Firewire vs. USB 2.0 external hard drives... - GoFuckYourself.com

DX · 03-07-2003, 09:37 PM

Anyone compared?

I'm using 2 slow noisy Firewire Maxtor drives.. (80G & 160G)
Looking in to picking up a couple of the Lacie 200Gig drives..

According to the specs, USB 2.0 is faster, but ~$50 cheaper than it's Firewire equal.. although I can't see why..

damac · 03-07-2003, 09:41 PM

I just pulled this up, as I happend to be looking at some fireware gaming threads on another forum a while back.

Firewire is a tad slower than USB2; it's only 400mbps compared to USB2's 480mbps. Firewire does basically the same as USB, it allows you to swap devices "hotswapping" without turning off your computer and turning it back on.

There is one major diffence that benefits Firewire users is that it is isosynchronus. That means that if you have for example 3 devices, that all 3 would get 480mbps bandwidth to use, while USB2 is shared between devices. This is the ugly side of using USB2.

You can't boot from usb2 drives.

Both USB2 and Firewire use DMA driven engines for data transfer from the
host to the bus and back again. USB has a higher load on the system,
however, as continuous interrupt driven polling takes place to monitor
the bus for activity.

KRL · 03-07-2003, 09:43 PM

USB 2 is fast as hell.

DX · 03-07-2003, 09:46 PM

Does it go on to say HOW it's shared?

Does it matter if they're daisy-chained, or each plugged into a different port?

Pnc · 03-07-2003, 09:47 PM

Fiber for best result

DX · 03-07-2003, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pnc
Fiber for best result

What the fuck is your problem bitch?

Every thread I read, there you are, wasting space.

damac · 03-07-2003, 09:53 PM

From what I read every firewire device has 2 ports so you can daisy chain devices.

And something like a 15ft or less cable being needed.

drunkdollars · 03-07-2003, 09:54 PM

I just got a external drive case that has firewire and usb 2.0
Dont have a usb 2 card yet but that seems like a good option

Pnc · 03-07-2003, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DX

What the fuck is your problem bitch?

Every thread I read, there you are, wasting space.

i'm a techie and i wanted to help you out but your atitude pissed me off.

good luck in your life, hater.

DX · 03-07-2003, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by damac
From what I read every firewire device has 2 ports so you can daisy chain devices.

And something like a 15ft or less cable being needed.

Yep, the 3 I've got are all daisy chained..
Haven't been able to find firewire cables locally in length less than 6ft... so you end up with 18 feet of cable for 3 devices that are within 6 inches of each other..

Kim · 03-08-2003, 03:38 PM

I've got an external Maxtor w/USB 2.

Works great, but here's a nightmare that happened to me. I bought the drive. It's plug & play, so I plugged it into my XP machine and went on with business for about 2 months. Drive was working great. Then...all of a sudden my computer would not see the drive. I uninstalled...checked everything...blah...blah and it still would not work. So, I called Maxtor and they said it was shipped FAT32 and I should have formatted it to NTFS before using it with XP. Maxtor top level support reconfirmed that FAT does not run stable with XP and ALL my data is lost.

I reformatted as NTFS and all has worked fine since.

Good luck!

03-07-2003, 09:37 PM	#1
DX Feed me coffee. Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Massafuckingchusetts Posts: 1,128	Firewire vs. USB 2.0 external hard drives... Anyone compared? I'm using 2 slow noisy Firewire Maxtor drives.. (80G & 160G) Looking in to picking up a couple of the Lacie 200Gig drives.. According to the specs, USB 2.0 is faster, but ~$50 cheaper than it's Firewire equal.. although I can't see why..

03-07-2003, 09:41 PM	#2
damac Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 81	I just pulled this up, as I happend to be looking at some fireware gaming threads on another forum a while back. Firewire is a tad slower than USB2; it's only 400mbps compared to USB2's 480mbps. Firewire does basically the same as USB, it allows you to swap devices "hotswapping" without turning off your computer and turning it back on. There is one major diffence that benefits Firewire users is that it is isosynchronus. That means that if you have for example 3 devices, that all 3 would get 480mbps bandwidth to use, while USB2 is shared between devices. This is the ugly side of using USB2. You can't boot from usb2 drives. Both USB2 and Firewire use DMA driven engines for data transfer from the host to the bus and back again. USB has a higher load on the system, however, as continuous interrupt driven polling takes place to monitor the bus for activity. Last edited by damac; 03-07-2003 at 09:49 PM..

03-07-2003, 09:43 PM	#3
KRL Entrepreneur Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: USA Posts: 31,429	USB 2 is fast as hell. __________________ If you would like to develop your domains, you can lease inexpensive foreign labor from the leaders in the field at iWebmasters.com TO LOWER YOUR COSTS AND INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTION! * * * * * * * * * * * * Domains Adult News KRL's Newsletter Biz Tips Just Listed Domains

03-07-2003, 09:54 PM	#8
drunkdollars Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Club Drunk Posts: 2,734	I just got a external drive case that has firewire and usb 2.0 Dont have a usb 2 card yet but that seems like a good option __________________ SIGS ARE GAY 98055668 icq

03-07-2003, 09:46 PM	#4
DX Feed me coffee. Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Massafuckingchusetts Posts: 1,128	Does it go on to say HOW it's shared? Does it matter if they're daisy-chained, or each plugged into a different port?

03-07-2003, 09:47 PM	#5
Pnc So Fucking Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Philly Posts: 103	Fiber for best result

03-07-2003, 09:53 PM	#7
damac Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 81	From what I read every firewire device has 2 ports so you can daisy chain devices. And something like a 15ft or less cable being needed.

03-08-2003, 03:38 PM	#11
Kim Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 24	I've got an external Maxtor w/USB 2. Works great, but here's a nightmare that happened to me. I bought the drive. It's plug & play, so I plugged it into my XP machine and went on with business for about 2 months. Drive was working great. Then...all of a sudden my computer would not see the drive. I uninstalled...checked everything...blah...blah and it still would not work. So, I called Maxtor and they said it was shipped FAT32 and I should have formatted it to NTFS before using it with XP. Maxtor top level support reconfirmed that FAT does not run stable with XP and ALL my data is lost. I reformatted as NTFS and all has worked fine since. Good luck!