Description

The Seagate ST380020A is an 80GB hard drive from the U Series 6 (U6) family, a value-oriented 3.5-inch IDE/PATA drive released around 2002–2003. It was designed for mainstream desktop PCs, consumer electronics, and budget upgrades during the Pentium 4 / Athlon XP era, emphasizing reliability, low cost, and decent performance over high-end speed.

*** Hard drive is tested for good S.M.A.R.T. , no bad sectors and is formatted as an NTFS partition. Actual drive is pictured.

Here are the key specifications based on official Seagate product manuals (U Series 6 Family Product Manual, Rev. B), installation guides, and consistent historical/vendor data:

• Capacity: 80 GB (formatted; actual usable space ~74–75 GiB due to binary vs. decimal calculation and overhead)
• Interface: IDE / PATA (Parallel ATA), Ultra ATA/100 (ATA-6), backward compatible with ATA/66, ATA/33, PIO modes, etc. → Max theoretical burst transfer rate: 100 MB/s
• Form Factor: 3.5-inch (standard desktop, ~1-inch / 26.1 mm height)
• Spindle Speed: 5400 RPM
• Cache / Buffer: 2 MB
• Average Seek Time: ~8.9–9.5 ms (read/write; typical for the series, with access time ~14–15 ms including latency)
• Average Latency: ~5.6 ms (at 5400 RPM)
• Platter / Head Configuration: Typically 2 platters / 4 heads (using ~40 GB/platter density technology common in Seagate’s U Series at the time)
• Other Features:
  • 3D Defense System (Seagate’s data protection suite: includes shock sensors, embedded servo for better error handling, and data recovery tools)
  • Quiet operation emphasis (lower RPM helps reduce noise/vibration compared to 7200 RPM drives)
  • Shock resistance (non-operating up to ~350G typical for series)
  • S.M.A.R.T. support for predictive monitoring
  • Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor in many units for smoother, quieter spins (though some early U6 variants used ball bearings)
• Power Consumption: Typical for the era (~5–7W active; standard 4-pin Molex power connector)
• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures): ~600,000–1 million hours (manufacturer claim for U Series; some sources list up to 1.2M hours)
• Acoustics: Idle ~26–30 dB; seek ~30–34 dB (relatively quiet due to 5400 RPM design)
• Compatibility: Works with older IDE/ATA motherboards; jumper settings for Master/Slave/Cable Select (standard Seagate layout—check drive label: typically Master: jumper on pins 7-8 or as marked, Slave: no jumper, CS: jumper on pins 5-6 for cable-determined role; use 80-wire cable for best ATA/100 performance)
• Jumper Settings (typical Seagate U Series ATA):
  • Master (or single drive): Jumper closed on designated pins (often center or labeled)
  • Slave: No jumper
  • Cable Select (CS): Jumper on CS pins; recommended for plug-and-play setups

This drive offered good value and reliability for everyday use (office, web, light multimedia), with lower heat/noise than 7200 RPM competitors, though sustained transfers were slower (~30–45 MB/s outer zones). It was part of Seagate’s U Series lineup (not the faster Barracuda 7200.x series, despite some vendor mix-ups).