Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 13, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
According to the company, Californian storage specialist Sonnet Technologies now offers the Allegro FireWire 800 PCIe (PCI Express) adapter card. The easy-to-install card accelerates data transfer and adds three FireWire 800 interfaces to Mac Pro, Power Mac G5 and Xserve systems, as well as Windows PCs with PCI Express slots. With an adapter, the Allegro FireWire 800 PCI Express can also be used with FireWire 400 accessories.
At the heart of the Allegro FireWire 800 PCI Express is Texas Instruments’ new XI02213A controller chip. To satisfy the performance demands of current video and audio applications, this controller permits write speeds of up to 70 MB/sec. This makes the new card 40 per cent faster than conventional FireWire interfaces and significantly faster than the onboard connections of current Mac Pro systems. Bus-powered peripherals can draw operating power directly through the Sonnet card’s ports. Allegro FireWire 800 PCIe offers simple plug-and-play operation in PCIe 1.1 and PCIe 2.0 slots and supports FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 devices. Another feature is hot-plug and hot-swap functionality with automatic configuration.
Price and Availability
The Allegro FireWire 800 PCIe (article number FW800-E) is available now at a recommended retail price of EUR 85.90 including VAT.
Further links:
- More information
