Nero CD Speed: Data	Source: Ahead Software

CD Speed is a CD/DVD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of an optical drive. In this particular benchmark, we use a pressed CD-ROM with about 640MB of data as the test disk. Using a CDR or CDRW as the test disk may impact the results slightly, so a pressed disk is the standard testing tool.

Nero CD Speed: Data

Nero CD Speed: Data Benchmark Results
Optical Drive	Samsung WriteMaster SE-W164	Gigabyte GO-W1616A	MSI DR16-B	AOpen DRW8800	AOpen 5232 Combo	LG GSA-4082B	MSI X48
Disc Type	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data
Avg Speed	28.94x	34.47x	28.93x	30.05x	36.07x	23.08x	29.26
Random Seek Time	85ms	124ms	100ms	113ms	87ms	108ms	84ms
1/3 Seek Time	84ms	126ms	109ms	111ms	88ms	142ms	88ms
Full Seek Time	142ms	209ms	155ms	154ms	132ms	195ms	155ms
CPU Use: 1x	3%	1%	1%	0%	4%	1%	0%
CPU Use: 2x	6%	6%	2%	1%	2%	2%	1%
CPU Use: 4x	3%	8%	4%	2%	3%	4%	1%
CPU Use: 8x	7%	11%	7%	5%	7%	8%	3%
Disc recognition Time	10.64s	12.4s	6.04s	8.73s	8.17s	10.16s	7.68s
Disc Eject Time	1.92s	1.23s	1.85s	1.71s	1.4s	2.04s	4.61s
Disc Load Time	1.18s	1.18s	1.32s	0s	1.03s	1.33s	0.98s

The average speed of the reading CD media is just a hair slower than th rest of the drives but the Samsung SE-W164's access times are very impressive!

Nero CD Speed: Audio	Source: Ahead Software

CD Speed is a CD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of a CD-ROM drive. In this particular benchmark we use a pressed Audio CD with about 65 minutes of audio on it as the test disk. CDROMs in general have a harder time processing audio data, and hence the results can be drastically slower than equivalent 'pure' data tests.

Nero CD Speed: Audio

Nero CD Speed: Audio Benchmark Results
Optical Drive	Samsung WriteMaster SE-W164	Gigabyte GO-W1616A	MSI DR16-B	AOpen DRW8800	AOpen 5232 Combo	LG GSA-4082B	MSI X48
Disc Type	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Avg Speed	28.34x	30.04x	8.21x	24.02x	32.74x	18.46x	28.67x
Random Seek Time	95ms	141ms	140ms	114ms	95ms	114ms	92ms
1/3 Seek Time	103ms	146ms	240ms	121ms	105ms	137ms	95ms
Full Seek Time	175ms	276mx	272ms	171ms	186ms	204ms	315ms
DAE Quality	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
CPU Use: 1x	19	12%	1%	1%	1%	1%	0%
CPU Use: 2x	2	3%	3%	1%	2%	2%	1%
CPU Use: 4x	4	10%	6%	3%	4%	5%	2%
CPU Use: 8x	7	15%	10%	7%	8%	9%	4%
Disc recognition Time	8.46s	9.9s	6.17s	8.23s	6.59s	7.79s	6.53s
Disc Eject Time	1.92s	1.22s	1.79s	1.71s	1.04s	2.01s	4.62s
Disc Load Time	1.26s	1.18s	1.32s	0.13s	1.41s	1.33	0.96s

Like we saw in the CD read test, access times are very good when compared to other drives.