CD Speed is a CD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of a CD-ROM drive. In this particular test we use a pressed CD-ROM with about 640MB of data as the test disk. Using a CDR or CDRW as the test disk may (or may not) impact the results slightly, so the pressed disk is the de facto standard.

Samsung 52x24x52 - CDSpeed Data Tests

Optical Drive	Samsung SW-252B	MSI CR52A-A2	Plextor PXW4012TA	LG 32/10/40	MSI 8340	SW-240	SW-232	SW-224	SC-152	DVD-500M	SW-216
Disk Type	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data	Data
Avg Speed	35.08x	35.38x	29.05x	30.46x	30.69x	31.06x	31.65x	30.82x	38.90x	32.30x	24.94x
Random Seek Time	99ms	91ms	121ms	101ms	94ms	93ms	90ms	87ms	86ms	86ms	94ms
1/3 Seek Time	108ms	95ms	140ms	112ms	98ms	100ms	101ms	91ms	105ms	100ms	112ms
Full Seek Time	170ms	153ms	212ms	184ms	165ms	160ms	169ms	137ms	181ms	164ms	192ms
CPU use: 1X	3%	0%	0%	1%	0%	1%	1%	1%	1%	0%	1%
CPU use: 2X	4%	1%	1%	2%	1%	2%	2%	3%	2%	1%	2%
CPU use: 4X	5%	2%	2%	20%	5%	5%	4%	7%	4%	2%	5%
CPU use: 8X	8%	5%	5%	9%	8%	10%	9%	11%	8%	3%	9%
Disk Recognition Time:	4.77s	0.73s	9.37s	7.08s	0.01s	4.63s	5.2s	9.15s	6.30s	0.01s	-
Disk Eject Time	1.42s	2.74s	1.64s	1.55s	1.32s	1.33s	1.39s	1.12s	1.05s	1.19s	1.19s
Disk Load Time:	1.11s	7.9s	0.08s	1.27s	7.60s	0.98s	1.080s	1.10s	1.14s	7.26s	1.14s

The SW-252B's average speed is very high but the seek times are pretty decent too. CPU utilization is slightly elevated for the 1X and 2X tests compared to the other drives.

CD Speed is a CD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of a CD-ROM drive. In this particular test we use a pressed Audio CD with about 65 minutes of audio on it as the test disk. CDROM's in general have a harder time processing audio data, and hence the results can be drastically slower than that of data tests alone.

Samsung 52x24x52 - CDSpeed Audio Tests

Optical Drive	SW-252B	MSI CR52A-A2	Plextor W4012TA	LG 32/10/40	MSI 8340	SW-240	SW-232	SW-224	SC152	DVD-500M	SW-216
Disk Type	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Avg Speed	28.29x	31.09x	8.03x	27.51x	29.58x	27.44x	24.89x	22.98x	18.97x	29.96x	22.32x
Random Seek Time	104ms	89ms	162ms	105ms	134ms	92ms	93ms	86ms	88ms	88ms	97ms
1/3 Seek Time	111ms	90ms	185ms	119ms	109ms	106ms	107ms	102ms	98ms	95ms	98ms
Full Seek Time	177ms	309ms	254ms	172ms	520ms	161ms	170ms	157ms	167ms	161ms	163ms
DAE Quality	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
CPU use: 1X	1%	1%	2%	1%	1%	1%	1%	2%	1%	0%	2%
CPU use:2X	2%	1%	1%	3%	1%	3%	3%	6%	3%	1%	4%
CPU use: 4X	4%	3%	3%	5%	3%	7%	7%	14%	5%	2%	7%
CPU use: 8X	9%	5%	69%	10%	6%	14%	14%	23%	11%	4%	13%
Disk Recog. Time:	4s	0.48s	0.08s	6.99s	0.02s	3.99s	9.16s	8.38s	4.35s	0.01s	-
Disk Eject Time:	1.44s	2.69s	1.66s	1.55s	1.31s	1.33s	1.37s	1.10s	1.06s	1.19s	1.18s
Disk Load Time:	1.13s	10.12	19.25s	1.28s	7.60s	0.98s	1.08s	1.10s	1.14s	7.33s	1.14s

Samsung's SW-252B does much better with an audio CD, the access times and disc speeds are very good. CPU utilization is about what the same as the other drives as well.