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$439|WWW.SEAGATE.COMSSDSeagate Firecuda
510 1TB NVMe M.2
SSD
Abig fish with big performance.
Seagate Barracuda
510 512GB NVMe
M.2 SSD
Can Seagatechallenge
the marketleaders?
W
hilethe
Barracudais
aimedat
mainstream
users,thehigherend
Firecudaisaimedat
enthusiastsandgamers.It
comeswithsomeseriously
competitivespecs.Canit
competeonpricethough?
TheFirecuda 510 1TBisof
courseanNVMeM.2 2280
(80mm)PCIe3.0x4drive.It
stillhastherather
unattractivebluePCB,
thoughatleastthesticker
isn’tcoveredintextsoit’ll
blendinalittlebetter.
Itsspecificationsarein
linewithothertopdrives.
Sequentialperformanceis
prettymuchatthemaxof
thePCIe3.0x 4 interfaceat
3,450MB/sreadand3,200
MB/swritespeeds.IOPSare
ratedatover620kand600k
read&writewhilethe
enduranceratinggoesupto
1,300TBW.That’savery
goodnumberindeedandit
showsSeagateisvery
confidentinthisdrive.
An enthusiast class driveneedsenthusiastclass
performanceandtheFirecuda
delivers.It’samongthehighest
performingdriveswe’veever
testedwithverystrong
sequentialperformance,
randomwritesandIOPSwhich
isreflectedinexcellentAnvil
andASSSDscores.
Asisthecasewiththe
Barracuda,theFirecuda’s
pricingistoohigh.Ataround
$439it’sover$100morethan
aWesternDigitalSN750.
Whilewe’dexpectthemarket
tomatureandpricingtofall,
that’ssimplytoomuchofa
margintoignore.It’sagreat
drivewithbadpricing.
TheFirecuda 510 1TB
candeliverclassleading
performance,butitmatters
littlewithapoorpricing
strategy. Chris SzewczykVerdic t
TheFirecudahaswhatittakesto
bea toptierNVMedrive, but its
poor value hurts it.$211|WWW.SEAGATE.COMS
eagateisbetter
knownforitshard
driverange,butthe
industryis
increasinglytransitioning
overtosolidstate.Canit
takeonthelikesofSamsung
andWesternDigitalin
performanceandprice?
TheBarracuda 510 512GBis
atypicalNVMeM.2 2280
(80mm)drivewithaPCIe3.0
x4interface.Itwon’tbe
winninganybeautycontests
thankstoitsbluePCBand
unattractivetextcrammed
ontoitswhitesticker.Looks
asidethough,ithasadecent
setofspecifications.
Sequentialperformancelooks
goodwith 3400 MB/sreadand
2180 MB/swritespeeds.An
enduranceratingof 320
terabyteswrittenisalso
decentforamid-rangedrive.
Seagate’sSeatoolsappisa
goodpieceofsoftware,which
alongwithitsDiscWizard
cloningandmigrationappis
amongthebetterSSD
softwaresuitesaround.
TheBarracudadelivers
solid performance withoutbeingexceptional.Its
randomwriteperformance
isstrongbutthisisn’ttoo
importantforaconsumer
classdrive.
AstheBarracuda 510 isn’t
aparticularlycharttopping
drive,itneedstooffergood
valuetocompeteinatough
marketplace,andthat’s
whereitfallsdown.Atthe
timeofwritingthe512GB
510 driveissellingfor
around$211andplacesit
veryclosetothelikesofthe
Samsung 970 Pro.Thisdrive
simplyisn’tworththatmuch.
TheBarracuda512GBSSD
isadecentperforming
drive,butuntilitspricing
comesmoreintolinewith
itsdirectcompetitors,then
it’stoughtorecommendit.
Chris SzewczykVerdic t
TheBarracudacan’tcompetewhile
it’soneofthemostexpensive
512GB SSDs on the market.SSD