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DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.8 and DLA 4.90:
To test the DVD writing performance of BenQ's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW and 4x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.
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The DW1625 can write to DVD+R media at 16x. To reach this speed, the drive uses CAV. Using Verbatim's 16x DVD+R media, it starts writing at 5.56x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the end of the disc. When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 8x, BenQ's new drive uses P-CAV. This time around, the drive starts writing at about 6.70x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at about the 0.4GB mark.
The dips in the graphs are due to the DW1625's WOPC II (Walking Optimal Power Control) and BLER OPC (Block Error Rate Optimal Power Control) technologies and are not an indication of poor performance and/or writing quality. According to BenQ, these technologies constantly monitor and evaluate the writing quality, adjusting the laser power in order to ensure the best writing quality possible over the entire disc.
| BenQ DW1625 |
Pioneer DVR-A09XL |
NEC ND-3520A |
Plextor PX-716A |
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| DVD+R | 6:06 | 5:50 | 6:05 | 5:59 |
| DVD-R | 8:14 | 6:08 | 5:42 | 6:01 |
| DVD+RW | 14:35 | 14:26 | 9:45 | 7:35 |
| DVD-RW | 15:46 | 10:23 | 10:47 | 14:46 |
While not the fastest drive we've tested, the DW1625 performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R discs at 16x. Unfortunately, due to its slower writing speeds, it had a hard time holding its own with other types of recordable media.
BenQ doesn't really say whether or not their new drive can write to 8x DVD+R media at 16x. To see if the DW1625 had this capability, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area.
| Manufacturer ID | Max Write Speed |
Average Write Time |
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| Memorex 8x DVD+R | CMC MAG E01 | 8x | 8:34 |
| Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R | YUDEN000T02 | 8x | 8:34 |
| Memorex 16x DVD+R | CMC MAG M01 | 16x | 8:48 |
| Optodisc 16x DVD+R | OPTODISCR16 | 16x | 6:11 |
| RiDATA 16x DVD+R | RITEKR04 | 16x | 6:10 |
| Verbatim 16x DVD+R | MCC-004 | 16x | 6:06 |
| Maxell 8x DVD-R | MXL RG03 | 8x | 8:13 |
| Optodisc 8x DVD-R | OPTODISCR008 | 8x | 8:33 |
| RiDATA 8x DVD-R | RITEKG05 | 8x | 8:11 |
| Sony 8x DVD-R | SONY08D1 | 8x | 8:07 |
| Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R | TYG02 | 8x | 8:30 |
| Verbatim 8x DVD-R | MCC 02RG20 | 8x | 8:14 |
While the DW1625 wrote most of our test media at its rated speed, it was not able to write to any 8x DVD+R media at 16x. This was a little surprising considering BenQ's earlier drives had this capability.
So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates.For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1633S (firmware BS0S) and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1620. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1620 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.
So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.
I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back with a Lite-On XJ-HD166S. By default, this DVD-ROM drive reads recordable media at only 8x. However, thanks to a firmware patched by The Dangerous Brothers, I was able to boost the drive's read speed to 12x. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter.
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While not the best results we've seen, the DW1625's writing quality was fairly good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. The only exception being Optodisc's 16x DVD+R media. When scanned with the BenQ DW1620, the PI/PIF rates did get a little high. Oddly enough, these discs were some of the few that yielded a smooth transfer rate graph.
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Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. The PI/PIF rates were pretty good for the most part. However, if you look at the transfer rate graphs you can see that there were still slow downs with a few of the discs.
| BenQ DW1625 |
Pioneer DVR-A09XL |
NEC ND-3520A |
Plextor PX-716A |
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| DVD+RW Quick | 17 seconds | 27 seconds | 39 seconds | 32 seconds |
| DVD+RW Full | 14:51 | 14:23 | 7:49 | 7:46 |
| DVD-RW Quick | 51 seconds | 53 seconds | 55 seconds | 1:03 |
| DVD-RW Full | 15:51 | 10:21 | 14:43 | 15:09 |
To test the BenQ's packet writing performance I used DLA 4.90. Verbatim 4x DVD+RW and 4x DVD-RW media were used once again.
| BenQ DW1625 |
Pioneer DVR-A09XL |
NEC ND-3520A |
Plextor PX-716A |
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| DVD+RW Write | 12:50 | 13:49 | 8:10 | 6:33 |
| DVD+RW Read | 8:58 | 14:47 | 9:20 | 5:47 |
| DVD-RW Write | 13:20 | 9:39 | 12:14 | 12:44 |
| DVD-RW Read | 9:02 | 11:40 | 9:46 | 6:05 |
The DW1625's packet writing performance was pretty mixed. While relatively quick when reading back our test data, the drive's 4x DVD±RW writing speed put it at a disadvantage once again.
DVD+R DL Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.8:
To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the DW1625, I used DVD+R DL media from both RiDATA and Verbatim. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.
According to BenQ, the DW1625 writes to DVD+R DL media at 2.4x. Using CD Speed we can see that aside from the small dips caused by the drive's WOPC II and BLER OPC technologies, it writes at this speed from start to finish.
| DVD+R DL Write | BenQ DW1625 |
Pioneer DVR-A09XL |
NEC ND-3520A |
Plextor PX-716A |
| 2.4x | 45:12 | 44:17 | 42:53 | 43:42 |
| 4x | n/a | 27:04 | 26:17 | 26:47 |
| 6x | n/a | 19:04 | n/a | 18:17 |
The DW1625's 2.4x writing speed put it at a huge disadvantage in this test. As you can see, it was considerably slower than the other drives, taking more than 45 minutes to write 8001MB of data. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.
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The DW1625's writing quality was very good with the DVD+R DL media from Verbatim. Aside from the small spike at the layer change, the PI/PIF rates remained fairly low from start to finish. Unfortunately, the results weren't as good with RiDATA's DVD+R DL media. The PI/PIF rates were considerably higher, especially when tested using the DW1620 and CD Speed. Nevertheless, we didn't see any slow downs when reading the discs back with CD Speed.
Performance Revisited:
While the DW1625 performed as expected, it was not one of the faster 16x DVD writers we've tested. When it came to writing DVD's, the DW1625 turned in some pretty good times with DVD+R media. However, it's 8x DVD-R and 2.4x DVD+R DL writing speeds put it at a disadvantage in some of our tests. Nevertheless, the DW1625 was fairly quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, it was able to read single layer data and video DVD's at speeds as high as 16x and most recordable media at 8x.
The DW1625 also did pretty well in our CD read tests. The drive read all types of media at 40x and had some good seek times. Writing CD's wasn't a problem for the BenQ's new drive either. While not as fast as some of the other drives we've looked at, its writing quality was quite good. With all things considered, the BenQ DW1625 gets an 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.
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