Firewire or USB2 external hard drive?

[Jim Bancroft]

Does it matter whether I get a Firewire or USB external hard drive, all other things being equal? One has a throughput of 480 MB/s, the other 400 MB, but as I understand it the PCI bus only can sustain 133 MB/s, so it's somewhat moot.....or am I leaving something out of the equation?

 

[WackyDan]

Depends on the size and number of files you'll be transferring at one time. I run both USB 2 and Firewore drives. I notice the firewire is a bit faster over-all, but not incredibly faster.

 

[biostud]

Firewire is faster than USB2.0 even though the theoretical numbers says the opposite. I would recommend buying a box with both USB2.0 and firewire so you can plug it to all computers.
BTW the USB2.0 and firewire is 480Mbit/s and 400Mbit/s so it is 60-50Mb/s as a maximum.

 

[LED]

Originally posted by: biostud
Firewire is faster than USB2.0 even though the theoretical numbers says the opposite. I would recommend buying a box with both USB2.0 and firewire so you can plug it to all computers.
BTW the USB2.0 and firewire is 480Mbit/s and 400Mbit/s so it is 60-50Mb/s as a maximum.

Exactly and if possible I would even go with Firewire800 as that is as fast as running ATA

 

[Insomniak]

If you have to pick, USB 2.0 simply because it's in wider usage.

 

[Pr0metheus]

Id say the same. I have a firewire port on my computer but I dont use it because I dont have anything that needs it.

 

[Comp625]

How is the CPU Utilization when comparing an internal HDD vs external USB HDD vs external Firewire HDD? Obviously CPU Util. is low w/ the internal but I'm curious as to how the external counterparts fare in that department.

 

[LED]

Comp625...if you look closely at my benches, you can see there is little differences {3%} between the 2. Although this is in regards to Firewire 800 the same holds true for Firewire400 and USB Hi-Speed unless the Square is taxed with many other devices going on at the same time...because many USB devices are CPU dependant whereas Firewire is not (doesn't even need 1 PC to work)...That in itself should justify to anyone acquiring a case to get @ least both protocols

 

[Insomniak]

My WD 80GB External HDD that should be arriving Via Fedex in about an hour has both, so I'm set.

 

[Hikari]

I'd just get an enclosure with both (personally, I've been looking for a dual enclosure for ages. lol). Make sure it has an Oxford 911 or 922 chipset if you get one, though. It is the better of the firewire chipsets.

Firewire is slightly faster even though the raw speed is higher on usb2. The main reason I want a dual is my home PC has a firewire port, and my work one has USB2.

 

[corkyg]

I have both Firewire A and USB 2 enclosures - Firewire does transfer actual data faster - and even better is Firewire B (800 vs 400) - there are no current USB 2 plans beyond 480 that I am aware of. 800 is here now.

In actual usage, Firewire is a bit more reliable than USB.

 

[maxcom]

Originally posted by: Hikari
I'd just get an enclosure with both (personally, I've been looking for a dual enclosure for ages. lol). Make sure it has an Oxford 911 or 922 chipset if you get one, though. It is the better of the firewire chipsets.

Firewire is slightly faster even though the raw speed is higher on usb2. The main reason I want a dual is my home PC has a firewire port, and my work one has USB2.

looking for the same

 

[Hikari]

Personally I'm going to get something from here: http://www.cooldrives.com/35usbfircas.html

I know they cost a bit more, but have good build quality and my previous housemate had one of them and she loved it (both style and that it worked on her Mac and her fiance's PC).

 

[alrocky]

Dealsonic has combo external enclosures too: Dealsonic's combo externals

 

[LED]

This one has all 3 protocols although I bough mines from Here as the TI chipset is important to me but that Rosewill may have it...

 

[tormine]

which one is the TI chipset.. cant find it, the site is poorly designed.
I need one as well because of my FS2.
Thanks

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Jim Bancroft
Does it matter whether I get a Firewire or USB external hard drive, all other things being equal? One has a throughput of 480 MB/s, the other 400 MB, but as I understand it the PCI bus only can sustain 133 MB/s, so it's somewhat moot.....or am I leaving something out of the equation?

One thing to keep in mind is that both USB and Firewire speed ratings are in mbit/sec, not MB/sec. The peak transfer that USB 2.0 can do is somewhere around 40-45MB/sec after including overhead. It seems to me that the manufacturer of the external enclosure/hard drive is going to make a bigger difference than whether you use USB or Firewire. All things equal, Firewire will run a little bit faster because it keeps its peak speeds sustained for longer than USB does.

 

[LED]

tormine...all their Firewire800 Cases coe with it.

 

[intogamer]

Firewire are for camcorders. I threw my firewire card away. Get USB 2 it can work with older comps with usb1.1.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: intogamer
Firewire are for camcorders. I threw my firewire card away. Get USB 2 it can work with older comps with usb1.1.