Best MacBook hard drive for Ableton?

sparky606 · Post by **sparky606** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:48 pm

Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading to the latest MacBook Pro as Ableton is maxing out the CPU on my current machine. I'm intending to go for the 2.6 processor with 4Gb RAM, but I am unsure about which drive to choose:

250Gb at 5400rpm
200Gb at 7200rpm

I wondered if any other Ableton users might be able to make a recommendation?

I currently have a 5400rpm drive but don't know if the difference with 7200 would be noticeable?

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:01 pm

If you are using Live for serious multitrack production with lots of plugins then always go for a 7200 rpm hard drive.

If you're DJing and don't need big track counts and lots of plugins, then 5400 is fine and if you are running on battery (not recommended except very light sets with minimal audio track and plugins count) will drain less battery power.

marcoskohler · Post by **marcoskohler** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:43 am

bump bump, I'm curious too

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:23 am

I stuck a Hitachi Travelstar 200GB 7200rpm drive in my MBP. Very noticeable difference compared to the 5400 that came with it, especially in regards to startup time and application launching, plus the well documented benefits for audio tracks and whatnot.

sparky606 · Post by **sparky606** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:47 am

Thanks guys, appreciate your replies.

Sounds like the 7200 will help the speed of Analog Factory with its 3500 presets which I also run too.

With that in mind I've just ordered the 2.6Ghz MBP with the 7200 drive and 4Gb RAM - should be great for Ableton with a few Arturia and FabFilter plug-ins!

bicarbone · Post by **bicarbone** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:03 am

sparklepuff wrote:I stuck a Hitachi Travelstar 200GB 7200rpm drive in my MBP. Very noticeable difference compared to the 5400 that came with it, especially in regards to startup time and application launching, plus the well documented benefits for audio tracks and whatnot.

That sounds sexy, but what are the downsides beside less battery power: heat? noise? fan action?

sparky606 · Post by **sparky606** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:39 am

[quote="bicarbone"]That sounds sexy, but what are the downsides beside less battery power: heat? noise? fan action?[/quote]

Yeah I did a lot of Googling and the consensus seemed to be that the impact on battery life isn't huge.

I also use it mainly at home where it is mounted on a stand so heat and battery are not too much of an issue.

I decided that maximising speed was more important than the other factors for me.

Warminstrel · Post by **Warminstrel** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:54 am

Most advise I've read suggests using a 7200 rpm HD for music production.