CONCLUSION

   The new BarraCuda Pro 10TB HDD by Seagate has far too many similarities with the IronWolf 10TB model so we never really expected it to do much better and just looking out our charts you can see that this is partially true. Both drives feature rotational speeds of 7200RPM, are based on a 7-platter design, use enclosures filled with Helium, consume up to 6.8W at load and have 256MB of cache. With that in mind whatever difference in performance we encountered it was basically because of the difference in the implemented technologies since both drives are aimed at different target audiences. So whereas the IronWolf is aimed towards NAS use and thus features several technologies developed for such use the BarraCuda Pro is aimed towards desktop use and thus focuses a bit more in the performance end. Worth mentioning is that based on the specifications sheets of both drives (300TB vs 180TB per year and 5 vs 3 years warranty) it becomes somewhat evident that the BarraCuda Pro is not really the equivalent of the IronWolf drive but rather the upcoming IronWolf Pro so do take that into account prior to comparing these two. Also as you may have noticed since some of you asked we gathered every single drive we have here to record their seek times and although differences are somewhat tiny between equivalent models we do feel it’s a good addition to our charts.

   So just how much must you spend to get yourself one of the highest capacity and best performance HDDs in the market today? Well with a current price tag set at USD559.98 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 551Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the BarraCuda 10TB HDD is certainly not cheap but we feel it’s worth every single penny. Of course if you don’t care about having the best possible write performance and you want a 10TB drive purely for storage purposes you might want to go with the IronWolf 10TB HDD instead and save roughly USD100/100Euros in the process (the choice is yours). Personally I can’t wait to check and see what the upcoming IronWolf Pro 10TB model is capable off but for now the BarraCuda 10TB is the fastest one of its kind and clearly worthy of our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (300WRL / 1 Million Hours MTBF)
- Excellent Read & Write Performance
- 256MB Cache
- 10TB's Capacity
- Temperatures / Noise Levels / Power Consumption
- Enclosure Material (Low Temperatures)
- 5 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)