which is faster FireWire or USB2?

[computerABUSER]

Thanks,
CA

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

FireWire B aka 1394b.

 

[Continuity28]

Firewire has two bandwidth specifications, 400 Mbps and 800 Mbps. It's also known as 1394 A/B or i.Link depending on brand.

USB2 has a bandwidth specification of 480 Mbps. On paper, USB2 is faster, however, in thea real world this isn't completely accurate.

Firewire 400 is mainly hardware based, and its great for steady bandwidth, so it will usually work at high speed. USB2 doesn't work the same way, not only does it tax the processor more than Firewire, but sustained thoroughput is not as great, despite having more bandwidth. USB2 is fine for burst operations, and will likely reach high speeds.

Therefore, it really depends on your application. Hard drives will usually perform around the same on Firewire 400 or USB2, but the processor will definately be used more for USB2 operations.

Firewire 800, or 1394B blows them all away though.

 

[SGtheArtist]

USB1.1 > 1.5-12Mb/s > old & slow.
USB2 > 480Mb/s > great for connectivity & backward compatible as almost all computers have USB 1.1 & now 2.0
1394a > 400Mb/s > great for video & is the industry standard for digital cameras
1394b > 800Mb/s > new & more expensive (currently) but twice the speed.

If you need the mobility that USB provides I'd go with USB, however if you are doing some kind of digital camera work or high speed file transfers then I'd go with the 1394a since it is an acceptable price for the performance.

1394b would be nice but I doubt that many people will notice the bandwidth increase unless they are running numerous drives simultaneously on it. In addition it uses a different cable interface than the 1394a 4pin & 6pin cables. And somehow it is backward compatible, but im not sure how that works.

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: SGtheArtist
USB1.1 > 1.5-12Mb/s > old & slow.
USB2 > 480Mb/s > great for connectivity & backward compatible as almost all computers have USB 1.1 & now 2.0
1394a > 400Mb/s > great for video & is the industry standard for digital cameras
1394b > 800Mb/s > new & more expensive (currently) but twice the speed.

If you need the mobility that USB provides I'd go with USB, however if you are doing some kind of digital camera work or high speed file transfers then I'd go with the 1394a since it is an acceptable price for the performance.

1394b would be nice but I doubt that many people will notice the bandwidth increase unless they are running numerous drives simultaneously on it. In addition it uses a different cable interface than the 1394a 4pin & 6pin cables. And somehow it is backward compatible, but im not sure how that works.

:thumbsup:

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: SGtheArtist
1394a > 400Mb/s > great for video & is the industry standard for digital cameras

Did you mean digital camcorders?

Last time i checked, digital cameras were all using USB 2.0, not IEEE1394.

 

[LED]

I use 1394b and notice a difference on 1 simgle HD and yes the plugs are different but adapters are available for the 1394a hook-up...my external case can do both as well as USB...that way I'm assusred of compatibility.

 

[rudder]

USB is more versatile. But firewire has better performance. I also think USB controller requires more cpu cycles than using a firewire controller.

 

[CraigRT]

I am honestly a big fan of USB2.. my external HDD enclosure is USB2 and it's quite fast.... 1394 is faster on paper and maybe real world as well (I haven't tested) but I don't think the differences are too great to be honest..

 

[MWink]

Having used both Firewire (400mbps) and USB 2.0 (480mbps) to connect an external hard disk, my observation was that USB 2.0 was slightly faster but not much. I know many people argue that Firewire is better but I had more trouble with it than USB 2.0.

 

[LED]

Here's some Benches I've Ran:

USB Hi-Speed

Fitewire 1394a (left) vs USB HiSpeed

1394b

 

[SGtheArtist]

"Did you mean digital camcorders? "

Yes I did, sorry for the confusion & the time it took for me to reply I've been playing with my new 8-bay Firewire 400 External Enclosuer Really nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-BAY-FIREWIRE-HARD...QQcategoryZ167QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Except mine is beige.

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: LED
Here's some Benches I've Ran:

USB Hi-Speed

Fitewire 1394a (left) vs USB HiSpeed

1394b

But is that extra 3 MB/s really going to make that much of a difference for that pr0n?