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HotHardware Test Systems |
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It's Snappy |
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DFI KT400A LAN Party
Motherboard
AMD AthlonXP 2500+
(Barton)
512MB GEiL PC3500 (2-2-2-5-2)
2 IBM ATA100 7200RPM 80GB HD
(RAID-0)
ATi Radeon All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro 128MB
Plextor
PX-708UF DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW
Teac DV-W50D
DVD±R/RW
CD-R/RW
Standard Floppy Drive
Windows XP Professional SP-1
DirectX 9b
ATi Catalyst 3.9
VIA Hyperion 4.49v
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Utilities and Media Used For Testing
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SiSoft
SANDRA Pro 4
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Nero
InfoTool
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Nero CD-DVD
Speed
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Nero
Burning ROM 6
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An audio
CD 63:33:02 in Length for MP3 Encode Test
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4.0GB of
AVI files for Sandra DVD Data Tests
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4.32GB of
MP3 files for Nero DVD Data Tests
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698MB AVI
file for Sandra CD Data Tests
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703MB of
MP3 files for Nero CD Data Tests
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The
Patriot on DVD for all DVD Movie Tests
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Media
Used:
-Maxell 48X CD-R
-TDK 4x DVD+R
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To help give us an idea of the
PX-708UF's performance, we ran a series of common tests to
paint a clear picture. As with any test, however,
without a frame of reference, the results can be somewhat
ambiguous. So we ran the
same tests on a Teac DC-W50D dual format drive as a
comparison. We also wanted to note that while the
drive supports both FireWire and USB 2.0, we completed all
of our tests while connected through USB 2.0. Before
we began testing, we performed several tests while connected
using the FireWire connection and the results were the same.
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CD-ROM Performance Tests -
Plextor PX-708UF |
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Speeding Things Along |
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Nero InfoTool:
Before we get
started with the benchmarks, we like to run Nero InfoTool to
get a clear idea of a drive's not-so-obvious capabilities.
Like we stated earlier, we also included the results from a
Teac DV-W50D merely as a frame of reference.
PLEXTOR
PX-708UF
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Teac DV-W50D
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There are a
number of items here that makes the Plextor PX-708UF an
attractive drive compared to the competition. For one
is the drive's high speed read/write performance, boasting
40X speeds with both CD-R Read/Write performance vs. the
Teac's 32X/16X performance. The Plextor drive also
offers added support for CD+G, commonly used for Karaoke
type recording, as well as Mt. Rainier for drag and drop
recording with future OSs that support this feature
natively.
SiSoft SANDRA Pro 4:
Another utility
we like to run is the CD/DVD module within SiSoft Sandra Pro
4. We ran the module with a CD
data disk and DVD data disk to test
the read performance capabilities of each drive.
Read
Performance - CD Data
PLEXTOR
PX-708UF - CD
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Teac DV-W50D - CD
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Read
Performance - DVD Data
PLEXTOR
PX-708UF - DVD
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Teac DV-W50D - DVD
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To achieve accurate CD Data
performance
testing, Sandra requires a disk be inserted that has very large
files on it. With this test we used a 700MB CD with a 698MB
AVI to complete the testing. In the end, the portable drive
bested the internal drive, reaching a peak of 17X vs. 14X with the
Teac drive. With DVD Data performance testing, we used a
DVD+R filled with large AVI files as well. With DVD [performance,
the Teac drive maintained the better score, topping out at 20X vs.
the Plextor's 15x. You might also note that there was a
major difference in each drive's access times, with the Average
Access Time of the Plextor being more than double that of the Teac
drive. If the Plextor drive was an internal CD/DVD burner,
there would be cause for concern, but this should not be all that
odd for an external drive which has more latency than standard IDE
drives.
More Nero Tests
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