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CD/DVD Performance Tests |
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Nero
Burning ROM Ultra 6 |
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Ahead software,
the makers of Nero Burning ROM, have an excellent selection
of free utilities to test the functions of various types of
optical drives. Each of these small applications
perform a number of specific tasks that show us what each
drive is capable of. In this next section we ran
several of these tests on the AOpen DRW4410 and included the
results of the Teac DV-W50D drive for comparison.
Please note that in each test, the
Green line represents Transfer Rates while the
Yellow Line represents Rotation Speed.
Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD Data Test:
In our first run
of Nero CD-DVD Speed we'll focus our efforts on standard
CD-ROM performance. With this benchmark, we loaded a
703MB CD-R in the drive and let CD-DVD Speed run through its
cycle of tests.
AOpen
DRW4410
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Teac
DV-W50D
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The Teac drive
was consistently slower with reading of standard CD-Rs, from
start to finish, which was no real surprise with its 32X
rating vs. the AOpen's 40X. The DRW4410 started around
18X (similar to what Nero had reported) and went directly on
up to 40X, with an average speed of 30.94X. The
DV-W50D followed the same pattern, from 15X to 33X, with an
average speed of 25.33X. Seek times were lower on the
DRW4410 than they were on the DV-50WD, and were well within
the specs (<120ms random stroke). CPU utilization,
however, was much higher at all speeds when using the
DRW4410.
Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD Audio Test:
To test each
drive's audio extraction performance, we placed in an audio
CD by Shania Twain. The CD ran over 73 minutes, and
although the test runs similar to the CD data test, it also
measures how well the
drive can extract audio tracks. In order to do this,
audio sectors are extracted to the hard drive at three
different locations on the CD. The same sectors are
read again and compared to the sectors written to the hard
drive. Depending on the number of differences, the DAE
quality will be rated from 0 to 10, with 10 being a perfect
score.
AOpen
DRW4410
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Teac
DV-W50D
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Using a pressed
Audio CD, the performance of the AOpen drive dropped
slightly, maxing out at 38.11X, and averaging a speed of
29.04X. It should be noted, however, that the Teac
drive dropped by the same amount as well. On the
brighter side, DAE quality was rated as a 10, meaning no
differences were reported between the actual tracks and
those extracted to the hard drive. Nero also reported
that the AOpen DRW4410 supports accurate data streaming.
Nero CD-DVD Speed - DVD Data Test:
In the next two
tests we focused on the drive's DVD reading performance.
Each drive is configured to perform differently based on
whether a DVD movie or DVD data disk is inserted in the
drive. We started by placing in a DVD+R containing
over 4GB of AVI files.
AOpen
DRW4410
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Teac
DV-W50D
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The AOpen drive
started at 4X, and remained there the entire time of the
test. The rotation speed continually slowed down as we
reached the end of the test. These results were the
complete opposite of what we saw with the Teac, where the
rotation speed held steady as the transfer rate went from
2.5X all the way up to 6X. The Teac DV-W50D also had
much better seek times at random and 1/3 stroke, although
this flip-flopped with the DRW4410 at full stroke. We
were disappointed by the random access time that we recorded
with the DRW4410, which were well above the listed 140ms in
the drive's specs.
Nero CD-DVD Speed - DVD Movie Playback Test:
In the final
Nero CD-DVD Speed test we wanted to check the performance
with a double-layered movie DVD. We inserted a copy of
Daredevil, grabbed a snack, and clicked on the Start
button to get the results.
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AOpen
DRW4410
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Teac
DV-W50D
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it's own method for DVD playback; AOpen uses a P-CAV
(Partial - Constant Angular Velocity) strategy and Teac CLV
(Constant Linear Velocity). In P-CAV, the drive starts
off in CAV mode (at the highest possible RPM) then moves
over to CLV mode when the maximum data rate is reached.
CLV is an older method in which the data rate remains
constant while the rotation speed decreases. It's
generally accepted that CAV solutions may be quicker than
CLV, but at a slight cost of quality and/or accuracy.
Both drives are remarkably similar, however, in the seek
times and CPU utilization.
CD-R/DVD+R
Write Tests & Conclusion
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