We recently reviewed the 2MB buffer version of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 which was supposedly a lower-cost variant of their 7200.7 series. In that article, we saw a not-so-exciting performance of the new Barracuda 7200.7. Basically, much of its advantages brought about by the larger 80GB per platter technology was not truly realized due to its smaller cache size.
Today, we'll look at the flagship model of the series which comes with a large 8MB buffer. The 8MB version of the Barracuda 7200.7 comes with two different offerings, one based on the Ultra ATA-100 interface and the other for the new Serial ATA standard. The SATA version is the flagship model which we'll be reviewing in this article today.
Similar to most of Seagate's SATA models, the Barracuda 7200.7 comes with only the SATA data and power connectors. If a SATA power cable is not bundled with your motherboard, you'll need to purchase one from the store as this particular model does not support legacy 4-pin power connectors. We think it's a slight inconvenience as not all boards or power supplies have fully embraced the Serial ATA standard. So in that respect, Seagate's design is a little unfriendly to users, unlike those offered by Maxtor and Western Digital. Of course, on the other side of the coin, Seagate's design is safer and it does not confuse users with two power connectors - which could lead to disaster when both legacy and SATA power connectors are connected at the same time.
Read the review at HardwareZone.com
Jul 2, 2003, 07:59 AM
