Lite-On iHOS104 4x BD-ROM

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For BD-ROM drives, the performance tests are normally broken down into three sections: CD read, DVD read and BD read. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 and CD Speed are used to test transfer speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

Lite-On's new BD-ROM drive gave us some mixed performance in our CD Winbench tests. While the iHOS104's overall score wasn't as high as the other drives, its transfer rates were fairly good. It started reading at about 10.8x (1620 / 150) and quickly accelerated, reaching a maximum speed of 28.8x (4320 / 150).

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	Lite-On iHOS104	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.11x 14.85x 31.88x	24.10x 14.02x 31.88x	24.11x 14.05x 31.89x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	119ms 130ms 179ms	120ms 143ms 230ms	122ms 151ms 248ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%

The iHOS104 didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 32x, Lite-On's new drive came up a little short of this number in our tests. On a more positive note, the iHOS104's seek times were pretty good. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	Lite-On iHOS104	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.64x 14.03x 32.66x	24.63x 14.17x 32.64x	24.64x 14.20x 32.66x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	119ms 133ms 181ms	121ms 150ms 244ms	122ms 150ms 254ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%

Like the other drives, the iHOS104 was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 32.66x.

While Lite-On's new BD-ROM drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media, it slowed down considerably when reading it back. As you can see, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of only 11x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	Lite-On iHOS104	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.20x 14.19x 31.97x	24.19x 14.14x 31.95x	24.20x 14.14x 31.96x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 130ms 179ms	122ms 152ms 243ms	120ms 149ms 230ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 3% 5%	0% 1% 2% 3%

The iHOS104 is also rated at 32x when reading CD-RW media. While it came close, it wasn't able to reach this number in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the Lite-On iHOS104 supports accurate stream, it does not cache audio data nor does it have the ability to retrieve C2 error information from the CD.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On iHOS104	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.33x 13.96x 32.15x 10 Yes	24.35x 15.55x 32.15x 10 Yes	24.36x 15.92x 32.17x 10 Yes

The iHOS104 did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not nearly as fast Lite-On's previous BD-ROM drives, it had no problems ripping pressed audio CD's at 32x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media used in the data CD tests.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On iHOS104	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.10x 13.93x 31.79x 10 Yes	24.13x 15.61x 31.79x 10 Yes	24.13x 16.04x 31.81x 10 Yes

Lite-On's BD-ROM drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. While the drive came very close, it wasn't able to reach 32x this time around. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The iHOS104 completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 22.93x. While the drive went through all of the tests without creating any errors, it was unable to pass all of the on the fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the iHOS104 was able to read the CD-Text and subchannel data but failed to read the lead in and lead out sections of the CD.