USB 3.0 External 2.5" Enclosure (5400 or 7200 rpm?)

[aznpwned]

I recently purchased a 2.5" USB 3.0 enclosure on sale, and I want to decide on whether to get a 7200 or 5400 rpm drive to put in. I will mostly be lugging it around, transferring files, and playing games right off of the drive. Which type of hard drive should I get?

 

[sminlal]

The 7200 RPM drive will have a faster access time and transfer rate, so it will perform somewhat better over a USB 3.0 connection. If it were a USB 2.0 connection then it wouldn't matter so much.

Make sure the enclosure can keep the drive cool, 7200 RPM drives put out more heat. The enclosure should either be vented or be made of metal so that it can transfer heat from the drive to the surrounding air.

 

[aznpwned]

The enclosure I have is entirely powered over the USB bus, so there's no power adapter. Will it still be able to run a 7200rpm drive perfectly fine?

 

[sminlal]

USB 3.0 can supply up to 900 milliamps of power if the USB enclosure asks for it, so as long as the drive doesn't consume more than that you should be OK.