A while back we noticed that Seagate’s web page buried the Barracuda family’s seek time several links deep. Consider, for example, that Seagate no longer lists the Barracuda’s claimed seek time on its model detail page or on the product’s spec sheet.
While the firm’s motive may be somewhat questionable (Seagate’s ATA drives traditionally do not do very well in measured seek time tests), it does raise a larger question: just how relevant is seek time when it comes to today’s single-user applications and non-server usage patterns? Is it still the dominant performance factor it was in ages past or is seek time more an anachronistic measure that no longer has a large bearing on contemporary performance?
Recently a forums participant asked the same question… here’s our answer based on data drawn from a closer look at Ubisoft’s popular first-person shooter, FarCry.
