Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-ROM:
A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.
The CD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.10x 6.60x 16.15x |
12.31x 6.80x 16.46x |
12.11x 6.45x 16.20x |
11.94x 6.57x 15.97x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
103ms 112ms 171ms |
103ms 120ms 187ms |
115ms 135ms 213ms |
136ms 148ms 226ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 12% 24% 47% |
6% 11% 22% 42% |
9% 9% 20% 96% |
15% 15% 28% 52% |
The DW1655 performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In the transfer rate tests, it started reading at 6.60x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 16.15x.Like in our CD read tests, the drive's seek times were also quite good.
Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:
First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disc using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD-R
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.13x 6.62x 16.22x |
12.35x 6.83x 16.52x |
9.20x 5.04x 12.29x |
11.97x 6.60x 16.01x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
108ms 124ms 180ms |
108ms 125ms 176ms |
125ms 136ms 229ms |
135ms 156ms 248ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 12% 25% 58% |
6% 11% 22% 42% |
5% 8% 25% n/a |
16% 17% 31% 62% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.40x 5.13x 12.56x |
10.03x 5.55x 13.40x |
9.20x 5.05x 12.30x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
107ms 124ms 174ms |
128ms 150ms 217ms |
110ms 120ms 202ms |
124ms 154ms 251ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 13% 24% 49% |
6% 11% 22% 57% |
5% 9% 27% n/a |
9% 15% 28% 50% |
The DW1655 performed very well when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-RW discs at 12x and DVD-R media at an impressive 16x.
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.09x 5.03x 12.12x |
9.27x 5.16x 12.36x |
6.05x 3.37x 8.06x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.29x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
110ms 125ms 191ms |
132ms 156ms 220ms |
124ms 130ms 221ms |
211ms 221ms 316ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 13% 26% |
6% 12% 43% |
6% 9% n/a |
8% 13% n/a |
BenQ's new DVD writer had no problems reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. The DW1655 started reading at 5.03x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 12.12x.
Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:
Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disc using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD+R
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.11x 6.61x 16.21x |
12.33x 6.80x 16.50x |
9.17x 5.09x 12.27x |
11.96x 6.60x 16.00x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
107ms 124ms 178ms |
107ms 127ms 185ms |
101ms 109ms 185ms |
133ms 154ms 250ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 13% 26% 50% |
6% 12% 22% 42% |
10% 7% 25% n/a% |
16% 17% 34% 65% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.40x 5.14x 12.56x |
10.03x 5.54x 13.39x |
9.22x 5.11x 12.33x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
107ms 124ms 176ms |
128ms 149ms 215ms |
106ms 122ms 195ms |
128ms 160ms 258ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 13% 24% 55% |
6% 12% 22% 51% |
8% 10% 29% n/a |
11% 21% 34% 64% |
The DW1655's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media.The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and DVD+RW media at 12x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.09x 5.03x 12.14x |
9.27x 5.16x 12.38x |
6.05x 3.37x 8.07x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.30x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
110ms 124ms 175ms |
130ms 151ms 218ms |
111ms 124ms 187ms |
148ms 185ms 294ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 13% 26% |
6% 11% 30% |
6% 8% n/a |
7% 12% n/a |
Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't a problem for the DW1655 either. While not as fast as the drive from LG, it reached a respectable 12.14x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.
Nero CD Speed v4.51 - DVD-Video:
For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.
| BenQ DW1655 |
LG GSA-H10N |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
11.97x 6.54x 16.02x |
3.65x 2.02x 4.88x |
11.99x 6.62x 16.04x |
11.83x 6.49x 15.82x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
102ms 112ms 171ms |
121ms 147ms 219ms |
114ms 122ms 197ms |
135ms 147ms 228ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 12% 24% 57% |
6% 11% 21% n/a |
7% 10% 20% 97% |
15% 15% 28% 51% |
The DW1655 didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.54x and reached a maximum read speed of 16.02x. BenQ's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 12x.
To see how well the DW1655 worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.
