Performance: 36 out of 40.
The Seagate BarraCuda 510 may not have the highest paper specifications available, but the real world performance is right up there with the best of the best in this price range. This is especially true of its partial and full drive performance which did suffer from less drop-off than typical mainstream NVMe drives of similar capacity.
Technological Innovation: 15 out of 20
While there is certainly very little ‘new’ about the Seagate BarraCuda 510, its innovation is still pretty darn good. Seagate did take the time to include all the latest and greatest tweaks to be released to the market today, and they did so without any of the Not Invented Here syndrome that usually plagues manufactures who may be successful in other markets but are newer to the SSD market.
Build Quality & Warranty: 18 out of 20
There is only two ways the ‘Cuda 510 could have been improved. The first is instead of S2 rating they could have gone for S3. This additional 0.15mm of height would have allowed for a thin copper or aluminum heat spreader to be integrated into the label design. This would have helped in the cooling department. The other is to have opted for faster BiCS4 NAND. Both options would have increased the asking price, and thus reduced the overall value.
Value: 17 out of 20
It may not be perfect, and it the capacity options available may be too small for some, but overall the value of this drive is very good. Good performance, great warranty, great price. That is indeed a winning combination.
Final Score: 86 out of 100
With its combination of good controller, good firmware, good NAND and an excellent asking price the Seagate BarraCuda 510 certainly accomplishes its goal of making other manufactures options look over-priced in comparison. Now if they would only offer a 1TB capacity model and it would be even better for an even broader range of consumers.
