Firewire Sata or Usb

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Been thinking of adding a external hd to my setup but there are sooo many out there I'm having a job deciding which one. My computer is 64 bit vista so I need to be careful on that, I know. It has a fire wire port on the rear also usb2.0 ports, all occupied so I would probably need a usb hub if go down that road. Sata then I suppose I'd need to install a SATA card. my internal drive is sata so I know the mainboard supports that too.

I like the sound of the USB cos it's handy for taking to another computer (usually a relatives) and usb is more popular on other computers.

The speed I know Sata is faster than firewire and FW is meant to be better than USB but is the difference transferring/opening files going to be so great that it's going to be mind boggling ? I don't play games.
Waiting a few extra milliseconds is not really a issue for me.

Maybe I just need a push and a shove here, should I just go for USB for compatibility with other computers (if the ocassion arises) or be selfish and consider FW/Sata ?
 
It depends how fast you want the external drive to be really.

I have an external caddy, which takes IDE drives, and plugs into my external USB.
However the transfer rate is only *ahem* meg a second.

BUT I only use it for backups, rather than windows or a scratch disk etc, so it isn't a problem.
 
You might find you've got a spare SATA on the mobo if you open it up and take a look...
 
When I've been looking at external HDs it seemed that whilst you could buy USB-only ones, the Firewire and eSATA ones also had USB - some have all three.

If you want to be able to use it on multiple computers then USB is the most common so make sure it has that. Firewire seems to be predominately used on Macs so, again, for flexibility make sure it also has USB.

Marcel said:
However the transfer rate is only *ahem* meg a second..
Click to expand...

Hmm, sounds like it may be falling back to USB 1.1 - the ports on your PC are USB2 (should appear as a UHCI device in Device Manager, USB1.1 is EHCI) and you have the correct drivers installed?
 
pxl8 said:
You might find you've got a spare SATA on the mobo if you open it up and take a look...
Click to expand...

If memory serves me correct I have 3 spare sata sockets on the mobo, it's looking more like going the internal route which would be cheaper for me than a combo type, but when someone wants their computer sorted they bring it to me instead of me going to them :)
 
parish said:
Hmm, sounds like it may be falling back to USB 1.1 - the ports on your PC are USB2 (should appear as a UHCI device in Device Manager, USB1.1 is EHCI) and you have the correct drivers installed?
Click to expand...

Nope, it's definitely running at USB2 speeds :)
It's not painfully slow, just not as fast as an internal drive.
 
Marcel said:
Nope, it's definitely running at USB2 speeds :)
Click to expand...
Not if it's only managing around a meg a second it isn't - it may be reporting itself as USB2 - and the ports on your PC the same - but they only seem to be running at USB1.1 speeds (12Mbps). You should be getting 20+ meg(abytes) per second - as high as 40+.

Marcel said:
It's not painfully slow, just not as fast as an internal drive.
Click to expand...
It won't be as fast as an internal, but 1 meg is painfully slow to me.
 
What would the primary use of the drive be? General storage, backing up, etc?

If it's for backing up then sacrificing the speed of SATA for the ability of an external USB / Firewire drive so you're able to move it to an alternate location is always worth considering.
 
by the way USB 2.0 (480mbps) is actually faster than Firewire (400 mbps)
 
for an external drive it won't matter on ide or sata, just get a usb 2.0 external drive, most will be sata these days
 
ppp said:
for an external drive it won't matter on ide or sata, just get a usb 2.0 external drive, most will be sata these days
Click to expand...

I assumed he really meant eSATA, i.e. the interface between the PC and the external box was SATA.
 
parish said:
Not if it's only managing around a meg a second it isn't - it may be reporting itself as USB2 - and the ports on your PC the same - but they only seem to be running at USB1.1 speeds (12Mbps). You should be getting 20+ meg(abytes) per second - as high as 40+.


It won't be as fast as an internal, but 1 meg is painfully slow to me.
Click to expand...


Sorry I meant *ahem* meg as in x-meg, rather than 1 meg. Misunderstanding! :)
 
ppp said:
by the way USB 2.0 (480mbps) is actually faster than Firewire (400 mbps)
Click to expand...

But slower than Firewire 800..... :eek:
 
StuD said:
What would the primary use of the drive be? General storage, backing up, etc?

If it's for backing up then sacrificing the speed of SATA for the ability of an external USB / Firewire drive so you're able to move it to an alternate location is always worth considering.
Click to expand...

I think perhaps your right Stu, was about to go internal and you just answered what I think I wanted to hear, Yes it is purely for backup/storage reasons that I want the extra space. I have no intention of sticking another operating system on it. It could do as the scratch disk for CS3 though.

Thanks to everyone for your replies folks, it's been most helpful
 
I have a Lacie Quadra drive on my PC. This has Firewire 800/400, USB-2 and eSata. The eSATA is by far the fastest, and that's why I got it. If you go this route you'll need an eSATA expansion card as well. Mine cost me about £30 and has 2 external eSATA connections.

If you go for the LaCie it comes's pre formated for Mac so you have to reformat it NTFS if you are on PC.Also you need to use disk management to identify it as PC's aren't very Mac friendly. Try and get a PC formatted one it'll be much easier.
 
Have decided to go the internal route and have decided on this one --> Click Here It seems to have been getting good reviews and very quiet and cool running too. Installing partitioning and formatting hd's is not a problem for me. I have 3 spare sata sockets on the mobo and a spare sata cable lying aound somewhere.

Thanks for all the suggestiong folks.
 
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