Nero CD Speed v4.50 - 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.
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.11x 6.45x 16.20x |
11.89x 6.55x 15.91x |
11.94x 6.57x 15.97x |
12.34x 6.80x 16.51x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
115ms 135ms 213ms |
119ms 136ms 222ms |
136ms 148ms 226ms |
105ms 121ms 189ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
9% 9% 20% 96% |
6% 12% 22% 38% |
15% 15% 28% 52% |
6% 12% 23% 43% |
The SHM-165H6S performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.45x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.20x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were also relatively good.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM:
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. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD-R
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.20x 5.04x 12.29x |
7.45x 4.11x 9.96x |
11.97x 6.60x 16.01x |
7.71x 4.27x 10.31x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
125ms 136ms 229ms |
131ms 137ms 228ms |
135ms 156ms 248ms |
99ms 119ms 177ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 8% 25% n/a |
6% 10% 19% 36% |
16% 17% 31% 62% |
6% 13% 23% 43% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.20x 5.05x 12.30x |
5.97x 3.29x 7.97x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
6.17x 3.41x 8.25x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
110ms 120ms 202ms |
140ms 153ms 250ms |
124ms 154ms 251ms |
118ms 144ms 213ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 9% 27% n/a |
6% 10% 19% 60% |
9% 15% 28% 50% |
6% 11% 22% 42% |
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.05x 3.37x 8.06x |
5.98x 3.33x 7.98x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.29x |
6.19x 3.44x 8.26x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
124ms 130ms 221ms |
160ms 172ms 249ms |
211ms 221ms 316ms |
127ms 152ms 220ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
6% 9% |
7% 11% |
8% 13% |
7% 13% |
The SHM-165H6S had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, it was able to read DVD-R and DVD-RW media at 12.3x, but slowed to 8x when reading DVD-R DL discs.
Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.64x 2.99x 5.00x |
4.98x 4.94x 4.92x |
4.99x 4.94x 5.01x |
4.67x 3.02x 5.04x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
125ms 137ms 274ms |
148ms 161ms 332ms |
207ms 195ms 311ms |
141ms 145ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
6% 14% 25% |
5% 9% 19% |
7% 13% 24% |
21% 32% 53% |
Lite-On's new drive has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at about 3x and accelerates, reaching 5x at the 1.6GB mark.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - 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
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.17x 5.09x 12.27x |
7.44x 4.10x 9.95x |
11.96x 6.60x 16.00x |
7.72x 4.25x 10.32x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 109ms 185ms |
125ms 136ms 223ms |
133ms 154ms 250ms |
97ms 121ms 186ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 7% 25% n/a% |
8% 14% 22% 42% |
16% 17% 34% 65% |
6% 12% 23% 42% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.22x 5.11x 12.33x |
5.97x 3.30x 7.97x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
6.18x 3.42x 8.26x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
106ms 122ms 195ms |
130ms 145ms 229ms |
128ms 160ms 258ms |
119ms 146ms 212ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
8% 10% 29% n/a |
7% 14% 25% 71% |
11% 21% 34% 64% |
7% 13% 25% 46% |
The SHM-165H6S's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media.In both cases, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 12.3x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.05x 3.37x 8.07x |
5.98x 3.32x 7.99x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.30x |
6.20x 3.44x 8.27x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
111ms 124ms 187ms |
158ms 167ms 245ms |
148ms 185ms 294ms |
123ms 148ms 219ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
6% 8% |
7% 12% |
7% 12% |
7% 12% |
Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't a problem for the SHM-165H6S either. While not as fast as the drive from LG, it reached a respectable 8.07x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - 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.
| Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
Plextor PX-750A |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
11.99x 6.62x 16.04x |
11.77x 6.48x 15.75x |
11.83x 6.49x 15.82x |
3.64x 2.01x 4.87x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
114ms 122ms 197ms |
113ms 124ms 209ms |
135ms 147ms 228ms |
117ms 148ms 217ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 10% 20% 97% |
6% 12% 22% 38% |
15% 15% 28% 51% |
6% 11% 21% n/a |
The SHM-165H6S didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.62x and reached a maximum read speed of 16.04x. Lite-On'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 8.22x.
To see how well the SHM-165H6S 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.
