SPECworkstation 3.0.2 Storage Benchmark
SPECworstation benchmark is an excellent benchmark to test systems using workstation-type workloads. In this test, we only ran the Storage component, which is fifteen separate tests.
SPECworkstation performance for the Seagate Barracuda 510 1TB is similar to the Inland drive, though a hair slower across the spread of tests. Overall it is still a good result for this drive in SPEC.
Sustained Write Performance
This is not necessarily a benchmark, so much as trying to catch the post-cache write speed of the drive. While I am filling the drive with data to the 85% mark with 10 simultaneous write threads, I monitor the drive for the write performance to dip to the lowest steady point and grab a screenshot.
Sustained write performance was a point of pride for Inland, and the Seagate also does well here.
Temperatures
We monitored the idle and maximum temperature during testing with HWMonitor to get some idea of the thermal performance and requirements of the drive. Please keep in mind that our test bench is an open frame chassis in a 22C room, but with no direct airflow. As a result, this is not representative of a cramped low airflow case and is instead intended to model temperatures of a drive ‘on its own’.
Thermal performance is acceptable on the Seagate; it gets pretty toasty when truly stressed, but for normal day-to-day use with minor airflow there should be no problems.
Again, we are mostly looking for the absence of runaway thermals here during our testing rather than comparing drives to each other.
Final Words
The Seagate Barracuda 510 1TB is $140 on Amazon. That price point is essentially the only problem I have with this drive compared to other top PCIe 3.0 SSDs, since the Inland drive is available for $120 and the SK hynix Gold P31 is $135. The Inland drive performs just as well, or better, for $20 less, although you do lose out on a bit of the warranty. On the other hand, the SK hynix drive is the PCIe 3.0 standard-bearer and is better across the board and still $5 less expensive than the Barracuda.
The Seagate Barracuda 510 1TB is a good choice for a high-performance PCIe 3.0 SSD, but it needs to go on discount to be a better option than the SK hynix Gold P31 or the Inland Premium 1TB.
