Nero CD Speed v4.00 - 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 DVD 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.
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
11.94x 6.55x 15.97x |
12.13x 6.54x 16.23x |
12.00x 6.64x 16.08x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
122ms 136ms 221ms |
113ms 128ms 203ms |
112ms 126ms 210ms |
101ms 111ms 187ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
6% 10% 20% 94% |
4% 8% 15% 32% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
NEC's new drive wasn't as fast as some of the others when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. While it came very close, the ND-3540A once again had a hard time reaching its rated speed in our tests.
Nero CD Speed v4.00 - 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 disk 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
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.00x 6.61x 16.04x |
6.07x 3.38x 8.13x |
9.36x 5.21x 12.53x |
9.04x 4.99x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
122ms 148ms 244ms |
130ms 154ms 240ms |
115ms 135ms 220ms |
101ms 112ms 178ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
9% 16% 32% 69% |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
5% 9% 17% 48% |
4% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.84x 5.41x 13.16x |
6.09x 3.38x 8.14x |
6.26x 3.46x 8.37x |
9.06x 4.98x 12.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
121ms 151ms 254ms |
126ms 146ms 212ms |
132ms 149ms 231ms |
101ms 114ms 197ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
5% 9% 19% 39% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
When it comes to reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media, the ND-3540A is hard to beat. In our tests, the drive read DVD-RW discs at 13x and DVD-R media at an impressive 16x.
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
5.46x 3.03x 7.25x |
4.27x 2.39x 5.72x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
174ms 191ms 275ms |
113ms 125ms 201ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
7% 12% |
5% 9% |
The ND-3540A wasn't as fast when reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. As you can see, the drive started reading at 3.03x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 7.25x.
Nero CD Speed v4.00 - 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
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
11.96x 6.58x 16.00x |
6.19x 3.43x 8.28x |
9.37x 5.19x 12.54x |
9.04x 4.98x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
131ms 156ms 255ms |
110ms 130ms 201ms |
117ms 139ms 220ms |
101ms 110ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
11% 16% 30% 68% |
8% 9% 17% n/a |
5% 8% 20% 50% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.83x 5.41x 13.14x |
6.20x 3.45x 8.29x |
6.25x 3.47x 8.36x |
9.06x 4.99x 12.11x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
121ms 146ms 254ms |
132ms 169ms 221ms |
113ms 132ms 217ms |
100ms 108ms 193ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
15% 27% 55% 97% |
8% 10% 18% n/a |
5% 8% 17% 37% |
5% 8% 16% 30% |
The ND-3540A'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 13x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
5.46x 3.03x 7.29x |
4.29x 2.39x 5.73x |
5.70x 3.17x 7.60x |
6.06x 3.35x 8.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
126ms 165ms 277ms |
111ms 123ms 198ms |
116ms 134ms 219ms |
101ms 111ms 188ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 12% n/a |
4% 9% n/a |
4% 8% 94% |
4% 7% n/a |
NEC's new DVD writer didn't have any problems reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media either. While not as fast as the drives from Plextor and ASUS, it reached an impressive 7.29x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.
Nero CD Speed v4.00 - 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.
| NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
5.91x 3.26x 7.91x |
12.01x 6.65x 16.07x |
3.88x 2.14x 5.20x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
117ms 129ms 214ms |
108ms 123ms 198ms |
104ms 123ms 202ms |
103ms 111ms 179ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
7% 13% 24% 87% |
5% 10% 20% 95% |
4% 8% 15% n/a |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The ND-3540A didn't do as well as some of the other drives when reading DVD videos. In our tests, it started out at about 3.36x and reached a maximum read speed of 7.91x. While this is an improvement over NEC's previous DVD writers, it's still pretty slow considering there are drives out there that can reach speeds as high as 16x.
To see how well NEC's DVD±RW 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.
