Firewire 800 vs 400 on external 5400 rpm disk

[Skika]

I'm planning on buying an external firewire 2.5 disk, and i am wondering if there is any real difference between firewire 400 and 800 if the disk is 5400 rpm speed.

The reason i am asking is i cant find the passport studio with firewire 800 anywhere here where i live, only the firewire 400 version.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

5400 RPM on IDE (internal laptop HD on my PB G4) is slower than a 7200 RPM on FW 400 (external desktop WD drive).

So FW 400 is faster than my 5400 RPM drive

First one is the 5400 RPM and the second is the FW 400 external.

 

[Skika]

5400 RPM on IDE (internal laptop HD on my PB G4) is slower than a 7200 RPM on FW 400 (external desktop WD drive).

So FW 400 is faster than my 5400 RPM drive

First one is the 5400 RPM and the second is the FW 400 external.

Oh, yes... but will the speed difference be noticeable between a firewire 800 and 400 if the external disk is 5400?

 

[Shadow]

The limiting factor here is likely to be the drive itself, especially considering its 5400RPM. So no, I'd say that there is little difference between the two, although FireWire 800 may be slightly faster. It really depends on the disk inside the enclosure and how fast it can transfer data rather than the interface used tbh as both interfaces provide plenty of bandwidth. Regardless, the differences will be negligible and you'd probably have to benchmark it to see any real differences.