As well as offering a huge 500GB capacity, the Barracuda 7200.9 is the only disk here apart from the 10,000rpm Raptor X to boast a five-year warranty, which suggests Seagate is confident of the 7200.9’s reliability.

However, Seagate isn’t the only one here to provide 500GB of storage, as both Hitachi and Maxtor match this capacity. With four platters and eight read/write heads, the 7200.9 packs more data onto each disk than the Hitachi with five platters. It also requires the least power at 6.9W when idle. It isn’t the quietest, though, measuring 40dBA when seeking. However, when installed, you’d be hard-pushed to differentiate between most disks here.

With a 16MB buffer, the 7200.9 should have scored well in our speed tests, but overall it didn’t impress. The average seek time gave no concerns at 9.93ms, but this often has little relevance to real-world performance. We found the sustained transfer rate averaged only 52MB/s – a whisker ahead of the Hitachi -– but when reading and writing large files, the Seagate slipped back with 49MB/s and 41MB/s respectively. It was quicker than the Maxtor when reading and writing small files and was also slightly faster in Photoshop, but not enough to lift it above average overall.

At 87 cents per gigabyte, it’s cheaper than the Hitachi and Maxtor but noticeably more than the Samsung. The DiamondMax 11 is the quicker 500GB disk, but those looking for a cheaper price per GB will also find it attractive. Seagate’s extra warranty is worth remembering too.