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Seagate · Desktop drive · ST4000DM004

Seagate BarraCuda 4TB

Seagate's everyday desktop line, made for the inside of a PC tower.

Capacity
4 TB
Recording
SMR
Speed
5,400 rpm
Warranty
2 years
Workload
55 TB/yr
Failure rate
No failure data

Good for

  • A PC, or a backup copy you plug in now and then

Not for

  • A NAS (Seagate gives it no NAS rating)
  • Heavy daily writes (55 TB a year rating)
  • Parity arrays (RAID 5/6, SHR, RAIDZ)

Updated 27 Oct 2026 · Method 2.0

Who the BarraCuda 4 TB is for

A PC tower suits it, or a dock for backups.

Watch out for

No NAS rating from Seagate. For an array, pick a NAS line instead. And the recording's SMR, another reason it stays out of arrays.

There's no Backblaze data worth quoting here. On paper it makes 26 dB at idle and 27 dB seeking. Seagate lists 2.5 W at idle and 3.7 W working, which comes to 22 kWh a year for a drive that idles around the clock.

Specifications

Each value links to the Seagate page or datasheet it came from.

Seagate BarraCuda 4TB specifications
Drive type Desktop source for Drive type (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Capacity 4 TB source for Capacity (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Spindle speed 5,400 rpm source for Spindle speed (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Recording technology SMR source for Recording technology (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Cache 256 MB source for Cache (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Interface SATA 6Gb/s source for Interface (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Form factor 3.5in source for Form factor (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Max sustained transfer 190 MB/s source for Max sustained transfer (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Workload rating 55 TB/yr source for Workload rating (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Warranty 2 years source for Warranty (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Power at idle 2.5 W source for Power at idle (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Power in use 3.7 W source for Power in use (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Noise at idle 26 dB source for Noise at idle (seagate.com, opens in new tab)
Noise when seeking 27 dB source for Noise when seeking (seagate.com, opens in new tab)

Sources: seagate.com