You can see that the PCB layouts of the two drives differ greatly. The PCB itself has become smaller in the newer device, while the chip density has increased. Furthermore, the new device is based on the next-generation R8J322006FPV chipset from Renesas. So, this is really a new model all around rather than a variation of the GSA-4160. It also means we can expect some serious changes in the characteristics and burn quality of the new drive. But this we will learn a bit later, during the tests.

I don’t mention any exclusive features implemented in this model just because the manufacturer does not declare them. That is, the required minimum of technologies is present, like the buffer underrun protection, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. The only remarkable feature of the drive is its ability to burn DVD-RAM discs, and it has even been improved to support DVD-RAM 5x version 2.2 burning. This function isn’t in high demand, frankly speaking, but if you really need to burn DVD-RAM media, the GSA-4163B may be your only choice. Other manufacturers have long discarded this format in their products.

The basic technical characteristics of the drive:

• CD-R write speeds: 40x, 32x, 24x, 16x (Z-CLV), 8x, 4x (CLV)
• CD-RW rewrite speeds: 24x (Z-CLV), 16x, 10x, 8x, 4x (CLV)
• DVD burning:
  • 16x, 12x, 8x (Z-CLV), 4x, 2.4x (DVD+R);
  • 8x, 4x, 2.4x CLV (DVD+RW)
  • 16x (P-CAV), 12x, 8x (Z-CLV), 4x, 2x (DVD-R)
  • 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (DVD-RW)
  • 4x, 2.4x (DVD+R DL)
  • 5x (P-CAV), 3x, 2x (DVD-RAM)
• DVD reading:
  • 16x Max CAV (DVD-ROM)
  • 8x Max (DVD-Video)
  • 10x Max (DVD-R/+R)
  • 8x Max (DVD-RW/+RW)
• CD-ROM reading: 40x Max
• Supported CD formats: CD-ROM,CD-ROM XA, CD-DA, CD-Extra, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-I, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-Text, CD-R, CD-RW
• Supported DVD formats: DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-RAM
• Supported CD burn modes: Disc At Once, Track At Once, Session At Once, Packet Writing
• Supported DVD-R/RW burn modes: Disc At Once, Incremental Recording, Restricted Overwriting
• Supported DVD+R/RW burn modes: Sequential Write
• Supported DVD-RAM and DVD+RW burn modes: Random Write
• Buffer: 2 megabytes
• Specified access time: 125 milliseconds (CD), 145 milliseconds (DVD), 165 milliseconds (DVD-RAM)

As I said earlier, the new drive supports 12x and 16x DVD-R burn speeds (the latter speed is supported through P-CAV rather than the CAV algorithm, which is a plus). The speeds for the rewritable formats and for DVD+R DL media have grown up, too.

I hope you’ve got a general description of the device; here is what Nero InfoTool and DVDInfo report about it:

The drive supports such technologies as S.M.A.R.T. and Streaming. As for Mt. Rainier, it is unlikely to appear in DVD-burners soon, although I really don’t understand why.

But let’s get to the practical tests of the drive now.