Firewire still whomps on USB 2.0

jeb1138

jeb1138

Carioca
Tom's Hardware Guide released a Firewire/USB 2.0 harddrive performance comparison today. For those not familar with Tom's Hardware Guide -- it is a very good, well-respected hardware performance site.

The good news: Firewire still whomps on USB 2.0! OK, maybe not exactly whomps, but beats at least. The Western Digital firewire drive beats the USB 2.0 drive on every test and has a lower CPU utilization as well. The Maxtor firewire drive doesn't do so well, but still performs respectably.

The bad news: ummm....bad news?

Only three drives were tested (and one USB 1.1) so this isn't the analysis to end all analyses, but it confirms the fact that firewire will hold its ground against USB 2.0 and is, as Tom's Guide says, "the clear choice" for real-time data storage applications, such as digital video.

And to think that Apple invented firewire 12 years ago, with commercial devices out the door 7 years ago. In defense of USB 2.0: it is slightly cheaper. But it also doesn't cut it for some applications, and when Gigawire arrives (soon?) Firewire is bound to drop in price, ain't it?

...mmmm....thinking about Gigawire.... ;)
 
A mac introduced me to Firewire in the 1st place....and I love it.

Its really pathetic how bad firewire support/awareness is on the PC side.
From what I hear the main reason is that intel wants to push tech like USB because it is more cpu dependant, therefore contributing to more taxing system activity which supposedy [in turn] will cause some people to upgrade their systems faster.

When I first tried firewire and used it next to USB, I couldnt BELIEVE that firewire wasnt more widespread in the PC market...and that the mainstream was stuck with such a crap/slow tech like USB.
 
hi Jet... dun accuse me of "flamming macs" here too ok? Just kidding...

back to the topic.

In Asia, Firewire casing prices have dropped dramatically, probably with the "threat" from USB2.0 (which no one is making much noise here somehow, Mac community in this region just yawned collectively).

A good and reliable Firewire case brand "Datafab" has dropped their price by 40% making it one of the cheapest solutions for external drives. I have used it for FCP3 and ProTools, and there is no problem at all.

With the implementation of MLan by Yamaha Corp, the whole audio/music world will be embracing the Firewire technology. For me, it only means one thing... Firewire replaces all those miles of ugly analog cables in my studio.

Thanks, Apple. I always take you for granted because of the things you have done for us to make our lives easier.
 
Originally posted by JetosX
is it going to be gigawire or firewire 2? i have heard both...
Click to expand...

Probably the reason why Apple increased the pci bus speed on the new QuickSilvers - to accomodate the f/w2 expansion cards. :D

If you go to the 1394 official site http://1394ta.com they talk about the introduction of 800mb/sec firewire, then eventually *crosses fingers* 1200mb/sec.
 
There seems to be a trend in this region (SE Asia) where PC GFX card/sound card vendors are giving out free Firewire cards as a bundle. A move for the PC world to promote Firewire? Is it happening only over here or everywhere else?
 
plastic-

boards like the nforce w/amd chipset for the PC side have included firewire for a while.....but the problem is that most mainstream PC manufacturers dont include such quality motherboards or reserve boards with those extra connectivity options for their absolute "highest end" pc's
 
i thought this might be a good thread to post this link into. it is David Coursey's comparison of the pros and cons of firwire/usb 2. It 's realitivly fair and the user feedback seems to bring up the kinds of points you guys are making.

i know i'm a lot happier with my firewire than some people seem to be with their usb 2 :D
 
Originally posted by gibbs
plastic-

boards like the nforce w/amd chipset for the PC side have included firewire for a while.....but the problem is that most mainstream PC manufacturers dont include such quality motherboards or reserve boards with those extra connectivity options for their absolute "highest end" pc's
Click to expand...

Yup, like "iLink" is a standard on Vaio systems... and man, they cost a bundle!

I hada chance to "test drive" a USB 2.0 port on a friend's computer (he got this new and fast Pentium4/2.53G system) and it is like the ZNet article said, it is slower. We did not have a benchmarking software, but on the stopwatch, while moving 2GB of data from a Firewire HD versus from a USB2.0 ext HDD, the difference was about 15 seconds. So I guess the throughput of USB 2.0 is not 480mps as claimed. There must be something else that is causing a slowdown. Cannot be the computer, as this is the fastest PC system we could get our hands on.

Another thing, which I am not sure if this is relevant, I was at a reputable studio recently, and sat in a MLan (1394 format) connectivity demo, and I was shocked (yes, a Mac user and still shocked) to see 100 channels of uncompressed audio being shifted through and fro two studio suites side by side using Firewire technology! This is bloody amazing. In the past it meant 100 audio cables (you can imagine the amount of cables and the mess) and now it is replaced by two thin Firewire cables!

It is only after this demonstration, I was truly wow-ed by what Firewire can do.
 
When I read about USB a few years ago [an article on 12mb/s USB ethernet adapters] the writer dispelled a lot of notions about USB bandwidth....and [supposedly] what it comes down to was the fact that there is a lot more overhead on USB than other transport mechanisms.
 
not too sure on this, but doesnt usb lose speed as more things are connected via usb?

or maybe im just an ignoramus! ;)
 
You also need to remember that with USB 2.0... if you have a v.2.0 device plugged in plus a v1 device plugged in, the USB 2.0 card slows down to the v1 speed.

I've heard this only applies to each chain, so if you have additional USB cards, then plug the slower v1 devices into one card and the newer v2 devices can go solely onto the faster USB card utilizing v2 speed.


Firewire is definitely the way to go.
 
How many devices have anyone ever daisy chained for USB/Firewire? I was crazy enough to daisy chain 8 HDD on Firewire once, and they all worked great. THAT was the most amazing experience with Firewire. :)
 
Maybe an Urban Legend, but I thought it was 127 devices for USB. Never bothered to look into specifics on this though since I never thought I would have more than 5 external devices.
 
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