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USB/Firewire Limitations

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by typvgs, Oct 13, 2007.

  1. typvgs

    typvgs Member

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    Hi There,

    I have been searching for an answer to this and found nothing, so I hope I'm not re-hashing an old thread.

    My question is, is a USB hard drive (at 7200RM and an 8MB cache) fast enough for watching stored high-definition video (WMV9 and DIVX)?

    As an audio professional, I can appreciate the limitations of USB intimately. But, in terms of watching video (not recording or capturing), I wonder whether USB would do? Makes buying external hard drives a lot cheaper.

    Cheers for any advice.

    T
     
  2. Waymon3X6

    Waymon3X6 Regular member

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    Should work fine... Just make sure you connect it to a USB 2.0 port in the back of your pc. Those are faster USB ports than the front ones.
     
  3. Deadrum33

    Deadrum33 Active member

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    @Waymon...Faster in the front than back? How is your rig setup? I never heard that and always thought a motherboard was either old enough to still have USB1 or new enough to be USB2. Please explain more.

    @typvgs...IT works well to a certain extent, If the computer is being taxed it has a greater chance of slight pauses and burps. At least it did on some older drives I tried with. Now if I wanna take anything somewhere I just make a file on the host computer, transfer it there and not worry. WMV9 and DVX is a lot lighter container than 8GB .iso though so you probably wont have a problem. If you do let us know!
     
  4. Waymon3X6

    Waymon3X6 Regular member

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    All of the USB ports in the back are connected physically to the motherboard, and they are all USB 2.0, which are faster than USB 1.0

    USB allows for faster transfer times.
     
  5. Deadrum33

    Deadrum33 Active member

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    When I put my USB2.0 memory stick in a device that is 1.0, front or back, the generic window pops up saying it can run faster if using a different port. How come that doesnt happen in the front on a computer that runs 2.0?
    All the ports on the mobo you have in your sig are 2.0.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2007
  6. Waymon3X6

    Waymon3X6 Regular member

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    Every USB port that it physically connected to the motherboard (without a cable) is USB 2.0 port.
     
  7. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    some boards usb front port are usb1 & some are usb2, depends on the age of the board. worked on 1 today with fresh install of xp pro sp2 & front ports said i would get faster speed if i connect to usb2 when i connected my memory stick. saw the enhanced usb controller in device manager was okay. board uses an amd 1700+ cpu. my system has usb2 on the front ports but is a newer board running a celeron d 2.53ghz.
     
  8. typvgs

    typvgs Member

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    Sounds like it will be no problem watching high-def videos via a USB drive.

    Thanks!

    As for USB ports vs. front and rear...it should make no difference, I would think, provided they are all USB 2.0. Although, using a hub would slow things down, I think, even if other devices are not connected.

     

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