Plextor's PX-712SA Dual-Format DVD+/- SATA Drive

CD/DVD Write Performance Testing CD-R & DVD-R

In the next phase of testing we're going to focus on disc writing performance.  For this we used NERO CD-DVD Speed as well.  Our first test measured CD-R write performance with the two drives.

Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD Write Test:

Plextor PX-712SA

Artec Dual DVD

While Nero CD-DVD Speed reported the Plextor 712SA to be using CAV writing method, the drive actually uses PCAV from 24X-48X.  Again, we can see the drive's acceleration slope climbed smoothly and steadily.  At the maximum, the PX-712SA reached a top rotation of 47.75X while averaging over 36X.  This resulted in a total CD-R recording time of 2:45 for a complete disk.  As a comparison, the Artec drive topped 4 minutes to complete the same test at 24X.

Nero CD-DVD Speed - DVD-R Write Test:

Next, we ran the same test with DVD-R media in each drive.

Plextor PX-712SA

Artec Dual DVD

Using 4X media, the Plextor completed writing a full 4.38GBs in 14:24.  Although the drive is rated for 8X, we were only able to achieve 4X with our media.  This is most likely a media issue as the Artec drive was only able to peak at 2.4X with the same 4X media.  Either way you slice it, though, burning 4.38GBs in less than 15 minutes is nothing to complain about.  But as you'll see with our DVD+R testing, it gets a lot better.