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USB or Firewire Harddrive

O

opoppe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
What is the difference between a USB and a FW connection on a harddrive? I've looked at the specs on some LaCie USB and FW harddrives and they look pretty much the same...
 
I think USB 2.0 is a bit faster (i read somewere) but i use a firewire hard drive (300GB from LaCie) and i love it. I have not had any problems with it and its fast enough for me. Just get whatever connection you have free, i have 2 firewire inputs one is for my iSight then other is free so i got a firewire hard drive.

There both about the same.
 
firewire is slightly faster than USB 2.0, especially on large files, usb/firewire combos are kinda useful if you want to hook it up to a PC, cause you can use usb 1.1 but it will be slow...
 
In numbers USB2 is faster than FireWire (480Mbit/s vs. 400 Mbit/s), but it seems that in practice FireWire in fact works slightly faster. I'm looking for an external harddrive myself (I like the looks of the La Cie products) and I myself favour FireWire. Mostly my USB ports are already in use and for some reason I got a better feeling towards FireWire. Why?... Dunno really... Seems more Apple-ish to me 😉
 
Solafaa said:
I think USB 2.0 is a bit faster (i read somewere) but i use a firewire hard drive (300GB from LaCie) and i love it. I have not had any problems with it and its fast enough for me. Just get whatever connection you have free, i have 2 firewire inputs one is for my iSight then other is free so i got a firewire hard drive.

There both about the same.
Click to expand...

Wrong!
USB2.0 is MUCH slower than Firewire!
Take a look here: http://www.barefeats.com/usb2.html

I recently got a LaCie D2 extreme and its very nice!
Its built like a tank, it looke great, but it also a bit noisy (if you own a G4 tower you won't hear it..) compared to my 12-incher
 
Some XBench test results of my setup:
iBook 12" 1,2 GHz
External FW/USB2.0 case with "Oxford" bridge chip and Western Digital WD800 (80GB, 7200rpm, 2MB cache)

Firewire
Code: 
Disk Test	71.95	
	Sequential	61.28	
		Uncached Write	64.62	26.94 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	64.31	26.34 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	47.67	7.55 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	75.33	30.44 MB/sec [256K blocks]
	Random	87.12	
		Uncached Write	90.18	1.35 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	92.19	20.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	82.58	0.55 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	84.26	17.34 MB/sec [256K blocks]

USB2.0
Code: 
Disk Test	29.42	
	Sequential	18.82	
		Uncached Write	35.88	14.96 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	34.65	14.19 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	7.87	1.25 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	34.79	14.05 MB/sec [256K blocks]
	Random	67.37	
		Uncached Write	80.72	1.21 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	64.92	14.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	69.51	0.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	58.15	11.97 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Internal iBook drive (4200rpm, 30GB)
Code: 
Disk Test	49.17	
	Sequential	50.99	
		Uncached Write	47.69	19.88 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	40.58	16.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	103.12	16.32 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	43.21	17.46 MB/sec [256K blocks]
	Random	47.47	
		Uncached Write	44.66	0.67 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Write	43.82	9.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Uncached Read	54.49	0.36 MB/sec [4K blocks]
		Uncached Read	48.30	9.94 MB/sec [256K blocks]

As you can see, Firewire is way faster than USB2.0, even faster than my internal drive. Get Firewire if you can!
 
Anyone have any problems locating your firewire hard drive? Mine doesnt even locate... 🙁 Does the brand of hard drive matter?
 
SasyBabe said:
Anyone have any problems locating your firewire hard drive? Mine doesnt even locate... 🙁 Does the brand of hard drive matter?
Click to expand...

Nope.

What version of macosx are you using?
And what brand are you using?
 
FireWire also provides more bus power, so you may not need a power cable. USB you usually need an AC adapter.

I'd go FireWire if possible, then USB. But there are quite a few devices that are both interfaces, so you might just want to get one of those for transfer of files from Mac->PC and back... for Mac only FireWire.
 
doesnt usb2 require processor time, whereas firewire is just the bus, and say, the harddrive...eg usb2 --> cpu --> hd, fw --> hd?
 
cluthz said:
You have upgraded to 10.2.8?

Take a look here:http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/external_mac_initial.html

Can you see it in Disk Utility? Or In Apple System Profiler?
If not, call the dealer.
Click to expand...

I have called the company about this hard drive and they were no help at all.. It was a joke. They said "thats strange". I did upgrade my operating system and everything.. I then tried the drive on a Mac G4 and still nothing. That computer was using Panther... so it isnt the operating system. I then checked my PB by connecting this music thing my bf has to the firewire port. My PB found that hardware!! Sooo its the hard drive! 😡 I sent that back today! I am going to buy another one but NOT that brand. I was very disappointed in the support and the product. My Lacie should be here by Tues! 🙂
 
The last couple of years is has became more and more common that drives are failing and not even working at all.
I think that i've heard about dead-on-arrival drives from any manufacturers out there..
I've had very good experience with seagate, and i also think the iMacs and powermacs has internal seagates.

I've got a LaCie d2 and it's great!

Hope the next drive you get is a working one.. 😉
 
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