Nero CD Speed v4.10 - 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 SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.15x 6.66x 16.24x |
12.05x 6.56x 16.17x |
11.94x 6.55x 15.97x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
106ms 124ms 193ms |
100ms 109ms 171ms |
122ms 136ms 221ms |
101ms 111ms 187ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 15% 29% n/a |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The SOHW-1673SU performed pretty well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.66x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.24x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive also had some good seek times.
Nero CD Speed v4.10 - 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
| Lite-On SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.09x 3.38x 8.14x |
12.08x 6.59x 16.16x |
12.00x 6.61x 16.04x |
9.04x 4.99x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
115ms 119ms 203ms |
106ms 123ms 178ms |
122ms 148ms 244ms |
101ms 112ms 178ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
11% 15% 27% n/a |
7% 12% 24% 51% |
9% 16% 32% 69% |
4% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Lite-On SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.09x 3.38x 8.15x |
9.36x 5.11x 12.54x |
9.84x 5.41x 13.16x |
9.06x 4.98x 12.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
120ms 124ms 209ms |
108ms 124ms 173ms |
121ms 151ms 254ms |
101ms 114ms 197ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
11% 15% 27% n/a |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Lite-On's new drive wasn't nearly as fast when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In both cases, the SOHW-1673SU reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.1x.
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| Lite-On SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.29x 2.39x 5.72x |
9.05x 5.01x 12.07x |
5.46x 3.03x 7.25x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
103ms 117ms 196ms |
117ms 137ms 174ms |
174ms 191ms 275ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 14% n/a |
6% 12% 24% |
7% 12% n/a |
While not officially supported, the SOHW-1673SU had no problems reading Verbatim's new dual layer DVD-R media. In our tests, the drive started reading at 2.39x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 5.72x.
Nero CD Speed v4.10 - 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 SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.20x 3.43x 8.29x |
12.10x 6.60x 16.18x |
11.96x 6.58x 16.00x |
9.04x 4.98x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
105ms 132ms 202ms |
106ms 121ms 183ms |
131ms 156ms 255ms |
101ms 110ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 15% 27% n/a |
6% 12% 24% 49% |
11% 16% 30% 68% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Lite-On SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.21x 3.44x 8.30x |
9.36x 5.10x 12.50x |
9.83x 5.41x 13.14x |
9.06x 4.99x 12.11x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
119ms 136ms 207ms |
106ms 121ms 174ms |
121ms 146ms 254ms |
100ms 108ms 193ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 15% 28% n/a |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
15% 27% 55% 97% |
5% 8% 16% 30% |
Lite-On's external writer was a little faster when reading DVD+R and DVD+RW media. This time around, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.3x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Lite-On SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.29x 2.39x 5.73x |
9.07x 5.01x 12.09x |
5.46x 3.03x 7.29x |
6.06x 3.35x 8.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
111ms 125ms 201ms |
111ms 120ms 173ms |
126ms 165ms 277ms |
101ms 111ms 188ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 14% n/a |
7% 13% 26% |
7% 12% n/a |
4% 7% n/a |
While the SOHW-1673SU had no problems reading Verbatim's DVD+R DL media, it was not as fast as some of the other drives we've looked at. In our tests, it started reading at 2.39x and reached a maximum transfer speed of only 5.73x.
Nero CD Speed v4.10 - 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 SOHW-1673SU |
Sony DRU-810A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.02x 6.60x 16.08x |
11.93x 6.51x 15.95x |
5.91x 3.26x 7.91x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
103ms 120ms 186ms |
101ms 109ms 171ms |
117ms 129ms 214ms |
103ms 111ms 179ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 16% 30% n/a |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
7% 13% 24% 87% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
When reading single layer DVD videos, the SOHW-1673SU reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.08x. While not as fast as the drive from Plextor, this is still quite good. 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 8.24x.
To see how well the SOHW-1673SU 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.
