Seagate 400GB Barracuda 7200.8 Serial ATA Hard Disk

The Seagate 400GB Barracuda 7200.8 not only comes with a remarkable 400GB of storage space, it's also a fast hard disk.

Even though its platters spin at the same speed (7200 RPM) as those of the Barracuda 7200.7, the 400GB Barracuda 7200.8 hard disk managed to trounce the older drive with a 24% faster read speed as well as a 29% faster burst speed!

The higher read speed is entirely due to the higher areal density of the Barracuda 7200.8's platters while the higher burst speed has the SATA interface as well as the fast 8MB buffer to thank for.

Unfortunately, its seeks were a little slower than the older Barracuda 7200.7 hard disk although by only 6%. Still, that's something to note as it affects the drive's performance when it performs random seeks.

The drive was generally very quiet. Seek noises were noticeable but they were muted and low-pitched, rather than loud tak! tak! noises heard in some drives. Once installed inside a case, they were totally drowned out by the whine of the various fans in the system. So, as far as acoustics are concerned, this is a quiet hard disk.

Incidentally, this hard disk comes with a magnificent 5-year limited warranty! While this does not guarantee that this hard disk won't quit on you in the next five years, it does show the amount of confidence Seagate has in the reliability of this model.

If you are looking for a quiet, fast drive with a ton of storage space, the Seagate 400GB Barracuda 7200.8 hard disk is a drive you should definitely consider.

Because we like its fast and quiet operation (as well as the humongous storage space!), we feel it deserves our Reviewer's Choice Award! Great work, Seagate!

For more details, read our Comprehensive Review !

MSRP

• NA

Lowest PriceGrabber Price

Review

• Comprehensive Review

Model

• ST3400832AS

Formatted Capacity

• 400 GB

Guaranteed Sectors

• 781,422,768

Bytes Per Sector

• 512 bytes

Sectors Per Track

• 63

Read/Write Heads

• 16

Cylinders

• 16,383

Recording Method

• 16/17 EPRML

Interleave

• 1 : 1

Maximum Recording Density

• 763,000 bits per inch

Average Track Density

• 120,000 tracks per inch

Average Areal Density

• 91,560 Mbits per square inch

Spindle Speed

• 7,200 RPM

Average Latency

• 4.16 msec.

Maximum Internal Data Transfer Rate

• 95 MB/s

Sustained Internal Data Transfer Rate

• 65 MB/s

Sustained Internal Data Transfer Rate

• 65 MB/s

Maximum I/O Data Transfer Rate

• 150 MB/s

Interface

• Serial ATA

Supported ATA Data Transfer Modes

• Ultra DMA Modes 0 to 6
• Multiword DMA Modes 0 to 2
• PIO Modes 0 to 4

Supported SATA Data Transfer Mode

• 150 Gbits/s

SATA II Hotplug Capability

• Yes

Cache Buffer

• 8 MB SDRAM

Maximum Height

• 26.11 mm
• 1.028 inches

Maximum Width

• 101.85 mm
• 4.010 inches

Maximum Length

• 146.99 mm
• 5.787 inches

Maximum Weight

• 636 g
• 1.39 lb

Power-On To Ready (Typical)

• 10 sec.

Standby To Ready (Typical)

• 10 sec.

Track-To-Track Seek Time (Typical)

• 0.8 msec. (Read)
• 1.0 msec. (Write)

Average Read Seek (Typical)

• 8.0 msec.

Average Write Seek (Typical)

• 9.0 msec.

Typical Startup Current @ 12V (peak)

• 2.8 A

Seek Power (Typical)

• 9.9 W

Operating Power (Typical)

• 9.2 W

Idle Mode (Typical)

• 7.71 W

Standby Mode (Typical)

• 1.2 W

Sleep Mode (Typical)

• 1.2 W

Voltage Tolerance
(Including Noise)

• 5V ± 5 %
• 12V ± 10 %

Ambient Temperature

• 0 °C to 60 °C (Operating)
• -40 °C to 70 °C (Non-Operating)

Maximum Temperature Gradient

• 20 °C per hour (Operating)
• 30 °C per hour (Non-Operating)

Relative Humidity

• 5 % to 90 % (Operating)
• 5 % to 95 % (Non-Operating)

Maximum Relative Humidity Gradient

• 30% per hour

Maximum Wet Bulb Temperature

• 37.7 °C (Operating)
• 40.0 °C (Non-Operating)

Maximum Altitude (Operating)

• - 60.06 m to 3,048 m
• - 200 ft to 10,000+ ft

Maximum Altitude (Non-Operating)

• - 60.06 m to 12,192 m
• - 200 ft to 40,000+ ft

Maximum Operating Shock
(@ 2 msec.)

• 63 G

Maximum Non-Operating Shock
(@ 2 msec.)

• 300 G

Operating Vibration

• 0.25 G acceleration

Non-Operating Vibration

• 0.25 G (5-22 Hz)
• 5.0 G (22-350 Hz)

Idle Drive Acoustics

• 2.8 bels (Typical)
• 3.4 bels (Maximum)

Quiet Seek Drive Acoustics

• 3.2 bels (Typical)
• 3.4 bels (Maximum)

Performance Seek Drive Acoustics

• 3.7 bels (Typical)
• 3.9 bels (Maximum)

Contact Start-Stop Cycles
(25°C, 50% relative humidity)

• 50,000 Cycles

Non-Recoverable Read Errors

• 1 error per 10¹⁴ bits read

Annualized Failure Rate

• 0.34 %

Service Life

• 5 Years

Warranty

• 5 Years Limited Warranty