Nero CD Speed v3.61 - 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.
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
12.18x 6.76x 16.28x |
11.99x 6.63x 16.03x |
11.90x 6.55x 15.91x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 111ms 187ms |
107ms 119ms 190ms |
136ms 167ms 315ms |
117ms 137ms 202ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
14% 11% 21% 95% |
6% 8% 14% n/a |
7% 13% 24% 46% |
Like Plextor's previous DVD writers, the PX-716A performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.63x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.14x. While this wasn't enough to take the top spot in our transfer rate tests, its seek times were again quite good.
Nero CD Speed v3.61 - 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
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.04x 4.99x 12.09x |
6.07x 3.37x 8.12x |
9.36x 5.20x 12.51x |
11.91x 6.55x 15.92x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 112ms 178ms |
96ms 112ms 194ms |
136ms 166ms 313ms |
123ms 179ms 264ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
4% 8% 15% 30% |
10% 10% 19% 93% |
13% 22% n/a n/a |
9% 15% 27% 49% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.06x 4.98x 12.12x |
6.09x 3.37x 8.14x |
6.25x 3.46x 8.36x |
5.97x 3.29x 7.98x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 114ms 197ms |
93ms 113ms 183ms |
138ms 168ms 331ms |
117ms 156ms 235ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
8% 9% 18% 94% |
11% 22% n/a n/a |
7% 12% 23% 82% |
The PX-716A slowed down slightly when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In both cases, it reached a maximum transfer speed of about 12x. This is pretty impressive, considering most drives read DVD-RW media at only 8x.
Nero CD Speed v3.61 - 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 disk 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
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.04x 4.98x 12.09x |
6.18x 3.43x 8.27x |
9.36x 5.18x 12.51x |
11.89x 6.55x 15.46x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 110ms 194ms |
102ms 117ms 191ms |
138ms 169ms 319ms |
119ms 164ms 156ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
9% 12% 19% n/a |
12% 16% n/a n/a |
7% 14% 25% 47% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.06x 4.99x 12.11x |
6.22x 3.45x 8.32x |
6.25x 3.47x 8.35x |
5.97x 3.28x 7.98x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
100ms 108ms 193ms |
102ms 112ms 192ms |
138ms 165ms 316ms |
117ms 158ms 234ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 8% 16% 30% |
9% 12% 20% 97% |
9% 19% n/a n/a |
6% 12% 22% 82% |
The PX-716A's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media. Here too the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of 12x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.06x 3.35x 8.09x |
4.29x 2.39x 5.72x |
5.69x 3.17x 7.59x |
3.43x 1.91x 4.58x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 111ms 188ms |
100ms 110ms 186ms |
143ms 168ms 321ms |
140ms 220ms 323ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
4% 7% |
5% 9% |
4% 7% |
7% 91% |
Plextor's new DVD writer had no problems reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media. While not as fast as the PX-712A/SA, the PX-716A reached an impressive 8.09x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.
Nero CD Speed v3.61 - 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.
SpeedRead Disabled - "Quiet Mode"
SpeedRead Enabled
| Plextor PX-716A |
Sony DRU-710A |
Pioneer DVR-A08XL |
NEC ND-3500A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
12.01x 6.66x 16.06x |
11.87x 6.58x 15.87x |
3.72x 2.05x 4.98x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
103ms 111ms 179ms |
104ms 115ms 181ms |
135ms 162ms 312ms |
125ms 147ms 211ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
14% 11% 22% 97% |
6% 8% 14% n/a |
7% 12% 21% n/a |
The PX-716A has two different modes when reading DVD videos. To reduce noise, the drive reads these discs at 2x by default. While this isn't very fast, you can increase the drive's maximum transfer speed by enabling SpeedRead. With SpeedRead enabled, the PX-716A was able to read single layer DVD videos at 16x and dual layer discs at 12x.
To see how well the PX-716A 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. Plextor's new drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was very quiet when SpeedRead was disabled.
