An SSHD (Solid State Hard Drive) is the traditional hard disk drive that includes some inbuilt SSD storage. An SSD is a drive that is entirely made of memory chips. Unlike traditional hard drives, there are no movable parts like a spinning disk. So, an SSHD is a combination of a hard drive and an SSD.
One of the most popular solid-state hard drives is Seagate BarraCuda and Seagate FireCuda. They are famous all over the world for storage capacities and speed. We will take a closer look at the details of both the drives in this article.
BarraCuda vs. FireCuda
| Basis of comparison | FireCuda | BarraCuda |
|---|---|---|
| Type of Hard drive | SSHD | SSD |
| Power efficiency | The Green Hybrid Feature makes it extremely power efficient and enhances the drive’s durability. | It is less power efficient than FireCuda as there is no Green Hybrid Feature. |
| Gaming | As compared to standard hard drives, it is 5 x faster and is excellent for gaming. | It is not so good for gaming like FireCuda but is suitable for creative applications and other operations. |
| Limited Warranty | Both 3.5 inch and 2.5-inch models have a limited warranty of 5 years. | Both 2.5 and 3.5-inch models have a limited warranty of 2 years. |
| Data protection | There is no Rescue Data Recovery Plan for users. | The Rescue Data Recovery Plan helps to secure your data from accidental damage as the in-house professionals aid you. |
What is FireCuda?
Firecuda is one of the latest Seagate SSHDs that is targeted at the gamer. It is built with the latest NAND technology. This technology is based on the NAND logic gate and is a type of flash memory, and is used for storing data in the drive. The product is ideal for gamers who want their games to load faster and run smoothly.
Being a very powerful SSHD, FireCuda is a perfect combination of speed and capacity. This offers speeds that are five times better than regular hard drives, making the gaming experience amazing. So gamers will save a lot of time they spend on loading screens and enjoy an uninterrupted performance. This is because the hard drive boots up in seconds.
Moreover, FireCuda offers all its users ample storage space – up to 2 TB. As modern games are getting heavier and the game files take up a lot of space, this will be a boon. So, if you are a gamer, you do not have to worry about deleting game files or games to make room for newer installations. With the 2 TB hard drives, you will be able to store up to 40 games for each TB, if the games are of 25 GB each.
Lets us look at some of the specifications of the Seagate FireCuda 3.5 inch hard drive:
- Device Type: Hybrid hard drive - internal
- Bytes per Sector: 4096
- Interface: SATA 6Gb/s
- Seek Time: 8.5 ms (average)
- NAND Flash Memory: TypeMulti-level cell (MLC)
- Drive Transfer Rate: 600 MBps (external)
- Buffer Size: 64 MB
- Interfaces: 1 x SATA 6 Gb/s
- Internal Data Rate: 210 MBps
- Weight: 14.11 oz
- Flash Memory Capacity: 8 GB
- Manufacturer: Seagate Technology
- Colour Category: black, silver
- Storage Interface: Serial ATA-600
- Warranty: 5 years
- Main feature: Quick booting time
Some specifications of the 2.5-inch drive are as follows:
- Storage capacity: 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB
- Average power consumption: 1.8 W
- Interface: SATA 6 Gb/ s
- Durability: 600,000 load/reload cycles
- Sequential write: Up to 140MB/s
- Sequential write: Up to 140MB/s
- NAND Flash Memory: Type Multi-level cell (MLC)
- Main feature: Quick booting time
Pros and Cons of FireCuda
The advantages of Seagate FireCuda are as follows:
Storage
It is the best drive with a huge storage capacity in the market having 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. That makes the drive great for storing media files and games. Plus, the flash accelerated technology enables faster loading and better gameplay.
Power savings
The drive has a Green Hybrid Feature that reduces the power consumption while providing high performance. When the power consumption is decreased, less heat is generated. So as a result, this increases the durability of the drive. Additionally, when less power is generated, the system’s performance is enhanced. This also results in better frame rates while playing games.
Adaptive memory
This technology is used to identify the data within the drive that is accessed frequently. This way, the data is fetched faster, and you can work with the data more quickly. This helps in consuming less power.
MTC (Multi-Tier Caching Technology)
The MTC technology makes use of the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), NAND flash and media caching. This allows you to load and run applications faster.
The disadvantages of FireCuda are as follows:
Cost
Being a SSHD, it costs a little more than the traditional hard drive. This is because SSHDs have a solid-state cache memory and a firmware that is used to monitor this memory. So, they come at a price that is 10 or 20 times more than the normal hard drive.
Drive failure
If a section of the SSHD fails, then the whole drive stops working, and the system does not boot.
What is BarraCuda?
The Seagate BarraCuda is the trademark series of internal hard drives that have a spindle speed of 7200 RPM. These internal drives are compatible with both laptops and desktops. Launched in 1991, Seagate BarraCuda was the first drive to be introduced with 7200 RPM speed. Due to the rotational speed, initially, it was swift but also costlier than other hard drives in the market. But, users have chosen and used these drives for more than 20 years owing to the quality and high performance.
Moreover, these drives are optimised for creative professionals such as graphic artists and designers. The drives perform better than the average desktop hard drive.
Lets us look at the most famous and well-loved models of this series.
BarraCuda 14th Generation
This model was released in 2012 and was the first of the Seagate Hard drives with 1 TB platter technology. It was available in different storage capacities such as 250 GB to 3 TB, having a speed of 7200 RPM. This was also the first green model, which had a feature for saving power and enhancing the lifespan of the drives.
BarraCuda 16th Generation
This was released after the BarraCuda 14th Generation hard drive and was designed for desktops. The product had a 5,900 RPM and was available with capacities of 500 GB to 8 TB. It had a buffer size of 256 MB for hard drives having a capacity of 3 TB to 8 TB. For hard drives having 500 GB and 1 TB, the buffer size was 32 MB.
Pros of BarraCuda
The advantages of Seagate BarraCuda are as follows:
Storage
The storage capacity is enormous, and the 3.5-inch model comes with a whopping 14 TB storage. Plus the smaller versions of 2.5-inch models are also available in 2 TB and 5TB for storing all your data in laptops, desktops and mobile.
Speed
Having a spin speed of 7200 RPM, the hard drive is designed for faster data uploads. The product has a burst data rate of 6 Gb/ s and a sustained data rate of 256 MB/ s. The multi-tier caching technology helps makes running files faster. The NAND flash, media cache and DRAM are all optimised to enhance read and write processes.
Data recovery
The products in the series come with a Rescue Data Recovery Plan that protects the drive for two years against accidental, natural or mechanical disasters. The data recovery experts will assist you in case you lose your data – who have more than a 90 % success rate of recovery.
Conclusion
The Seagate BarraCuda series of hard drives have catered to users’ demands over the years. While the FireCuda is designed especially for the gamer who wants a high-performance system, the BarraCuda is for the traditional user.
So, if you are looking for a power-efficient hard drive with lightning speed – FireCuda is the one for you. But if you are looking for a dependable, hard disk with huge storage capacity, choose BarraCuda. It is best to compare the details accurately before buying a hard drive.