Buffer underruns and 2MB vs. 8MB buffers

[fmctm1sw]

What is everyone's thoughts on this? Will a 2MB buffer result in underrun issues? What is the effect on writing speeds?

[garryheather]

If your PC is up to the job, the buffer shouldn't be an issue.

Firstly, your PC should be able to maintain a sufficient data rate not to require the use of a buffer except for maybe the odd boost if, say for example, your hard disk decides to thermally recalibrate half way through a burn (most modern drives wait for a period of inactivity these days, however) and the flow is briefly interrupted.

if you think your machine is a little underpowered and / or you want to be able to do other things while you burn, a larger buffer is probably a good idea, although if you are thinking of buying and that is the only difference, I wouldn't worry too much about it - although there probably is no such thing as too much buffer memory if there is no cost difference.

Don't forget also that most drives support some sort of buffer under run protection which stops the burn until the memory is full again, and most burning programs allocate a portion if the PC's memory in addition to that supplied by the hardware. Coasters through incomplete burns should be a thing of the past.

[fmctm1sw]

Nice post garry, you can check out my computer specs and tell me what you think. I will have the burner on an IDE channel all by itself.

[Gazorgan]

The only DVD coasters I have made where when I was ripping to and burning from the same drive at the same time. DVDDecryptor doesn't like that, but Nero doesn't care.

Now I do different drives on different IDE cables and it's all good (that's 3-7x ripping while doing a 4x burn). 2 MB buffer

[videobruce]

Anyone else with input on the 2 vs 8 MB buffer? I see some newer drives are going back to 2 from 8 MB I asssume because of cost, but is it also because it doesn't really improve things as a larger buffer on a HDD?