My review of the Barracuda 7200.7

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Dru
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My review of the Barracuda 7200.7

Post by Dru » Tue Mar 04, 2003 9:42 pm

I know a few of you have been waiting for this. I usually don't write reviews. I've learned doing so takes more time than you think! Some might be disappointed that the review is mostly subjective but oh well! That's all I have for ya.

Oh yeah.. it's ad free! :D

Dru's Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Review

MikeC's NOTE: Dru's review is now at SPCR!

ez2remember
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Post by ez2remember » Tue Mar 04, 2003 10:00 pm

Nice review :D

According to many the IBM 180GXP is the best compromise between noise and performance. Storage review has them as the second fastest drive and noise level is one of the lowest, possibly not as good as the barracuda IV but very close. I would guess the new Seagate drive is not as fast as drives from other manafacturers, but we have to thank Seagate for it's low noise drives, which has encouraged other manafactuers to reach the same levels. :D

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Post by mudboy » Wed Mar 05, 2003 4:17 am

I just bought a 120GB/8MB cache Barracuda V, what's the difference between it and the 7200.7? I bought it because the whine of my WD 1200JB was driving me nuts (my wife even commented on it, which to me is approval to make such a purchase :-)), and I am very concerned about the reliability of ANY IBM drives after the troubles with the 75GXP and the 60GXP lines. Hopefully my new drive will arrive soon...

Pete

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Wed Mar 05, 2003 3:23 pm

u didnt mess around the aam or whatever
good review :D
ill get a 7200.7 when i can get me paws on 1 :D
oh and its got the underside screws, used for hd coolers and the like
so a seasheild clone could be made
one considerrably better due to extra depth
like another 3.5" slot :)
thnx:)

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Wed Mar 05, 2003 3:25 pm

could u see how hot the underside chips get?
u can see mount holes for seasheild
rite to bed wid mesa :(

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Post by Gxcad » Wed Mar 05, 2003 3:31 pm

The cuda V uses 60gb/platter so your 120gig will use 2 platters and also has a 8mb cache for better performance. The 7200.7 is the successor to the cuda V and uses 80gb/platter. It is my impression that Seagate only offer their biggest drive in 8mb cache version so a cuda 7200.7 120gb would probably have 2mb cache compared to your 8mb in the cuda V, which would probably make it perform better (meaning, the cuda V with 8mb would perform better). With identical cache size, the 7200.7 would probably be faster than the cuda V. Also to note is that the 7200.7 will only use one platter all the way up to 80gigs while the cuda V will only go up to 60gigs so at 80gigs each the 7200.7 MAY be quieter because of the 1 platter vs 2 advantage. Anyway that sums it up and gives a couple examples. Also of note is that the 8mb cache versions have a 3 year warranty while the 2mb cache versions have only 1 year. My cuda IV 80gig has 3 years warranty:)

-Ken

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Post by GamingGod » Wed Mar 05, 2003 3:53 pm

I believe that the 120gb drives are available with 2 and 8mb caches. The ones that end in 1 have the 8mb cache, and 0 have the 2mb ones.

Dru
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Post by Dru » Wed Mar 05, 2003 4:02 pm

Actually, I've added the following:
  • AAM section
  • Hard drive temps using DTemp
  • Sandra 2003 benchmarks for the Cuda IV
MikeC will be hosting the review soon. The review will be moved to SPCR within the next day.

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Thu Mar 06, 2003 12:01 pm

ah :)
well ive remmbered ive got a hdd cooler with 1 workin fan
its the kind that u sling underneath the hd
could getho mod that, so fan blows over chips and rest is soundproofed :)
fan is quiet at 7v
btw got said hdd cooler at www.tekheads.co.uk ;)
is cheap =]

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Post by blakerwry » Sun Mar 09, 2003 11:16 pm

you mentioned in the article that the 7200.7 had a duller finish than the ATA IV... well, some ATA IV's had the high-gloss shine, but others had the same finish as the 7200.7 pictured in your article...

so basically, I think it's a wash... it apears that the 7200.7 is using just about the same exterior as the ATA IV and ATA V... considering the size, shape, finish, and mounting hole locations.

blakerwry
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Post by blakerwry » Sun Mar 09, 2003 11:22 pm

By the way, i'd like to eventually see someone get AAM to toggle on the drive... just so I can see access time comparisons.

A guy at SR got a 7200.7, but it apparently had AAM enabled... and he could not turn it off...

since your AAM is aparently disabled.. can you run an accurate test of the drives access/seek times?

HDTach when ran several times produces an accurate assessment of access time..
http://www.tcdlabs.com/hdtach.htm

winbench99 also works.
ftp://ftp.pcmag.com/benchmarks/winbench/wb9920.exe

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Post by mudboy » Mon Mar 10, 2003 4:27 am

The AAM on my just-received 120GB/8MB Barracuda V was kind of weird. Using the IBM Feature Tool, I could only put it into "on" (AAM at quietest) or "off", and not any of the interim values. The drive had AAM off when I received it, and frankly, I was wondering what all the fuss was about with people calling the Cuda V "quiet" -- drive access sounded like fireworks going off in a metal trashcan. However, after I got my OS reinstalled and all of my apps installed, I turned on AAM and it is now dead silent (thank god) and (to me) the performance decrease isn't really noticeable.

FWIW, the Cuda V replaced a 1200JB that had developed a sanity-testing whine that could be heard in the next room. I decided to not go with a 180GXP because I am a past 75GXP owner that had his drive replaced with a 60GXP (both drives died)...no more IBM for me.

Pete

Dru
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Post by Dru » Mon Mar 10, 2003 9:13 am

blakerwry wrote:By the way, i'd like to eventually see someone get AAM to toggle on the drive... just so I can see access time comparisons.

A guy at SR got a 7200.7, but it apparently had AAM enabled... and he could not turn it off...

since your AAM is aparently disabled.. can you run an accurate test of the drives access/seek times?
As stated in this thread, a Seagate Technical Support representative confirmed that the AAM cannot be changed for the 7200.7s. I may have been wrong in stating mine was set to Performance Seek mode. I can't tell because Feature Tool just reports that the AAM feature is not supported.

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sea shield

Post by Badashmods » Mon Mar 10, 2003 11:29 am

Were you able to get the sea shield on it yet ? from a barracuda IV. Also does this mean the 7200.7 SATA won't have the sea shield either?

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Post by pingu666 » Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:10 pm

i still think its lacking cos of heat, and maybe to reduce cost
u could make your own
and mounting holes should be std btw :)

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