Seagate Barracuda ST3400832AS Hard Disk 

This 400 GB, 7200 rpm drive from Seagate uses a technology
called NCQ (Native Command Queuing), which improves its overall performance by
providing an efficient method of executing disk commands. However, NCQ requires
a compatible platform to work, else it remains disabled. For Intel-based
systems, you need to use motherboards with at least Intel 915P Express chipset.
We tested it with an Athlon64 X2 system on an Asus A8N-E motherboard with nForce
4 chipset that supports NCQ, and it gave us good results. It gave a disk access
time of 11.7 ms against its rated 11 ms. Its average transfer rate was an
impressive 66.5 MB per sec.

An interesting metric recorded was the transfer-rate end
metric, where the Seagate yielded 62.9 MB per sec, which was much better than
other drives we've tested so far. Similarly, it scored 19.8 in Business Disk
Winmark which was a good score. In the High-End Disk Winmark, the score was a
good 45.1.

There is one thing to be taken care of during installation.
The drivers for this drive need to be installed separately during installation
of the OS. Failing to do so results in the hard drive not being detected at
times.

Bottom Line: The drive comes with a warranty of five
years and is also well priced, with performance to match. The Seagate Barracuda
drive can suite the requirements of a broader spectrum. It's well suited for
people who need to store voluminous multimedia content on their disks. It can
also be used for servers in a small office setup and low cost NAS (Network
Attched Storage) boxes.

Anadi Misra