X-bit labs

MSI DR16-B2 DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner: Repeated Success or New Heights? (page 4)

Category: Storage

by Vasily Melnik

[ 09/27/2005 | 09:43 PM ]

Technical Specifications

Let's look at the basic technical characteristics of the MSI DR16-B2 drive:

• CD-R write speed: 40x, 32x, 16x, 8x
• CD-RW write speed: 24x, 16x, 10x, 4x
• DVD write speed:
• 16x, 12x, 8x, 4x, 2.4x (DVD+R)
• 4x, 2.4x (DVD+RW)
• 16x, 12x, 8x, 4x, 2x, 1x (DVD-R )
• 4x, 2x, 1x (DVD-RW)
• 4x, 2.4x (DVD+R DL)
• DVD read speed: 16x max
• CD-ROM read speed: 40x
• Supported CD formats: CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Extra, Video CD, Photo CD, CD-R, CD-RW, Multi-session, CD-I, CD-Text
• Supported CD disc formats: CD-Audio, CD-ROM, CD-ROM/XA, CD-R, CD-RW, Photo CD, Video CD, CD-Extra, CD-I, CD-Bridge, Hybrid-CD, CD-Text
• Supported DVD disc formats: DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R DL
• Supported CD burn modes: Disc At Once, Session At Once, Track At Once, Fixed and Variable Packet Writing
• Supported DVD burn modes: Disc At Once, Random Write (DVD+R/RW), Sequential Write (DVD+R/RW), Incremental (DVD-R/RW), Multi-Border (DVD-R/RW), Restricted Overwrite (DVD-RW)
• Buffer: 2 megabytes
• Access time: 120 milliseconds (CD) and 140 milliseconds (DVD)
• Weight: <1kg

The speed characteristics fully coincide with those of the BenQ DW1620, so it is correct to compare these two models.

Below is the information Nero InfoTool and DVDInfo report about the drive:

And now we can proceed to the tests proper.

Performance in CD WinBench 99

The synthetic CD WinBench 99 benchmark is our traditional opener.

The results of the two drives are almost identical in this test, the difference being smaller than the measurement error range. The only noticeable difference is that the MSI drive puts a bigger load on the central processor. If compared with other modern optical drives, these two have rather average speed characteristics, especially in such parameters as the access time and the data-transfer rate on the inner tracks of the disc.