Which is faster/better for HDD? IDE cable, Firewire or USB 2.0?

[KoRn_KId]

I just got a new Western Digital 200GB HDD which I plan on using it for my video editing files, however Im not sure if I should install it internally (i.e IDE cable) or get an external Firewire/USB 2.0 enclosure case.
Which connection will be faster and/or better? or does it make no differences?

[TwoRails]

How many drives of any kind do you have now? And how are they setup?

[glc]

Fastest would be internal on a 80 wire Ultra ATA cable.

[TwoRails]

It depends on how his drives are setup. I just ran a series of benchmarks, using video VOB files as the test files. I combined two equally sized VOBs into one "large" VOB of a size of 2,097,148 KB.

I wrote a batch (.bat) file to time the 6 tests, as I didn't want to rely on a stop watch. Each test recorded the start time, then combined (copied with the "/b" switch) the two files, and then recorded the end time.

The tests and times (in mm:ss.hh) were:
1) copy/combine (will just use "copy" from here on out) the files to the same drive.
3:3.66

2) copy the files to a different drive, but on the same channel
4:44.99

3) copy the files to a different drive on a different channel
0:55.45

4) copy the files to an external USB drive
2:28.32

5) copy the files to an external FireWire drive (note: this is the same physical drive as the USB drive, so the difference is not the drive. The enclosure box has both USB and FireWire ports.)
1:38.57

6) copy the files to a SATA drive (Yes, I know it's not part of the original question, but I included it for comparison)
0:47.99

Using those numbers then it would be faster to use a USB or FireWire external box compared to just addind the drive on the same channel as the existing drive, but, naturally, it would be best to put the drive on a different channel.

Now, since I've been up for about 19 hours on very little sleep, I'd like someone to double check my math. Below is the actual output file of my benchmark::

test one -copy to same drive The current time is: 20:52:13.10 Enter the new time: The current time is: 20:55:46.76 Enter the new time: test two - copy to diff drive on same channel The current time is: 20:55:46.76 Enter the new time: The current time is: 21:00:31.75 Enter the new time: test three - copy to diff drive on diff channel The current time is: 21:00:31.76 Enter the new time: The current time is: 21:01:27.21 Enter the new time: test four - copy to external USB drive The current time is: 21:01:27.21 Enter the new time: The current time is: 21:03:55.53 Enter the new time: test five - copy to external FireWire drive The current time is: 21:05:01.85 Enter the new time: The current time is: 21:06:40.42 Enter the new time: test six - copy to SATA drive The current time is: 21:08:19.51 Enter the new time: The current time is: 21:09:07.50 Enter the new time:

[KoRn_KId]

Originally Posted by TwoRails How many drives of any kind do you have now? And how are they setup?

I currently have 1 CD-RW, 1 DVD-ROM and I Seagate 80GB HDD.

the CD-RW(slave) and DVD-ROM(master) are both in the same channel
the HDD(master) is by itself.

and I only have 1 free bay available 3.5"

I was thinking of installing this new HDD (as a slave) on the same channel as my existing HDD.

[bailey]

that would be the normal way to do it,
and that would work just fine.

[Confused]

If you are going to have any HD to HD traffic I would move one of the opticals to the channel with the Seagate in order to have the HD's on different channels.
Chas

[glc]

Using TR's math, the fastest is IDE to IDE, different channels. If you don't want to move an optical over to the primary, then Firewire would be fastest.