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E
eggplant5
Participant
June 20, 2017
Question

How should I use my Firewire 800 external drives with my 2017 iMac that has Thunderbolt 3/USB-C and USB 3.0?

  • June 20, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2057 views

I just bought the new 2017 27" iMac and it's been awhile since I've edited video. I have a slew of 2013ish LaCie hard drives that have firewire 800 and USB 3.0 (b type) outputs that have plenty of room on them for editing and I'd like to continue using them before buying new hard drives. I only have firewire cables, and I couldn't find a firewire 800 to thunderbolt 3 adapter, so now I'm daisy-chaining Firewire 800-Thunderbolt 2-Thunderbolt 3. How stupid is this and what would you recommend aside from buying all new hard drives with thunderbolt. Is USB 3.0 the better way to go?

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2 replies

Warren Heaton
Community Expert
Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 22, 2017

Apple does not make a Thunderbolt 3 to FireWire800 adapter.

Options:

  • Use the USB3 connector (as mentioned above); however, as I'm sure that you're aware you will not be able to daisy-chain other FireWire drives.
  • Use the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2/1 adapter and then use the Thunderbolt 2/1 to FireWire800 adapter.  If your FireWire drive has more than one FW port, you can still daisy chain other FireWire devices.
  • Use the OtherWorld Computing Thunderbolt 3 Dock (when is ships, available for pre-rode now): The New OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock - Pre-Order Today.  If your FireWire drive has more than one FW port, you can still daisy chain other FireWire devices.

-Warren

Bill Gehrke
Bill Gehrke
Inspiring
June 20, 2017

Test your disk drives with the USB 3.0 connection and see what performance they supply.  Not all USB controller live up to theoretical transfer rates.  If you use something like CrystalDiskMark you get very optimistic readings because hard disk drives slow down as they fill up. and that test really is only great for SSD drives   A good test that demonstrates this best is HDTune.  Here is a 1TB 7200 rpm drive with a SATA III interface that you can use for reference (I do not have a USB 3 enclosure to test) but USB 3 should not affect transfer rates

Just show you great USB 3 transfer rates from a device like the Samsung T3 portable SSD here is a test on my system:

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