Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Seagate Barracuda 3TB (ST3000DM001) reliable?

pullman

pullman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 11, 2008
878
154
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hi everyone

I need more space in my MP early 2008. I currently have two raid0 arrays using 4 WD640AAKS. I'm considering getting two 3TB drives and the Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 looks interesting.

Then I read reviews at Newegg and note that some drives are dead on arrival. I realise that user comments can be unreliable.

Then I see Tom's Hardware express concern over the 2400-hour power-on rating which apparently is the same as 100 days continuous operation. That's not much at all. Then there's the issue with the short Seagate warranty.

So now I start to wonder how reliable this drive really is.

Can anyone assist with some balanced opinions about this drive?

Also, any ideas for alternatives in the same price range (I'm in Europe)? I've seen WD's drive but it's a 5400rpm green drive which I'm not interested in.
cheers and thanks in advance
P
 
Last edited:
i bought 3 of them a few weeks ago. the first one failed after about 8 hrs of use. not exactly a great start ;). 2nd one seems fine thus far
 
Thanks broad.

It seems WD has completely left the 6G scene except for the 5400rpm Caviar Green WD30EZRX.

And what's happened to Samsung :confused:

I haven't bought HDDs for a few years but things seem really to have changed.
 
The Samsung hard disk operation has been bought by Seagate.

WD was severely impacted by the Thailand floods.
 
I bought 2 of them in Feb-March 2012.

That's not very long ago, but I've worked them pretty hard (video) and both have been flawless.

At the moment I have no complaints.
 
I've been using one of the 3GB XT models for about 3-4 months now. Very quiet, fast, and stable (so far.....).
 
100Years said:
I've been using one of the 3GB XT models for about 3-4 months now. Very quiet, fast, and stable (so far.....).
Click to expand...

I'm using two Seagate Barracuda's XT ST33000651AS 3TB 24/7 in my server and so far 4349 power-on hours and no issues. Disk run very hot: 54C and 55C.
 
Thanks for all the insight.

What's the difference between the ST and the XT models? The latter is much more expensive.
 
I've been using 2 3TB Hitachi Ultrastar for the past year with out problems. I tried the 1 TB Seagate and it died and was replaced 2 times. Gave up on Seagate.
 
pullman said:
Thanks for all the insight.

What's the difference between the ST and the XT models? The latter is much more expensive.
Click to expand...

The XT is enterprise aimed I think. My new pegasus R4 has 4X 7200 Barracuda XT's in it...It's too early to comment on reliability, but I have split one of the drives off the array, and I work it really hard...Video editing in real time etc. So far it hasn't missed a beat. I'm not sure what happened with WD...Maybe it just comes down to volume pricing? They do seem to have vanished from the scene.
 
Thanks for the explanation Macman.

I must admit the many model descriptions of the Seagate 3TB drives are a bit confusing.

Check this search at the Dutch site Tweakers.net. Pretty big price differences.

Anyone know what the SV35.5 model is? The specs appear identical to the ST model but it costs more, yet not as much as the XT :confused:

There's also another ST model (STBD3000200), which costs more even though it's only got 32MB cache. Odd. Older model perhaps?
 
pullman said:
Anyone know what the SV35.5 model is?
Click to expand...
--> http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/sv35/ --> SV35 Series Hard Drive --> SPECS

Data Sheet:
http://www.seagate.com/files/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/sv35-data-sheet-ds1679-6-1112us.pdf

pullman said:
There's also another ST model (STBD3000200), which costs more even though it's only got 32MB cache. Odd. Older model perhaps?
Click to expand...
This is a so called "KIT" version, which includes other parts (cables, software and so on):
http://nlcitydata.optiuse.se/?page=product&ProductID=23761
 
Mr. Retrofire said:
--> http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/sv35/ --> SV35 Series Hard Drive --> SPECS

Data Sheet:
http://www.seagate.com/files/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/sv35-data-sheet-ds1679-6-1112us.pdf


This is a so called "KIT" version, which includes other parts (cables, software and so on):
http://nlcitydata.optiuse.se/?page=product&ProductID=23761
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link (nice to see a fellow Swede here).

I've read mixed things about the SV35.5. Some say it is great, others that its intended purpose (handling multiple video streams from CCTV etc) means that it's not good as a typical storage drive. Not sure what to make of this.

Mupet, thanks for your video. I am getting a very bad feeling about the ST Barracuda.
 
I'd stay away from Seagates. I have several dead ones at the moment. Not this specific model but several others. The fact that a few have reported dead units already confirms that Seagates are rubbish.

WD has been good to me. Never failed and I make a point of buying one when I can.

There are only 3 players on the market these days. WD, Seagate and Toshiba.
 
Seagate 3TB Dead on Arrival (DOA)

Unbelievable. I picked up a Seagate 3TB yesterday from Micro Center. I put it in a case and turned it on - it was DEAD.:mad: I spent about an hour swapping out drives to verify that it was not the case I put it in.

I exchanged it at Micro Center in Fairfax, VA and tried again. The lights came on and I was able to format it. I moved it over my Time Capsule's USB. Now this one is DEAD. :mad: Again I spent about an hour verifying the situation.

It is going to get ugly when I go back to Micro Center demanding my money back.

Note: I notice that the first drive was in the older box and it had a 5 year warranty. The second drive has a 1 year warrantee on the box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back