The Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 just got bigger and badder with a 160GB behemoth. Now wait a minute, didn't we reviewed a Barracuda 7200.7 not long ago? Yes, we actually did. The first review of the Barracuda 7200.7 was one based on an Ultra ATA-100 interface which came with only 2MB cache. The performance was dismal but it was quite expected since the drive was mainly targeted at the budget end of the market. The second review was a Serial ATA version which comes with a huge 8MB cache. While it was a vast improvement over the 2MB Ultra ATA-100 counterpart (obviously), it was a 120GB drive which is made up of two disks and three heads. Drives with such a configuration are normally slower than those with even amount of heads. Due to this reason, we thought we'd give it a go once more so that we can understand a little more if there were indeed any difference in the results.
The drive's built is exactly the same as the 120GB version. It comes with the same controller board where you'll find the Serial ATA data and power connectors. Unlike other Serial ATA drives, Seagate believes in providing drives that comes under the full SATA specification. This means that you won't find any legacy power connectors on the drive. At this time, most motherboards would be shipping with a SATA power cable, so whether there's a legacy power connector on the drive or not, it doesn't really matter anymore. However, upgraders may want to ensure that the SATA controller cards they are purchasing from the stores come fully equipped with these accessories.
Head on over to
HardwareZone.com for the rest of the review
Jul 31, 2003, 01:37 AM
