Go External: FireWire 800

Test System

This time, we used two test systems, since we wanted to compare the data transfer rate of 1394b to 100 BaseT Ethernet. In addition to our test system for storage media (system 1), we also used a second computer with similar performance. Both of which were each equipped with a 3COM 3C905TX or a 1394b V1 from Century Global.

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System 1 (Test with external disk drive)
CPUIntel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz256 kB L2 Cache (Willamette)
MainboardIntel 845EBTIntel 845E ChipsetBIOS BT84520A.86A.0024.P10
Memory256 MB DDR266/PC2100, CL2.0Micron/Crucial
ControllerICH4 UltraATA/100 ControllerOn-Board USB 2.0 (ICH4)Century Global 1394b V1
Graphics CardATI Radeon SDRAM, 32 MB
Hard DriveIBM DTLA-307030, 30 GB7.200 U/Min, 2 MB Cache15 GB per platter
OSWindows XP Pro 5.10.2600 SP1
Network3COM 3C905TX, PCI, 100 MBit/s3COM 3C9996B-T, PCI-X, Gbe
System 2 (for network test)
CPUIntel Pentium 4, 2.2 GHz512 kB L2 Cache (Northwood)
MainboardAOpen AX4PE MaxIntel 845PE ChipsetBIOS 1.10 (May 29, 2003)
Memory256 MB DDR400/PC3200, CL 2.0TwinMOS
ControllerICH4 UltraATA/100 ControllerOn-Board USB 2.0 (ICH4)Century Global 1394b V1
Graphics CardATI Radeon SDRAM, 32 MB
Hard DriveIBM/Hitachi IC35L060 AVVA0760 GB, 7.200 rpm, 8 MB Cache40 GB per platter
OSWindows XP Pro 5.10.2600 SP1
Network3COM 905TX PCI, 100, 100 MBit/s3COM 3C9996B-T, PCI-X, Gbe
Benchmarks & Measurements
Storage Performance Measurementsc't h2benchw 3.6
Data Transfer DiagramZD WinBench 99 2.0Disk Inspection Test
Network Performance MeasurementsNetIQ Chariot 4.3
Drivers
Graphics Driver5.1.2001.0 (Windows XP Standard)
IDE DriverIntel Chipset Installation Utility 5.1.1.1002
DirectX Version9.0a
Screen Resolution1024x768, 16 Bit, 85 Hz refresh