Firewire Header Query

TRACEY_BLAKE · 3 Sep 2011 at 23:50

rarryawn said:
Forgive me for asking but why do you need firewire? If you're going to be springing for a PCI card, would a USB3 card be more useful?

If its something like a firewire audio interface then fair enough but USB3 is looking to be more useful for hard drives!!

I need Firewire for an audio interface.

rarryawn · 3 Sep 2011 at 23:52

The Texas Instruments thing is mainly to do with firewire audio interfaces, but it seems not to be such a big thing anymore

http://www.pod...is-a-ti-firewire-controller-vital-for-your-audio-pc

Surveyor · 4 Sep 2011 at 00:07

panyan said:
"certain websites" are wrong, OCers is always right

I assume that's a tongue in cheek comment.

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 00:22

rarryawn said:
The Texas Instruments thing is mainly to do with firewire audio interfaces, but it seems not to be such a big thing anymore

http://www.pod...is-a-ti-firewire-controller-vital-for-your-audio-pc

Thanks for the link. I'm actually planning on buying the Focusrite 24 Pro audio interface so any suggestions as to firewire controller for this please? Texas Instrument still? Or different?

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 00:52

stulid said:
The firewire port thats at the bottom edge of the motherboard is used for the front of cases that have a firewire port.

The alternative is a card - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=49&subid=422&sortby=priceAsc

What motherboard is it?

Are these PCI cards you've recommended compatible with Windows 7??

Buchanan0204 · 4 Sep 2011 at 00:56

TRACEY_BLAKE said:
Are these PCI cards you've recommended compatible with Windows 7??

Yes

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 01:01

Buchanan0204 said:
Yes

All the PCI cards I have looked at say they are compatible with Windows XP/ME/2000 but not Vista or Windows 7! can you explain how they are compatible with Windows 7 then pls?

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 20:02

Do I get a firewire 400 PCI or PCI-E card? Will a PCI-E be better? If so, how much better & why exactly? Thanks in advance

stulid · 4 Sep 2011 at 20:06

There's no difference in performance, get the type of card that you have a free slot for

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 20:23

Thanks Stulid. I have all pci & pci-e slots available as I don't have a discrete card. Certain websites are stating that the pci-e cards are better, but how? The firewire will still run at 400mbps won't it?!

stulid · 4 Sep 2011 at 20:39

Then get a 1x pci-e card so its a bit more future proof as old pci slots will be killed of.

TRACEY_BLAKE · 4 Sep 2011 at 20:46

Thanks Stulid

I found out that actually the 'Texas Instrument' chipset was important for digital audio after all! They recommend this chipset for best compatibility with lots of different audio interfaces.