PC card vs Firewire ?

[Ceroc Addict]

If I get a PC card with firewire (or even a firewire 800) and USB2.0 ports, will these ports be equivalent (speed wise) to the built in ports on my Powerbook?

Kap

 

[mdnky]

Short answer: It should, if it's the same standards as what you have now (ex: FW400 on card, FW400 on PB, etc.)

Long answer: It could vary slightly due to a bunch of different factors. Brand/manufacturer of the card, the PB having an integrated set vs. use of PCI for the card, etc.

Most likely if there is a difference, it'll probably be slight or unnoticeable.

 

[Zammy-Sam]

but wouldn't the pc card slot be too limited for FW800?

 

[Ceroc Addict]

but wouldn't the pc card slot be too limited for FW800?

This is basically what I'm asking.

Kap

 

[mdnky]

The bandwidth available depends on the version of your PCI bus.

Bus   | Freq   | Bandwidth
---------------------------
PCI32 | 33MHz  | 133MB/s 
PCI32 | 66MHz  | 266MB/s 
PCI64 | 33MHz  | 266MB/s 
PCI64 | 66MHz  | 533MB/s 
PCI-X | 133MHz | 1066MB/s

Firewire speed is measure in Mb/s (megabits per second), which is of course different than MB/s (megabytes per second) which the chart above is in.

800Mb = 100MB

So even PCI32 @ 33MHz has enough speed (133MB/s) to handle FW800's need (100MB/s).

G4 "Gigabit Ethernet" Macs had 64bit @ 33MHz PCI slots, according to .

 

[Ceroc Addict]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

By "PC Card", I meant PCMCIA card (i.e. adding FW/USB2.0 ports to a Powerbook).

Kap

The bandwidth available depends on the version of your PCI bus.

 Bus   |  Speed |  Bandwidth
 ---------------------------
 PCI32 |  33MHz |  133MB/s 
 PCI32 |  66MHz |  266MB/s 
 PCI64 |  33MHz |  266MB/s 
 PCI64 |  66MHz |  533MB/s 
 PCI-X | 133MHz | 1066MB/s

Firewire speed is measure in Mb/s (megabits per second), which is of course different than MB/s (megabytes per second) which the chart above is in.

800Mb = 100MB

So even PCI32 @ 33MHz has enough speed (133MB/s) to handle FW800's need (100MB/s).

G4 "Gigabit Ethernet" Macs had 64bit @ 33MHz PCI slots, according to Apple's specs.

http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n43107[/url

 

[Zammy-Sam]

This is what I found:

Cardbus is an extension of the latest PCMCIA standard, which expands the bus bandwidth and throughput to 32 bits at 33Mhz.

If 64bits at 33Mhz represent 1000mbit/sec (125mb/sec) then 32bits at 33Mhz should be 500mbit/sec (62.5mb/sec) and thus too slow for FW800 (100mb/sec).

 

[mdnky]

The TiBooks were capable of Type I or Type II PC cards as well as Cardbus cards.

The limit for Cardbus is 132MB/s according to the white paper at PCMCIA's site (cmd-f on that page, search for 'CardBus Capabilities'). So it's effectively a 32-bit @ 33MHz PCI bus and it's bandwidth is within the 100MB/s requirement of FW800.

Zammy, where did those numbers come from you quoted? Everything I've found says 64bit @ 66MXz would be 266MB/s (2128Mb/s) and 32bit @ 33MHz would be 133MB/s (1064Mb/s).

 

[Zammy-Sam]

The quote is from http://kb.indiana.edu/data/ahtn.ose.help. So, I just halved your quoted line: "G4 "Gigabit Ethernet" Macs had 64bit @ 33MHz PCI slots".
But I have never seen a pc card FW800.

 

[Ceroc Addict]

But I have never seen a pc card FW800.

Could have sworn I saw one not that long ago, but it could just be my imagination playing tricks on me.

Kap

 

[mdnky]

I've seen a few of them, only they were all Mac-only cards. Recently saw one that was Mac & PC compatible. Was searching for a nice new external HD when it was found on Lacie's site.

LaCie FireWire 800 PCI Card $69.00

 

[Zammy-Sam]

hmmm, I thought we are talking about pc (without "I") cards.

 

[mdnky]

Yea, show's how out of it I am right now between the holidays and work. Way too much going on and not near enough time to get anything done.

I copied the link out of my 'future purchases' bookmark without thinking about it, copied the wrong one.

LaCie FireWire 800 PC Card $79.00