The Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive is for those that need good looking space – 1, 2 or 5TB with customisable RGB LED lighting.
Seagate’s gaming brand – FireCuda, recently released its 2021 range (GadgetGuy article here), and we are starting to review them.
One could say that storage is boring, but a 5TB external hard disk (not SSD) at $219 sounds pretty good to store your gaming library. It is not for direct play, and most consoles don’t support that anyway.
Seagate has a winner with quality, a three-year warranty and a three-year data rescue service.
- Included with all FireCuda products
- Includes one in-lab recovery attempt
- Returns your recovered data on an encrypted storage device
- 95% success rate of in-house data recovery
Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive
The internal drive is what counts, and it’s a Barracuda drive.
Drive Seagate Barracuda ST5000LM000-2AN170 (2.5″ 5TB as tested)
- 128MB Cache
- Perpendicular recording
- 5400 RPM, 10 heads, five platters (15mm thick plus case)
- 300/650G operational/non-operational shock
- Type: SATA 300/600 supports internal 6Gbps bursts and 140MB/s external
- The controller supports native command queuing/ordering and multiple read/write commands
- Drive Interface: UASP Serial ATA (USB-A to USB Micro B)
Game extras
- Customisable RGB LEDs with Seagate SeaTools
- Works with Razer Chroma RGB
- In 1, 2 and 5TB capacity
- It comes with a three-year warranty and three years of Rescue Data Recovery Services (registration required)
- Windows or Mac tools provided
Crystal DiskMark 8.0
Test Microsoft Surface Pro 7 with USB-A 3.0 port (5Gbps/625MBps half-duplex)
The drive meets external sequential read/write data transfer specs but slows down with larger files when its cache is full. It is for your gaming storage library.
GadgetGuy’s take
There are many USB external hard disks, including Seagate 5TB or 6TB Expansion Portable at $159/199 or less. You are paying for a better quality internal drive, RGB lighting and an extended warranty. The premium is an investment. If you are an astute shopper, you may even find it a little cheaper.
But despite the wolf’s clothing, it remains a similar performer to any 5TB external hard disk.
