On June 24 Seagate announced the launching of the new HDD family – Barracuda V (see this press-release). The main feature distinguishing it from the previous generation Barracuda IV is the 60GB platters and the support of new SerialATA interface implemented in some models from this family. We know that Samsung was the first one to use a 60GB platter for its HDDs (SpinPoint V60 Series), but Seagate appeared the first one to introduce a HDD with 60GB platters and 7,200rpm spindle rotation speed. Also we should admit that Seagate appeared the first in the world to announce a SerialATA HDD.

The table below offers you the brief specifications of the new drives:

	ST340017A	ST360015A	ST380023A ST380023AS	ST3120023A ST3120023AS
Storage Capacity	40GB	60GB	80GB	120GB
Interface	ATA/100	ATA/100	ATA/100 SerialATA	ATA/100 SerialATA
Spindle Rotation Speed	7,200rpm	7,200rpm	7,200rpm	7,200rpm
Cache Buffer	2MB	2MB	8MB	8MB
Platters	1	1	2	2
Heads	2	2	3	4
Sustained linear read speed	>44MB/sec	>44MB/sec	>44MB/sec	>44MB/sec
Average Seek Time (Read)	9ms	9ms	9ms	9ms

Judging by this table, the new Barracuda V family will have both: Value and Performance models. The drives with 40GB and 60Gb storage capacity will be equipped with 2MB cache, and larger models will feature 8MB cache-buffer, which will definitely make them faster. Although this info is a bit contradicting to the text of the official press-release, which states that HDDs with ATA/100 interface will be equipped with 2MB cache-buffer. So, we suggest taking time and waiting for Seagate to figure out what HDDs they have actually launched :)

The use of 60GB platters in the new drives led to the fact that HDDs with the already common capacities of 40GB and 80GB turn into "cut down" versions of the 60GB and 120GB models. By the way, this should speed up their server performance.

All HDDs are equipped with SoftSonic FDB engines, which ensures extremely low noise ratio at work.

Well, the HDD specs seem very tasty, I should say, but I’d prefer to touch once rather than to hear about it hundred times. ATA/100 HDDs are expected to start selling in July, and SerialATA models some time in autumn.