# 10000 RPM hard drives are really fast **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522 "2006-01-11T18:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/1 "2006-01-11T18:16:24Z")
Just had to share this with everyone - got myself a 10000RPM SATA drive recently and it really makes a huge difference. Windows starts so quickly it feels like I’m running OSX or something. Oh and Battlefield 2 maps finally load in under 5 minutes too. If you got 100-200 bucks to blow definitely look into it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/2 "2006-01-11T19:40:44Z")
You should try more RAM. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/3 "2006-01-11T20:08:57Z")
A Western Digital Raptor 74 Gb, I’m guessing? I got one too. It’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/4 "2006-01-11T20:42:04Z")
Do the hard drives come preloaded into any new computers on the market, or do you have to install them separately? ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/5 "2006-01-11T21:08:27Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > You should try more RAM. Thats the next thing on the list(once the tax rebate gets here) - gonna get me 2 gigs of DDR400. > [@Jpeg Jones](#): > > A Western Digital Raptor 74 Gb, I’m guessing? Indeed, seems like its the AK47 of SATA hardrives at the moment(cost/performance wise). > [@Kythereia](#): > > Do the hard drives come preloaded into any new computers on the market, or do you have to install them separately? [Alienware](http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/mj-12_7550a.aspx?SysCode=PC-MJ12-7550-A&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT) has it as an option, but they are waaaay overpriced. Its very easy to install, the only non-trivial thing is that you have to have a floppydrive in order to be able to install your motherboards SATA drivers for some of the MBs out there. One important detail that skipped my mind - to use SATA harddrives your motherboard needs to have an ATA jack, if it doesn’t you gotta get a PCI card that does the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/6 "2006-01-11T23:05:22Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > Windows starts so quickly it feels like I’m running OSX or something. I chuckled at this. No need for me to upgrade, I suppose (not that you can get a 10KRPM drive for a laptop anyway). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/7 "2006-01-11T23:13:13Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > (not that you can get a 10KRPM drive for a laptop anyway). You _can_ get 7200 RPM drives for laptops now, which is a lot faster than the commonly used 5400 RPM drives. I’ve been contemplating this upgrade myself. ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/8 "2006-01-12T02:20:25Z")
Spoil yourself and get a 15k RPM SCSI or SAS drive… Then you’ll know what fast is! I get to play with these guys at work all day. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/9 "2006-01-12T03:26:06Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > One important detail that skipped my mind - to use SATA harddrives your motherboard needs to have an ATA jack, if it doesn’t you gotta get a PCI card that does the same thing. I think you mean SATA jack. I wager they already have an ATA 133 jack or two. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/10 "2006-01-12T04:19:35Z")
Any 2" PowerBook-compatible versions at that speed yet? :::drool:: ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/11 "2006-01-12T18:16:01Z")
> [@EnginNerd](#): > > Spoil yourself and get a 15k RPM SCSI or SAS drive… Then you’ll know what fast is! I get to play with these guys at work all day. What do those bad boys even plug into? Do you need a SCSI jack or something? I was actually pondering getting a second Raptor and setting up a RAID(my motherboard makes it really easy), but I don’t know if that’ll actually double the drive bandwidth or just make sure that my system can survive a single drive failure. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10000-rpm-hard-drives-are-really-fast/339522/12 "2006-01-12T18:40:12Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > What do those bad boys even plug into? Do you need a SCSI jack or something? > I was actually pondering getting a second Raptor and setting up a RAID(my motherboard makes it really easy), but I don’t know if that’ll actually double the drive bandwidth or just make sure that my system can survive a single drive failure. Well, if you set up Raid 0 (striping), you will get an increase in speed, but definitely not double. Maybe 25% more. And no redundancy. If you want redundancy, you need Raid 1 (mirroring), and you won’t get an increase in speed.