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Before we begin testing, let's take a detailed
look at the test system specs.
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Test System
Specifications |
| CPU:
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Pentium 4 2.8GHZ @
3.4GHz |
| Motherboard: |
Soyo Dragon 2 Platinum
Edition |
| Memory: |
Corsair EXPERT (1GB) |
| Hard Drive: |
Western Digital 74GB
Raptor (10000rpm) |
| Video Card: |
ATI Radeon 9800 |
CD Read Tests
Nero CD-DVD Speed version 4.0 will be used
throughout this review. This version is included in the very latest
release of Nero 6 Ultra, 6.6.0.14.
1. CD-DVD Speed - Pressed CD
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Test Results |
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Transfer Speed
Average: 35.06x
Start: 19.94x
End: 47.99x |
|
Seek Times
Random: 122ms
1/3: 139ms
Full: 216ms |
|
CPU Usage
1X: 1%
2X: 1%
4X: 3%
8X: 6% |
The ND-3540A is capable of reading CD media at
48x. With our pressed CD, it had no problem reaching its max read
rate. While the seek times and CPU usage where just slightly higher
than the 3500A, they were still quite fair.
2. CD-DVD Speed - CDR Media
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Test Results |
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Transfer Speed
Average: 35.90x
Start: 20.74x
End: 39.96x |
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Seek Times
Random: 153ms
1/3: 153ms
Full: 239ms |
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CPU Usage
1X: 1%
2X: 1%
4X: 3%
8X: 15% |
The drive did well with CD-R media as well.
The only problem was a slight drop at the very end of the disc. I
created an exact image and tried with one other brand of media but came up
with the same result. Regardless, it did hit 48x. Seek times
were higher though and CPU Usage at 8x was substantially higher than their
previous model.
3. CD-DVD Speed - CDRW Media
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Test Results |
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Transfer Speed
Average: 30.93x
Start: 18.03x
End: 40.06x |
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Seek Times
Random: 131ms
1/3: 132ms
Full: 215ms |
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CPU Usage
1X: 1%
2X: 1%
4X: 3%
8X: 5% |
Now, the 3540A did handle CDRW discs
exceptionally well, hitting max read rates of 40x. Seek times and CPU
Usage rates were low.
4. DAE - Advanced Quality Tests
The results of our advanced digital audio
extraction tests were very good. Average speed was 29.09x and quality
score was 100 without data or sync errors. It also managed to pass all
on-the-fly copying tests, including 16x. The drive only failed to read
both the leadin and leadout information on the disc.
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