Our benchmark results were mixed, making it hard to unreservedly recommend the Barracuda 7200.8 over the other drives in the test group. For example, the drive's comparably weak performance in IOMeter, where it's not only slower than the DiamondMax 10 but also the Barracuda 7200.7, suggests that the latest 'cuda may not be the best drive for server or multi-user environments. The drive's IOMeter performance is certainly disappointing, and I can't help but wonder whether the drive would have fared better with 16MB of cache.

Uninspiring IOMeter performance aside, the 7200.8 largely excelled in FC-Test and WorldBench. Those results make a strong case for the drive's suitability for desktop applications, although I'd be more enthusiastic if seek noise levels were a little lower and load times a little faster.

Of course, there's more to the Barracuda 7200.8 than just its performance. First, the drive is available in capacities up to 400GB. Maxtor's DiamondMax 10 tops out at only 300GB, and while Hitachi Global Storage has 400GB drives available, they don't support Native Command Queuing. The Barracuda 7200.8 also boasts a five-year warranty that's unmatched by 7,200-RPM drives from other manufacturers. Depending on your priorities, the extra warranty coverage may make up for the drive's slightly higher noise levels and lackluster IOMeter performance. I know it does for me.