detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

Motherboard: Intel 865
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz with Hyper Threading support
Bus Speed : 800 MHz
Memory: 512 MB
Video: ATI RADEON 9600XT
Sound: SB Live!
Hard disks : 1X 160GB Seagate Barracuda; 1X 120GB Western Digital

System set-up:

The ASUS DRW-1608P2 was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as ASUS DRW-1608P2. DMA (Direct Memory Access) was enabled for all devices and the ASUS drive has a transfer mode of Ultra DMA Mode 4.

Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

• Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.0.18 
• Nero CD/DVD Speed V4.10 
• Nero Info Tool v3.02 
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.6.1 
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 3 
• K-Probe v2.5.1

Installation and supported features:

We installed the drive without any problems and here is a screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

Our drive came shipped with firmware 1.17 and for this review we updated to the latest firmware 1.37. From the screenshot above, we notice a 2MB buffer size and missing Mount Rainier support.

And another shot from Nero Burning ROM:

Nero Burning ROM claims Overburn support. We will test this later in the review.

Included Software:

Now it's time to look at the included software. Notice that we may not use the included software in our performance testing part of the review.

Nero OEM Suite Installation CD:

The CD includes:

• Nero Burning ROM 6 CD/DVD mastering software for data, audio and CD/DVD writing and copying;
• Nero VisionExpress SE VCD/SVCD and DVD authoring software for advanced video capturing, authoring, full video editing and photo slideshow creation. Users can crop, clean up, add special effects to photos and then add transitions and a soundtrack, as well as cut, edit, dub, and turn videos into Hollywood-style masterpieces;
• Nero InCD^® 4 packet writing software for formatting rewritable discs so they can be used like large floppy disks with drag-and-drop capability;
• Nero Toolkit drive tool software for critical media and drive analysis used by drive manufacturers worldwide;
• Asus DVD to play back your DVD.

Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4.0 Suite SE

Write Technology:

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the ASUS DRW-1608P2:

CD-Recordable:

The ASUS DRW-1608P2 uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. This gives an average speed of 30.02x, and as we can see it took 3:19 minutes to write the disc.

Two drives for comparison are found below.

The Samsung TS-E552U uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its rated speed of 40x. This gives an average speed of 34.39x.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X in four zones. The drive wrote the last zone at 40.41X and this gives an average speed of 31.70x.

 For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from the table, the ASUS DRW-1608P2 is an average drive where it comes to writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The ASUS DRW-1608P2 uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 24.39x.

Below are some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVDR-110D uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 24.88x.

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone Constant Linear Velocity writing technology to write at 32X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 29.75x.

For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the ASUS DRW-1608P2 speed wise, is about average when writing CD-RW's.

16X DVD+R/-R Writing speed:

The ASUS DRW-1608P2 uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.61x and a writing time of 6 minutes 4 seconds.

The ASUS DRW-1608P2 uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.54x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 56 second.

Below are some write graphs from some other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110D uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.58x and a writing time of 6 minutes 9 seconds.

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.81x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

The Philips DVDR16LS uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.33x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 8 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could see this as constant dips in the speed curve.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.60x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 12 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110D uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.59x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 1 second.

The LG GSA-4163B uses P-CAV, (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16x. The average speed is 12.90x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

The Samsung TS-H552B uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 12.03x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

Below, we made a comparison table: