How to tell what type of 1394 connection I have??

I'm wondering about the one built into my Asus Z96j. It says 1394 under the plug, but I can't find any more info anywhere else.

Basically I'd like to know if it is 400 or 800.

Thanks

 

Oh yeah its the tiny little one I have, I think it's 4 pin

 

Almost certainly 400.

 

Ok thats what I was worried it would be. If I check the status in "Network Connections" it says 400Mbps.

Is the 800, 800Mbps? Is it usually the bigger 6pin?

I'm just trying to see which is going to be better for an external HD, USB or my 1394.

Since it seems to be 400, I would assume USB is going to be better?

Thanks again

 

That is my experience, and also that 800Mbps devices are rare. I would stick with USB, it won't be much faster, but I know it can put out 30MB/s consistantly.

 

usb2 is 480 mb/s

 

yes, but half-bandwidth, so 30MB/s (240Mbps) for a data transfer.

 

Any chance you can explain that to me please? Are you saying I should half the advertised transfer rates to get the actualy rate? How can they advertise something that is twice the actual speed?

Does the firewire 400 then have a rate of 200?? So usb2 is still faster?

Thanks

 

I'm not entirely sure of the electronics, but I do know that USB can never exceed 30MB/s, even though it is advertised as being twice that speed. IIRC it's the same for firewire too, but don't count me on that.