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.
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.04x 6.57x 16.10x |
11.94x 6.55x 15.97x |
12.13x 6.54x 16.23x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 109ms 171ms |
122ms 136ms 221ms |
113ms 128ms 203ms |
101ms 111ms 187ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
6% 10% 20% 94% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The PX-740A performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In the transfer rate tests, it started reading at 6.57x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 16.10x.Like in our CD read tests, the drive's seek times were also quite good.
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 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
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.07x 6.59x 16.16x |
12.00x 6.61x 16.04x |
6.07x 3.38x 8.13x |
9.04x 4.99x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
107ms 122ms 180ms |
122ms 148ms 244ms |
130ms 154ms 240ms |
101ms 112ms 178ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 13% 24% 53% |
9% 16% 32% 69% |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
4% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.35x 5.11x 12.51x |
9.84x 5.41x 13.16x |
6.09x 3.38x 8.14x |
9.06x 4.98x 12.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
106ms 121ms 174ms |
121ms 151ms 254ms |
126ms 146ms 212ms |
101ms 114ms 197ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 13% 24% 49% |
8% 15% 28% 51% |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
The PX-740A 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
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.05x 5.01x 12.07x |
5.46x 3.03x 7.25x |
4.27x 2.39x 5.72x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
111ms 123ms 173ms |
174ms 191ms 275ms |
113ms 125ms 201ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
6% 12% 24% |
7% 12% n/a |
5% 9% n/a |
The PX-740A had no problems reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. In our tests it started reading at 5.01x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 12.07x.
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
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.06x 6.59x 16.14x |
11.96x 6.58x 16.00x |
6.19x 3.43x 8.28x |
9.04x 4.98x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
105ms 120ms 176ms |
131ms 156ms 255ms |
110ms 130ms 201ms |
101ms 110ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 12% 24% 48% |
11% 16% 30% 68% |
8% 9% 17% n/a |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.35x 5.12x 12.50x |
9.83x 5.41x 13.14x |
6.20x 3.45x 8.29x |
9.06x 4.99x 12.11x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
105ms 121ms 176ms |
121ms 146ms 254ms |
132ms 169ms 221ms |
100ms 108ms 193ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
15% 27% 55% 97% |
8% 10% 18% n/a |
5% 8% 16% 30% |
The PX-740A'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
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.05x 5.01x 12.08x |
5.46x 3.03x 7.29x |
4.29x 2.39x 5.73x |
6.06x 3.35x 8.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
111ms 121ms 177ms |
126ms 165ms 277ms |
111ms 123ms 198ms |
101ms 111ms 188ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
7% 13% 26% |
7% 12% n/a |
4% 9% n/a |
4% 7% n/a |
Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't an issue for the PX-740A either. With a maximum speed of 12.08x, the drive had no problems taking the top spot 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.
| Plextor PX-740A |
NEC ND-3540A |
Sony DRU-800A |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
11.92x 6.50x 15.95x |
5.91x 3.26x 7.91x |
12.01x 6.65x 16.07x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
101ms 110ms 171ms |
117ms 129ms 214ms |
108ms 123ms 198ms |
103ms 111ms 179ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 12% 24% 47% |
7% 13% 24% 87% |
5% 10% 20% 95% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The PX-740A didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.50x and reached a maximum read speed of 15.95x. Plextor'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 8x.
To see how well the PX-740A 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.
