PCI vs. USB

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Can y'all help settle a question:

The folks who built my computer say PCI is a better interface than USB or Firewire "because there is no middleman."

Local pro audio authorities say "USB is better. Don't listen to computer geeks."

What do you think & why?

sorry if this subject has already been covered ad nauseum...nothing came up when I did a search of this forum.
 
Well, they're actually two different things. A lot of computers have firewire and USB ON a PCI card. A PCI bus (which has a throughput of 133MBps) is part of the motherboard while firewire and USB cables are external buses. So really, USB and Firewire go through a PCI bus anyway. What really matters is which cable you use to connect to a PCI card. USB 2.0 can get up to 480Mbps transfer rate and firewire can get up to 800Mbps transfer rate. Of course, there are other cables too...but these are the most common.
 
I think your local pro audio authorities don't know sh1t from clay.

If a pci card was Nascar racer, a usb card would be a bicycle.

You don't see bicycles racing at Talladega do you?
 
I use a Tascam US122 on the USB without trouble. I even had DSL coming in over the USB at the same time, so I think it's got some headroom. All that said, for more channels you need to go PCI or Firewire.
 
bennychico11 said:
Well, they're actually two different things. A lot of computers have firewire and USB ON a PCI card. A PCI bus (which has a throughput of 133MBps) is part of the motherboard while firewire and USB cables are external buses. So really, USB and Firewire go through a PCI bus anyway. What really matters is which cable you use to connect to a PCI card. USB 2.0 can get up to 480Mbps transfer rate and firewire can get up to 800Mbps transfer rate. Of course, there are other cables too...but these are the most common.
Click to expand...

Hi,
Sorry to sound stupid, but I'm still researching components for a DAW, and there are still some things that I don't understand fully.

I was about to post a question about the PCI / USB 2.0 issue when I found your message; however, I was wondering if you might explain this again. If a PCI bus has a throughput of 133 MBps, how does having a cable that has a greater throughput increase the throughput (maybe I'm misunderstanding what you said here, and I'm sure you'll set me straight on this)?

Also, my understanding from reading and talking to people is that the Firewire buses that are currently available have a throughput of about 400 MBps, while the newer ones, which are not yet commonly available have the 800 MBps throughput. Is this right, and how does one tell the difference? (Or, how are they differently described if they are both 'Firewire')?

Sorry to sound confused about this,

Geert, in Toronto.
 
You're confusing MegaBytes/sec with MegaBits/sec
1 MB = 8 Mb
 
firewire will be listed (or SHOULD be listed) on the product you buy as 1394a or 1394b. The 1394a one has the lower transfer rate while the 1394b has the higher transfer rate. 1394b is just an upgraded version. And yes, MBps is different than Mbps
8 bits=1 byte
1000 bytes=1 kilobyte
1000 kilobytes=1MB and so on
so 1MB= 8000000 bits
(of course this is approximate, since the actual number of bytes in 1KB is 1024....but this makes it easier to understand)

What I meant when I said it's the cable that matters...
A PCI bus is attached to the motherboard. Your sound cards, graphics cards, USB cards, Firewire cards, etc....can be hooked up to PCI slots. After you insert these cards into the slots the data continues down the PCI bus to the rest of the motherboard for processing. THIS is what has a throughput of 133MBps...not what's actually connected to it. Those little traces on the motherboard allow it to transfer that fast. The actual cable itself has a different transfer rate. You've got USB, Firewire, coax, etc. When buying a soundcard or another piece of hardware you need to find out what the transfer rates of it's cable is because after the data transfers to your PCI bus, it's all the same transfer rate no matter what the data or what the hardware is. Hope I made sense :cool:
 
secret club tell your local pro audio experts to go take a course in computer architecture. well put BHit.
i see this all the time in pro audio equipment dealers. one i frequent regularly , they dont bother to "blather" me. whereas the uninformed......
get roasted for their Mcpay.
me personally i wont touch usb in a daw for sound with a ten foot bargepole.
 
PCI is superior by miles

Most of these posts have been right, but they are not very clear to the unlearned. The guy needs simple answers at this point.

PCI is far superior than USB 1.0, Firewire, and USB 2.0.


Yes, it was obvious you missed the use of a lowercase "b" and a captial "B" when the guys were explaining to you the difference in Mb and MB. The captial "B" is greater by a factor of eight.

USB 1 = 10 Mbs (megabits/second)
Firewire =400 Mbs
USB 2 = 480 Mbs

PCI = 133 MBs (megaBytes/second)

Multiply this x 8 for the equivalent in bits, and you get (133 x 8 = 1064 Mbs)

PCI = 1064 Mbs


Lastly, if you truly have the option of using PCI, then by all means, do so. The only reason for using the USB 1. or USB 2. or Firewire options is for portability (Laptop computers).

We have not yet heard from any USB 2.0 users (they are new to the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) arena, and we are waiting to hear), and so we do not know if they are getting great results with their USB 2. soundcards, but there have been plenty of USB 1.0 users who have been greatly disappointed, myself included.

PCI is the way to go.
 
Thanks for all the info, folks. So it's agreed that PCI is better than USB...I'm asking questions like this in my seemingly endless quest to nail down my ongoing computer crashes. I also use the US122 (USB 1.1) while my computer does USB 2.0. Would that contribute to the problem?
 
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