Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (190MHz x 20)

Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P (Supplied by Noctua)

Motherboard(s): GIGABYTE EX58-UD5 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)

Memory: 3 X 2GB OCZ Technology PC-12800 DDR-3 8-8-8-24 (OCZ3G1600LV6GK)

Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 300GB Velocirapter (Supplied by Western Digital)

Operating System: Windows Vista SP1 64-Bit

Today we'll see how the external USB 2.0 powered eSAU108 drive from Lite-On performs against our trusty internal Pioneer DVR-215. The DVR-215 is a significantly faster drive as far as specifications go, this due to the plain fact that it's internal and uses SATA connectivity. With that said, though, we will see how the eSAU108 competes against the drive in a number of tests under Nero Disc Speed.

Nero Disc Speed 4

Nero Disc Speed is a software created by the developers of Nero that can benchmark CD and DVD drives and check media quality. Benchmarking tools in general are not used that often, but they can reveal some interesting information about a hardware component or the system in general. Nero Disc Speed is no exception from the rule although it provides disc media quality checks which are useful if you want to test the quality of a disc.

- Access Time

It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the DVR-215 offers better access times. What does come as a surprise, though, is just how close the USB 2.0 powered eSAU108 from Lite-On is. For the most part it trails only just behind the internal drive, which is great.

- CPU Usage

Anything that uses USB is going to use more CPU usage. We can see that under this test the eSAU108 uses about twice as much CPU power when compared to the DVR-215 which is an internal drive.