Seagate has upped the ante with mobile 2.5” hard disk capacity offering a new 2TB FireCuda hybrid Flash/HDD (SSHD) and 5TB BarraCuda HDD.
Seagate is banking on the fact that spinning hard disks will have more “bang per buck” – lower cost per GB - for a long time to come. While pure SSD is nice, it is also several times the price for relatively low capacities.
The 2TB FireCuda is the world’s fastest, thinnest and lightest 2.5”, 2TB SSHD. It has 8GB of Flash for rapid boot and game loads. New firmware and Multi-Tier caching algorithms continuously analyze how it is being to tweak every aspect of FireCuda’s operations. The result is the drive adapts to the unique way each user works or plays.
The 5TB BarraCuda offers performance and trusted reliability in a super thin 7mm mobile/laptop upgrade design and 15mm for external solutions.
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I saw a demonstration of the new FireCuda SSHD drive recently. Seagate's Senior Field Applications Engineer Sam Zavaglia set up a very impressive gaming rig with multiple hard disks to test the FireCuda and BarraCuda against an SSD.
The FireCuda boot time was within scant seconds of the SSD and game speed, especially complex scene renders, was almost as fast courtesy of the 140MB/s data transfer rate. It has a SATA 3 (6Gbps) interface and a five-year warranty.
Seagate said that when comparing the FireCuda drives against standard 2.5-inch 5,400RPM and 7,200RPM hard drives; customers will see up to 140% faster game loads, up to 450% faster program loads, and up to 35% faster Windows boot.
The BaraCuda is a straight HDD with a SATA 3 (6Gbps) interface, a 5400 rpm spindle speed, 128MB cache, and a two-year warranty.
Pricing for Australia is not confirmed; US pricing is US$235 for the 5TB BaraCuda and a very respectable US$120 for a 2TB FireCuda.
