MSI Flash Eyes

By default, the drive reads at 40x, but by pressing the eject button for 3 seconds, you enable 48x read speed. The drive reverts to 40x once the disc is ejected.

The eject button also lights up blue when a disc is inserted, so you won't need to eject to see if there's a disc in there.

DVD Reading The button flashes light blue while drive is reading DVD data.	CD Reading The button flashes blue while drive is reading CD data.	CD Writing The button flashes green while drive is writing data.

Disc is Loaded The button lights up blue or light blue when a CD or DVD disc is on standby for processing, which helps check if the disc is on the tray and the disc type without opening the door.

Full Speed The default drive CD reading speed is 40x. To increase reading speed to 48x you press the button for 3 seconds. The default speed is restored when the disc is ejected.

Looking closer at the LED button, this is a really nice feature that defines each type of operation your drive is performing. For each operation the LED will have a different color or action. This can prevent accidental opening if it is a family computer.

Media support is typical of most drives, but one thing that did catch our attention was support for 99 (870MB) or 90min (800MB) CD-R discs. Though I don't have any of these discs handy, if you like to pirate backup any DVDs to VCD, this will be useful since most movies tend to end at about the 90 minute mark.

There is a 2MB buffer, which is a tad on the small side of things, but the CR52-M does offer Super Link buffer-underrun protection. Though it is still possible to create coasters, you're more likely to cause errors due to user error, rather than the drive itself. Another measure to prevent coasters is ABS (Anti-Bumping System) Technology. What this does is absorb shock and reduce vibration of spinning discs, which should mean reads and writes are more reliable. This is especially handy with unevenly weighted media spinning at 32x and up.

Test Setup

ABIT NF7-S nForce2: AMD Barton 2500+, 2 x 256MB OCZ 3200 Platinum, FIC Radeon 9600 Pro, 80GB Maxtor 7200RPM, Windows XP SP1.

We used CD Speed (packaged with Nero) to test the read speeds of the MSI X48-A. The test media will be a commercially pressed NHL99.

MSI X48-A @ 48X

Click for Detailed Results

NHL99 fills up the whole CD, so we can see that the MSI X48-A got close to its maximum rated performance. It tops out at about 46.82x, and averages 35.53x throughout the disc. You'll have to understand that given the nature of CAV technology, the maximum rated speed is reached only at the outer portion of the disc.

CD-R Tests & CDRW Tests

I have burned a backup copy of Splinter Cell to a CD-R. The data CD created worked fine on the X48-A, and I tested it on a Yamaha and an AOpen as well. The burning process was done at a speed of 48X.

For the CDRW tests, I backed up the same data on to some 24x CDRW media. We tested burn speeds at a maximum speed of 24X, and as before, compatibility with the tested drives worked fine as well.

SuperLink Testing

Since SuperLink is a major component of the MSI X48-A, we thought it would be a good idea to make sure it works. Using the same media, we burned the same data used in our test speed at 48x. During the burn process, I proceeded to defrag the drive the data was being retrieved from. As expected, burn times got a lot higher but we didn't have any errors.

Final Words

Not the fastest burner on the market, and some compromises had to be made in order to integrate the DVD reader into it. The DVD itself reads at 16x, which is as fast as it gets. The key here is the drive takes up one slot, rather than two, which would be the case for the majority of the market who are running dual drive setups. At , the price is certainly attractive, and cheaper than a couple dedicated drives.

One thing not addressed was the noise. At 48X, the drive does make quite a whir, but not too horrible. The SoftBurn technology does a good job of keeping the volume down, especially as we burn at lower speeds... the drive is near silent. The buffer-underrun protection works as advertised, and the LEDs are useful in letting you know the status of the drive.

There are a few items we want to point out though. For one thing, MSI should work on getting a skip button integrated into the device. An IDE cable, as we've always complained about in the past, is still missing (again). We know these aren't expensive, and most people have extra ones, but on the off chance a user does not, I guess they'll have to make a trip to the PC store. Finally, this drive came with no blank media. Again, no big deal, but like the IDE cable argument, including a CD-R and CDRW will save somebody a trip if they want to quickly get started.

The inclusion of PowerDVD and Nero were good choices by MSI, as both software packages are our personal favorites. The customizable face plates allow you to give the drive a unique look as well. Too bad they didn't include silver for us silver aluminum case owners.

Pros: Solid construction, great features, good software bundle.

Cons: No IDE cable or blank media. No skip button.

Bottom Line: With some great hardware features, and a customizable look, it's pretty tough for me to pick another drive over this one, especially given it's price.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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