Seagate BarraCuda SSD – our interview with Derek Hockman, Product Marketing Manager

Seagate has returned to the gaming space with the relaunch of their BarrCuda SSD line.  We sat down with Derek Hockman, Product Marketing Manager to ask him about this new line of drives, and who it’s aimed at within the gaming community.  Here’s a quick link to the full BarraCuda array, as well as the spec sheet that go with them.  Without further ado, let’s get into the specifics:

GT: First off, thanks for sitting down with us today. If you would, introduce yourself and tell us your position at Seagate.

SG.Derek Hockman, Product Marketing Manager, Compute and Gaming

GT: We’ll start off with the hardest question — The SSD market is pretty crowded (my last count was approaching roughly 1000 different drives in the marketplace). What gives Seagate’s BarraCuda drives the edge over its competitors?

SG: A global leader in storage solutions for nearly four decades, Seagate understands that performance and reliability are a must for today’s serious gamer. Our new versatile, fast, and dependable BarraCuda SSD is a cost-effective way to handle your gaming needs.

GT: Where do you see the BarraCuda SSDs fitting in the gaming world? Seagate already makes a SKU for the Xbox One, and the FireCuda sits nicely in the PlayStation 4. Are you aiming squarely at PC gamers?

SG: Building off our external Game Drive products for Xbox and PlayStation consoles, the new BarraCuda drives provide a cost-effective option for PC gamers who want a SATA SSD upgrade that offers rapid boot-up, speedy files access and effortless application loading. It was designed with PC users in mind and builds on the evolution of our storage capabilities. Seagate purposely build a full range of HDD, hybrid and SSDs for solutions in every compute need, from the everyday computer user, to avid PC system architects and professionals.

GT: What sort of read/write speeds can we expect out of the BarraCuda SSD?

SG: The Seagate BarraCuda SSD provides maximum sequential read and write speeds, reaching 560/540 MB/s.

GT: We are seeing a shift towards the M.2 SSD form factor in the high-end PC space. You’ve made NVME for the extremely high-end server space (i.e. the Nytro series)– any chance we’ll see a BarraCuda M.2 for the consumer world any time soon?

GT: At Seagate we’re always seeking out ways to be innovative and design the best products for our customers, so stay tuned for future product launches.

GT: You are launching this line of drives in conjunction with Amazon Prime Day (July 16th). I can’t recall seeing a major manufacturer tie their flagship line with a major sale day that way. What was the decision process behind that?

SG: Seagate prides itself on our partnerships including retail partnerships like Amazon. We felt launching BarraCuda as an exclusive for Prime Day was a great opportunity, so we worked diligently to make it happen. Look for worldwide availability of BarraCuda soon as well.

GT: We don’t yet have pricing for the 2TB version of the BarraCuda SSD. What can gamers expect that device MSRP to be? (The others are $79.99 for 250GB, $119.99 for 500GB, and $224.999 for 1TB capacities)

SG: MSRP for the 2TB BarraCuda is $499.99.

GT: Less of a question and more of a thank you — I have a deep appreciation for your 24/7 support and 5-year warranty. Your competitors are offering a year, or two at most for their SSDs. Why are you offering five times that amount? I’m happy about it, but how does that make sense for you from a business perspective?

SG: First of all, thanks for the compliment! We understand that there are many players in the storage space and we are thankful for our loyal customers. Great customer service goes a long way to keep those customers happy, but we also have confidence in our products, which allows us to offer a lengthy warranty and assurance that our drives will safeguard your data.

 

My most recent build is centered around a pair of M.2 NVmE drives, so I’ll be taking a look at the other BarraCuda line, the BarraCuda Pro.  The BarraCuda Pro line will give me the storage I need to round out that system.  Stay tuned when I circle back with some testing on that line.  In the mean time, don’t miss out on your chance to grab one of these BarraCuda SSD drives.  They are exclusive to Amazon Prime, available today and tomorrow.  If you miss your chance, you won’t have another until they release globally in September.