Test Hardware Media Performance ?

[PowerFalcon]

I want to test the overall performance of a DVD drive if it has degraded over time ? I'm having an issue with a DVD drive and I want to know if it's just the media or if it's slowly dying.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Nero DiscSpeed can run a few tests on most DVD drives.

[fritzi93]

Or Opti Drive Control, same author as DiscSpeed. It's payware though. You can test TE/FE (tracking/focus errors)) with it, plus the usual transfer rate and disc quality tests (the latter if the drive supports it).

[PowerFalcon]

Which drive (using Nero Bench Mark) would you say is still performing well, for burning DVD and reading DVD, and which is performing poorly ? From the looks of it both are performing the same !

Drive A
Drive: LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1633S BS0H

[00:51:29] Disc: DVD+R, 2.52 GB, MCC 004
[00:51:44] Starting Transfer Rate Test
[00:58:07] speed:3-7 X CAV (5.24 X average)
[00:58:07] Elapsed Time: 6:23
[00:58:07] Starting Access Times Test
[00:58:17] Random Access: 102 ms
[00:58:29] 1/3 Access: 116 ms
[00:58:46] Full Access: 169 ms
[00:58:46] Elapsed Time: 0:39
[00:58:46] Starting CPU Usage Test
[00:59:01] CPU usage at 1X: 8 %
[00:59:17] CPU usage at 2X: 10 %
[00:59:32] CPU usage at 4X: 19 %
[00:59:54] CPU usage at 8X: -
[00:59:54] Elapsed Time: 1:08
[00:59:54] Starting Burst Rate Test
[00:59:56] Interface burst rate: 32 MB/s (32429 KB/s)
[00:59:56] Elapsed Time: 0:02
[00:59:56] Starting Spin-Up/Down Test
[01:00:05] Spin-up time: 6.96 seconds
[01:00:17] Spin-down time: 1.97 seconds
[01:00:17] Elapsed Time: 0:21
[01:00:17] Starting Load/Eject Test
[01:00:17] Eject time: 0.83 seconds
[01:00:18] Load time: 1.08 seconds
[01:00:31] Recognition time: 12.81 seconds
[01:00:31] Elapsed Time: 0:15

Drive B
Drive: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-111D 1.29

[00:51:29] Disc: DVD+R, 2.52 GB, MCC 004
[00:51:44] Starting Transfer Rate Test
[00:58:07] speed:3-7 X CAV (5.24 X average)
[00:58:07] Elapsed Time: 6:23
[00:58:07] Starting Access Times Test
[00:58:17] Random Access: 102 ms
[00:58:29] 1/3 Access: 116 ms
[00:58:46] Full Access: 169 ms
[00:58:46] Elapsed Time: 0:39
[00:58:46] Starting CPU Usage Test
[00:59:01] CPU usage at 1X: 8 %
[00:59:17] CPU usage at 2X: 10 %
[00:59:32] CPU usage at 4X: 19 %
[00:59:54] CPU usage at 8X: -
[00:59:54] Elapsed Time: 1:08
[00:59:54] Starting Burst Rate Test
[00:59:56] Interface burst rate: 32 MB/s (32429 KB/s)
[00:59:56] Elapsed Time: 0:02
[00:59:56] Starting Spin-Up/Down Test
[01:00:05] Spin-up time: 6.96 seconds
[01:00:17] Spin-down time: 1.97 seconds
[01:00:17] Elapsed Time: 0:21
[01:00:17] Starting Load/Eject Test
[01:00:17] Eject time: 0.83 seconds
[01:00:18] Load time: 1.08 seconds
[01:00:31] Recognition time: 12.81 seconds
[01:00:31] Elapsed Time: 0:15
[01:05:15] Disc: DVD+R, 2.52 GB, MCC 004
[01:05:27] Starting Transfer Rate Test
[01:09:42] speed:5-10 X CAV (7.88 X average)
[01:09:42] Elapsed Time: 4:15

[MOVIEGEEK]

They're both identical so I would say both are good, I get similar results on my drives. In Options make sure read and write is set to maximum in Standard Tests, also set maximum CD speed to 52 and DVD to 16 in Transfer Rate.

[PowerFalcon]

Thanks for the help. Good to know that my drives are in good condition, and that the media I was using was to blame.