"Sawtooth" read speed results. Dont get it!

[zimmee]

Hi all! I am a a newbie to this forum...I sat out the last decade with a 2X cd burner from 1995

I finally upgraded to a Memorex 52Maxx (model 2452AJ, firm: 6ws6). I understand this is really just a lite-on drive.

I'm wondering however if it is faulty. The host is a Win2k sp3, 5G free on a Quantum Turdball, 256M RAM, 500mhz Celeron. Intel 440BX chipset. Not a rocket machine but I figured its enough for the task.

Memorex is on a secondary controller as master all alone.

When I run Nero CDSpeed created test disk I get results that seem very inconsistent. I notice most posted drive tests show
a nice smooth results curve. My results are sawtoothed. It's like the drive cant seek properly?

Memorex is on a secondary controller as master all alone. No other apps or significant Win services are running and NeroCD speed has focus.

Different media doesnt seem to make much difference. I get the same pattern with different brands. The posted pic is of verbatim 48 max media. Is the host just insufficient for the task or is the drive defective?

Here's the graph:


I know I should be able to figure this out on my own but I've not found any specific FAQs on interpreting CDSpeed results.

Any help or thoughts are appreciated! I just dont know where to even begin troubleshooting.

[aviationwiz]

Very, intresting...

It could just be that group of disks. Try a simulation in CD Speed with a blank CD in the drive, just put disk in drive, and hit Start.

[BurninMan921]

I had a Lite-On 48125W that did the same thing during reads-general opinion on this site was that it was a bad drive (I'm not the only one that's had that problem with the 48125W, either...).

[aviationwiz]

Hmm, wierd, my LTR-48125W handled burning and reading at 48x flawlessly. Of course, I'm not quite sure if it actually burned at 48x, all I know is that Nero said so (speed hack disabled) and that the simulations worked flawlessly at 48x.

[dolphinius_rex]

My plex premium will say its' burning at 52x in Nero, and pass the simulation at 52x no prob, but it still burns a full 80min CD in 3:11 on average

[CowboySlim]

I've the same drive for quite a while and have been using it without a problem. I've run those tests, but not for a while, don't recall anything so ugly.

Slim