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Benchmarks
We used CD Speed (packaged with Nero) to test the read speeds of the MSI CR52-A2. Seeing how MSI claims a 52x read speed, we'll see if they can backup their claims. The test media will be a commercially pressed Quake 3: Arena CD, a CDRW filled with about 630MB of mixed data, and an audio CD.
Quake 3: Arena
Q3A does not fill up the whole CD, so we can see that the MSI CR52-A2 never really gets to its maximum performance. It tops out at about 45x, and averages 34x throughout the disc. You'll have to understand that given the nature of CAV technology, the maximum rated speed is only reached at the outer portion of the disc.
I grabbed a CDRW filled with mixed media. Everything from application files, to images, to zip files occupied 630MB worth of space. This would also be a small test on the drive's ability to read a data CD burned from another burner. This may not seem like much of a big deal, but I've had some compatibility issues with my AOpen DVD drive.
630MB CDRW
Since the CDRW occupied most of the disc, we can see the CR52-A2 inching closer to its maximum thoroughput. The drive tops out at about 50x, and averages about 39x through the disc. CPU usage was low as well, so the drive shouldn't drag your system to a halt when reading data CDs.
Next up, it was time to read an Eminem CD...
Much like the Q3A CD, since the audio CD isn't full, the drive speed is not optimized. In anycase, I'm sure nobody really cares about how fast a drive can read CDs, so let's get some burning tests out of the way.
Burning at 52x will present a couple of hurdles. For one thing, I know that quality 52x media isn't something that's easy to find. Another problem is although 52x may be ok for data backups, audio mastering should be done at lower speeds to maintain compatibility with standard CD drives. I wrote two CDs, both at 52x for this test. One CD was a 695MB mix of data files, ranging from Word docs, to executables. The second CD was 698MB of WAV files to be converted to an audio CD format. The media used was from a spindle of TDK media, rated at 48x, but works fine at 52x.
CD-R Tests
Both discs were burned at under 2:35, making data CDs very quick to backup. We then tested both CDs for compatibility, and as expected, I had some problems getting the audio CD to work in my car. The CD player recognized the CD as an audio CD, but there was no sound. The CD also didn't work on an AIWA CD player I have in the bedroom, but it did work on a Plextor on my other PC. That being said, there was noticable popping in the tracks, which were not present in the WAV files. I reburned the audio CD at 10x, and the CD worked perfectly, including on the CD players that rejected the disc.
The data CD worked on every CD drive on each PC I tested on (two Plextors, an AOpen, and two MSI drives), but one. The exception was the AOpen 16x DVD drive, which has always been a bit troublesome with CDR media. I reburned the same data at 48x, which is the rated speed of the CD-R, but was met with the same problem with the AOpen.
For the CDRW tests, I backed up the same data, minus about 50MB worth of files, as well as a 590MB MPG file to convert to VCD. Media was written to a Verbatum CDRW, rated for 24x.
CDRW Tests
The VCD took less time to burn since there was less data. Compared to the six minutes plus, this increase in CDRW speed is nice when making VCDs. In terms of compatibility, we had no issues with a Panasonic and Pioneer set top DVD player.
Compatibility
The drive was able to burn the TDK disc we tested with at 52x without any problems. I also had a spindle of Kodaks that went problem free, but I had major data loss with some generics I had lying around. The drive allowed 52x burning, but none of the CDs worked at all.
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Next Page - Burn-Proof & Final Words
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MSI CR52-A2 52/24/52 CDRW: If you spend a lot of time backing up data, you'll want a drive that is both fast and reliable. On paper, the MSI CR52-A2 looks up to the task, but let's see how it does in the labs.
