How to check the RPM of your hard drive?

Posted on July 30, 2008 at 5:18 am

Did you just buy a new computer or were recently gifted on and wanted to find out the RPM of the hard drive? Every time I buy a new computer or an extra internal hard drive, I always make sure to check that the RPM is what I had ordered. There is a significant difference between 5400 and 7200 RPM when it comes to your laptop or desktop.

If you’re in to higher end computers like servers, etc, then you can purchase hard drives that have a 10K or 15K RPM, which are extremely fast. For consumer purposes though, all laptops and most desktops will either be 5400 or 7200.

Here’s a couple of methods you can try to find the RPM value of your hard drive.

1. Check the label on the hard drive

Pretty obvious answer, but it is also the MOST certain way of knowing the RPM of your hard drive. Of course, it means you have to open up your computer or unscrew a few screws on your laptop, but it’ll definitely give you the most reliable answer.

Also, most desktops from Dell and other manufactures make their hard drives perfectly visible when you open the computer, hence no need to unscrew anything or pull anything out. Just open the box and look inside.

2. Look up the model number of the hard drive

Another easy way is to simply look up the model number of your hard drive in Google and you’ll be able to find all the specifications on the manufacturers web site. In order to find the model number, simply right-click on My Computer and go to Properties. Next click on the Hardware tab and then choose Device Manager.

Now expand Disk Drives and you should see the model number of your hard drive there, like shown above. Mine is a Hitachi with that long model number starting with HTS…etc. Note that if the model number is not listed completely under the Disk Drives section, you can right-click on the drive and choose Properties.

Then you can go to Details and from the drop down menu choose Hardware Ids, which will give you the exact model number for sure.

3. Use a software application

Though it’s not necessary to use a third party software to figure out the RPM of your hard drive, you can still use a few to find that information, plus monitor your hard drive performance or get other details, such as how many heads, the serial number, the firmware version, etc.

Here’s a couple of sites to check out if you are interested in that:

http://www.diskserialnumber.com/

www.hdtune.com/

http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/

If you know of any other tools that are free or work better than the above-mentioned ones, feel free to post a comment! Enjoy!

» Filed Under Computer Tips