detail information

Before we get to the Plextor PX-716A's actual write performance we're first going to take a look at how well the drive can read media. Let's start with some screenshots from the PlexTools software showing the PX-716A's supported read speeds.

CD Read Speeds

DVD Read Speeds

The PlexTools software shows us that the Plextor PX-716A supports up to 48x reading for CD-ROM media but only when its SpeedRead feature is enabled. This feature can be enabled via the PlexTools software or by pressing and holding the drive's eject button for three seconds. The drive's LED will blink, indicating that SpeedRead has been enabled. In the first PlexTools screenshot we can see that audio discs and CD-RW discs can be read at a maximum speed of 40x.

When it comes to supported DVD read speeds the PlexTools software informs us that the drive can read Single Layer DVD-ROM media at a maximum speed of 16x, but again only when SpeedRead is enabled. When watching a DVD-Video disc in your Plextor drive the drive will only read the disc at 2x to prevent noise and vibrations. But, when you want to rip a DVD-Video disc to your hard disk you can use the SpeedRead option to speed up the process considerably. Last but not least, the Plextor PX-716A can read DVD±R and DVD±RW media at a maximum speed of 12x.

Reading CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/Audio:

The first thing we're going to take a look at is the drive's performance when reading CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and audio discs. We enabled the SpeedRead option of the Plextor PX-716A drive via the PlexTools software. As a small comparison we have included the results of a CD-ROM disc when SpeedRead is disabled.

CD-ROM Read Performance - SpeedRead Disabled

CD-ROM Read Performance - SpeedRead Enabled

CD-R Read Performance

CD-RW Read Performance

Audio Read Performance

The Plextor PX-716A's performance when reading CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and Audio media was very good as in none of the tests the Plextor drive had problems reaching its rated speed and going faster than that. The seek times in every test were good and so was the CPU usage. Notice the high burst rate in the graphs as a result of the Plextor drive supporting UDMA mode 4 instead of mode 2 which most optical drives support.

Below we have compared the Plextor's average read speeds to some other drives we've recently received. As you can see, the PX-716A's performance is excellent:

Reading DVD-Video:

The next thing we're going to take a look at is the Plextor's performance when reading pressed DVD-ROM (DVD-Video) media, single-layer and dual-layer. Here are the results:

DVD-Video - Single Layer

DVD-Video - Dual Layer

The Plextor PX-716A's read performance with DVD-Video discs is the same as the previous Plextor PX-712A drive. Both drives can read single-layer DVD-Video discs at a maximum speed of 16x while dual-layer media can be read at a maximum speed of 12x. When compared to other drives we can see that even though the Plextor PX-716A is not the fastest drive we've reviewed, its performance was very good:

When playing a DVD-Video disc in your Plextor drive a high read speed means nothing. Higher DVD-Video read speeds are only important when you want to rip a disc to your hard disk. So, how long does it take to rip a disc using the PX-716A with a maximum read speed of 16x for single-layer and 12x for dual-layer? Here are the results, using the DVD Decrypter software:

Ripping DVD-Video - Single Layer

Ripping DVD-Video - Dual Layer

As you can see from the DVD Decrypter screenshots it takes the drive a little over 5 minutes to read the single-layer disc and almost 11 minutes to read the dual-layer disc. These results are as one would expect.

Reading DVD+R/DVD+R DL/DVD+RW:

Next up, how fast can the Plextor PX-716A read DVD+R, DVD+R DL and DVD+RW media? Here are the results:

DVD+R Read Performance

DVD+R DL Read Performance (notice: booktype was set to DVD-ROM)

DVD+RW Read Performance

When it comes to reading DVD+R and DVD+RW media the Plextor PX-716A again performed the same as its predecessor, the PX-712A. Both drives can read DVD+R and DVD+RW media at a maximum speed of 12x. This is a very good performance as there are not many optical drives out there that support these speeds, especially for DVD+RW media. When it came to reading DVD+R DL media the Plextor PX-716A showed a good performance. Its maximum read speed for this dual layer media is 8x.

Reading DVD-R/DVD-RW:

Last but not least we're going to take a look at the PX-716A's performance when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. Here are the results again:

DVD-R Read Performance

DVD-RW Read Performance

As we expected the Plextor PX-716A's performance was again the same as the Plextor PX-712A drive. Not bad at all since once again the drive had no problems reading both the DVD-R and DVD-RW media at 12x.

When compared to other drives we can once again see that the Plextor PX-716A has a good performance. It has the fastest read speed for the DVD-RW media and its DVD-R performance is very good as well. So, overall the read performance of the Plextor PX-716A was very good. Let's continue to write performance!