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.

Burn-Proof Testing

Since Burn-Proof is a major component of the MSI CR52-A2, I thought it'd be a good idea to make sure it works as advertised. Using the same TDK media, we burned the same data used in our 700MB CD-R test at 52x. During the burn process, I proceeded to defrag the drive the data was being retrieved from.

As expected, burn times increased from 2:25 to a whopping 6:13. Since the drive was constantly stopping, given the hard drive activity, it is natural that the burn times are a bit longer. We tested the CD for readability, and as with the earlier compatibility test, just the AOpen DVD had issues.

Final Words

Given the lack of 52x competition here in the labs, it's hard to give a grade to the CR52-A2 based on its performance against the others here. In that case, let's look at the drive on its own merits.

Burning speeds are the fastest I've ever seen, and discs came out problem free, though I did have a few problems when I tried to burn at 52x on a disc that had no speed rating. Half the data worked, and the other half didn't. Media burned at their rated speeds worked just fine.

The buffer under run protection seemed to work perfectly, and out of 6 discs burned, none exhibited any problems. I wasn't exactly sure how to test the EXACT-Rec, but seeing how the discs came out fine, I guess it worked.

The AWSS is a bit of a marketing ploy in my opinion since it was in fact louder than a Plextor 40x I had kicking around. I know that there's a speed difference, but considering the marketing behind the AWSS, I expected a little better.

In a nutshell, it did everything the Plextor I usually use could do, except a little faster. What advantages does it have then? Well, there are two. For one thing, Plextor packages the craptacular Roxio EZCD Creator 5.0, which has got to be one of the worst CD burning packages in existence. Secondly, it's the price of the MSI CR52-A2. Selling at about , this drive is cheap… a good 80$ less than what I paid for the Plextor when it came out. Those two advantages alone make this drive worth checking out.

Pros: Fast, ships with Nero, Burn-Proof and EXACT-Rec.

Cons: AWSS doesn't work so well, no IDE cable.

Bottom Line: Unless you already have a 40x burner, it's probably time to consider upgrading to a faster drive if you tend to do a lot of CD burning. Considering the overall package is quite impressive, this drive is a steal. If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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