Seagate announces new BarraCuda and FireCuda HDDs

New 2.5-inch drives range from 500 GB up to 5 TB in 7 mm, 9.5 mm, and 15 mm form factors. Multi-tier caching software will be included for improved performance.

Allen Ngo, 10/13/2016

The new fast and slim 2 TB FireCuda HDD will begin shipping for standalone sales and in high-end notebooks with 8 GB of SSD cache and with special software capable of multi-tier caching (MTC) to continuously analyze system behavior for disk optimization.

The manufacturer is promising significant performance advantages from the FireCuda series when compared to conventional 7200 RPM 2.5-inch HDDs. PCMark 7 scores, for example, are advertised as being 50 percent higher with the new Seagate HDD. Available 2.5-inch FireCuda models include the 2 TB ST2000LX001, 1 TB ST1000LX015, and 500 GB ST500LX025.

Meanwhile, the BarraCuda series will be available in the thinner 7 mm form factor in 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities. Even larger capacities will be available including 3 TB, 4 TB, and 5 TB, although the overall sizes of these drives will be thicker at 15 mm. Both the BarraCuda and FireCuda series will utilize base 1 TB platters as part of the Seagate Guardian family.

Prices for these new HDDs have not yet been revealed, but more detailed specifications are provided below.