Neither PB Tech nor Seagate's official spec sheet let on that this drive is a SMR (shingled magnetoresistance) model which means writing performance is awful beyond a couple of Gb, particularly random writes. See:
https://old.reddit.com/r/Seagate/comments/foach9/i_feel_cheated_by_seagate_barracuda_2tb_2016_vs/
Drive does work but 2 stars for Seagate trying to hide this. Don't even think about trying to RAID this.
If write performance is important to you, consider the Western Digital Blue WD40EZRZ 4Tb instead, which is a PMR drive (like older hard drives). Both manufacturers are sneaking SMR drives into their lineup though without disclosin...view more Neither PB Tech nor Seagate's official spec sheet let on that this drive is a SMR (shingled magnetoresistance) model which means writing performance is awful beyond a couple of Gb, particularly random writes. See:
https://old.reddit.com/r/Seagate/comments/foach9/i_feel_cheated_by_seagate_barracuda_2tb_2016_vs/
Drive does work but 2 stars for Seagate trying to hide this. Don't even think about trying to RAID this.
If write performance is important to you, consider the Western Digital Blue WD40EZRZ 4Tb instead, which is a PMR drive (like older hard drives). Both manufacturers are sneaking SMR drives into their lineup though without disclosing them, even some WD RED drives now.

I have this in raid with an SSD cache and it performs below expectations, this is most likely due to it being an SMR drive which wasn't listed on spec sheet. If you want mass storage and don't mind slow write speeds, this will suffice. However if you wanna put it in raid, you'd be better with a different drive. I have this in raid with an SSD cache and it performs below expectations, this is most likely due to it being an SMR drive which wasn't listed on spec sheet. If you want mass storage and don't mind slow write speeds, this will suffice. However if you wanna put it in raid, you'd be better with a different drive.

Currently using this as bulk storage for all my Steam games (plenty big enough so far), and it's definitely fast enough to play said games from. Currently using this as bulk storage for all my Steam games (plenty big enough so far), and it's definitely fast enough to play said games from.

Nice drive, really big capacity, and a good price. Remember, if you want a partition larger than 2TB then the partition must be initialized GPT instead of MBR. Nice drive, really big capacity, and a good price. Remember, if you want a partition larger than 2TB then the partition must be initialized GPT instead of MBR.

Goes click and wirrrrrrrr in a very comforting fashion, you can put lots of stuff on it....and it's a loverly shade of green....
some of the screws are really shiny as well! Goes click and wirrrrrrrr in a very comforting fashion, you can put lots of stuff on it....and it's a loverly shade of green....
some of the screws are really shiny as well!

Perfect for storing stuff I'll probably never need again. Perfect for storing stuff I'll probably never need again.

Pros-
•Nice amount of storage space for the price.
•Excellent Cache size.
•Silent running.

Cons-
•Only 5400 RPM.
•Only 2 years warranty.
•Not a FireCuda drive. Pros-
•Nice amount of storage space for the price.
•Excellent Cache size.
•Silent running.

Cons-
•Only 5400 RPM.
•Only 2 years warranty.
•Not a FireCuda drive.

Needed this HDD to create 4 GPT partitions of 1GB each for Win10; Win 2019 Server; Ubuntu and CentOS. Just what I needed to create a multi boot development PC. Performing smoothly. Needed this HDD to create 4 GPT partitions of 1GB each for Win10; Win 2019 Server; Ubuntu and CentOS. Just what I needed to create a multi boot development PC. Performing smoothly.

This is a reliable storage product, not for gaming systems, there are faster drives for that, but for reliable storage with many read write operations this drive is ideal. Your motherboard has to be able to address 4TB if you want to use the entire drive as one but you can partition and run the partitions in RAID on older systems. This drive is quieter than previous models and lower profile. Performance is good. Price for capacity is excellent at the time of purchase. This will change of course and may not apply when you read this a year from now. Since backup is essential buy 2 and maintain a back up to safeguard your data. This is a reliable storage product, not for gaming systems, there are faster drives for that, but for reliable storage with many read write operations this drive is ideal. Your motherboard has to be able to address 4TB if you want to use the entire drive as one but you can partition and run the partitions in RAID on older systems. This drive is quieter than previous models and lower profile. Performance is good. Price for capacity is excellent at the time of purchase. This will change of course and may not apply when you read this a year from now. Since backup is essential buy 2 and maintain a back up to safeguard your data.

It's a great price for the storage capacity however I'm disappointed that the drive is SMR (Shingled magnetic recording) without there being any information on the product page regarding this, aside from that it makes a great dedicated Plex drive but I wouldn't dare attempt using an SMR for anything outside of archival purposes It's a great price for the storage capacity however I'm disappointed that the drive is SMR (Shingled magnetic recording) without there being any information on the product page regarding this, aside from that it makes a great dedicated Plex drive but I wouldn't dare attempt using an SMR for anything outside of archival purposes

By: LXGaming 24/01/21

Verified Owner

Was running out of space, Seagate 4TB ordered and it works beautifully :-) Very Happy with purchase Was running out of space, Seagate 4TB ordered and it works beautifully :-) Very Happy with purchase

Just make sure you know how to initialise the drive as windows will not see a 4tb drive! Just make sure you know how to initialise the drive as windows will not see a 4tb drive!