rather than 7200? OK - I didn't know that. Maybe it is that 'moment of inertia' thing - the platters have less mass and have it at a smaller average distance from the centre of rotation. (Wish I'd listened in physics class!)

But yeah - I know I'll get power/heat and noise advantages, but my concern is that a 5400 rpm drive just won't be able to handle the work load when push comes to shove. Any ideas about that?

[bassethound]

Not had any problems with my F2 in a couple of boxes recording and play back with no problems all so runs very quiet

had a 2TB samsung F4 die a few months back in my duo but been using the F2 on and off with my duo and et9000 for nearly 2 years with no problems

[lsmirsat]

I have a Seagate 2.5' 5400rpm drive in my duo. I have absolutly no problem with disk access bandwith.
I have recorded 4 differents programs at the same time with no problem.
I like 2.5' drive because they are quiet and use less power so less heat is produced by the HD an the power supply.

[Rob van der Does]

There are special DVR-drives: 3.5" HDD's running at 5400RPM, spinning up fast and low on power consumption (and hence in heat production) and cheaper then 2.5 "drives. You won't hear them.
I'm using a Samsung, but other brands make them too.

[xarqi]

Not had any problems with my F2 in a couple of boxes recording and play back with no problems...

Thanks. What's the most simultaneous recordings have you made? HD or SD?
I'd probably peak at 2 HD + 2 SD + file transfer. With my 7200 rpm drive I have recorded 1 HD + 4 SD events simultaneously I believe, but when I tried 6, I ended up with a lot of empty files. I don't think that was a drive issue though, but a firmware one.

I'm trying to get a handle on the ability of 5400 rpm drives to handle heavy loading. I know there are advantages to 5400 drives, but none of them matter a toss if the drive won't actually do the business.

[xarqi]

I have a Seagate 2.5' 5400rpm drive in my duo. I have absolutly no problem with disk access bandwith.
I have recorded 4 differents programs at the same time with no problem.

Thanks. That's the sort of experience I'd like to hear more about from others too, successful or not.

[Rob van der Does]

Bandwidth is never a problem for any HDD in a DVR, not even when recording 6 HD-streams and watching another.

[xarqi]

Bandwidth is never a problem for any HDD in a DVR, not even when recording 6 HD-streams and watching another.

Thanks for a definitive and authoritative answer. It looks like I'll have the option of going to a 5400 rpm drive.

[Rob van der Does]

I recently bought this 1.5TB Samsung for €62 and it does a great job. But as I said other manufacturers also provide this kind of HDD's (and I know prices have gone up quite a bit).