Seagate FireCuda Forge pairs your own SSD with a big hard drive, using AI caching to give you speed and space in one box
Seagate has launched the FireCuda Forge, its first drive built on a new platform called Alkemi. The Forge combines SSD speed with hard drive capacity in a single box. It includes a high-capacity hard drive, and you add your own NVMe SSD. Alkemi software watches how you use your data and keeps the files you touch most on the fast SSD, while everything else sits on the hard drive.
Pricing and availability
The 8TB model costs $699, and the 20TB model costs $899. Both are available now on Seagate’s online store and through authorised partners, though availability varies by market. The release is date-limited to India but lists prices only in US dollars, so Indian pricing and stock are not yet confirmed.
How it works
Seagate says external storage has forced a choice between fast and small (SSD) or big and slow (hard drive). The Forge is meant to remove that choice. Alkemi supposedly learns in real time which files you use often and moves them to the SSD. In practice, you should never have to decide where files go. You see one drive, and the software handles the rest. Seagate also points to IDC’s forecast that global data creation will rise from 218 zettabytes in 2025 to over 718 zettabytes by 2030, which is why it believes people need both fast access and large capacity.
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The Forge reaches up to 2,500MB/s read and 2,000MB/s write over USB4. It comes in 8TB and 20TB capacities with an upgradeable hard drive, and it supports Windows 11 and macOS 26 and later. The SSD is not included, and Seagate says you must provide one for the drive to work.
What Seagate has not said
Seagate has not shared the cache size, how quickly Alkemi adapts, or what happens when the SSD fills up. It also gave no hard drive speeds and no list of compatible SSD sizes or brands. These details will matter for real-world use.
A portable SSD in the 4TB to 8TB range costs far more per terabyte, so the Forge’s pitch is much more capacity at a lower price per terabyte, with SSD speed for the files you use most. A regular external hard drive in the 8TB to 20TB range is cheaper, but its speeds are typically around 200 to 250MB/s, so the Forge is a big step up, though only for data that is on the SSD at that moment. You could also build a similar setup with a separate SSD and hard drive and manage files yourself. Seagate’s value is automatic management inside one enclosure.
The Forge suits gamers with large libraries, video editors working with 4K projects, and anyone who wants one big drive that feels fast for everyday files. Remember that the $699 and $899 prices do not include the SSD, so the real cost is higher.
The 2,500MB/s figure applies to data on the SSD. A file you have not used for a while may load from the hard drive and feel slower, so how well Alkemi predicts your habits will decide how good the drive feels. You will also need a USB4-capable computer to get the full speeds, since older ports will cap performance. Because Alkemi is new, it is worth waiting for independent reviews.
