Optical Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc 7170 SATA
The final part carried over from our previous midrange build is the Sony NEC Optiarc 7170 Serial ATA drive. We could have replaced it with a slightly faster 20x model, but there simply wasn't enough of a performance difference for us to justify buying a replacement model.
The drive's speeds approach those of the fastest drives: DVD-R and +R writes of 18x; DVD+RW and -RW rewrites of 8x and 6x; DVD+R and -R Dual Layer disk writes of 8x; CD-R and -RW writes of 48x and 32x; and DVD-RAM writes of 12X. Best of all, the Optiarc 7170 SATA sells for only $35.
This build's 650i SLI chipset would have natively supported an ATA drive, but who wants wide cables? The difference in price between ATA and SATA versions is typically less than $5.
Test Setup
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| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.40 GHz, 1066 FSB, 8 MB Cache |
| Motherboard | MSI P6N SLI Platinum, BIOS 1.4 (07/31/2007) |
| RAM | PDP Patriot PC2-6400, 2x 1024 MB, CAS 4.0-4-4-12 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS |
| Networking | nVidia nForce onboard Gigabit Ethernet NIC |
| Graphics Cards | EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX, 768 MB RAM576 MHz GPU, 1800 MHz RAM Data Rate |
| Power Supply | AeroCool ZERODBA-S620 |
| System Software & Drivers | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows XP Pro 5.1.2600 |
| DirectX Version | 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) |
| Platform Driver | Intel INF 8.0.1.1002 |
| Graphics Driver | 6.14.11.5822 - nVidia ForceWare 158.22 |
Benchmarks And Settings
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| Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
| 3D-Games | |
| F.E.A.R | Version: 1.0 RetailVideo Mode: 1024x768Computer: MaximumGraphics: Maximum-Custom-No SoftshadowsTest Path: Options/Performance/Test Settings |
| Doom 3 | Version: 1.3Video Mode: 1024x768Graphics: HighTest: Time Demo 1 |
| Oblivion | Version: 1.0 RetailVideo Mode: 1024x768Graphics: High, 4xAATest: Inside & Outside save files |
| Audio | |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.97 Beta 2 (12-22-2005)Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 minwave to mp3160 kbps |
| OGG | Version 1.1.2 (Intel P4 MOD)Version 1.1.2 (Intel AMD MOD)Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 minwave to oggQuality: 5 |
| Video | |
| TMPEG 3.0 Express | Version: 3.0.4.24 (no Audio)fist 5 Minutes DVD Terminator 2 SE (704x576) 16:9Multithreading by rendering |
| DivX 6.6 | Version: 6.6Profile: High Definition Profile1-pass, 3000 kbit/sEncoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreadingno Audio |
| XviD 1.1.3 | Version: 1.1.3Target quantizer: 1.00 |
| Applications | |
| Autodesk 3D Studio Max | Version: 8.0Characters "Dragon_Charater_rig"rendering HTDV 1920x1080 & 1280x720 |
| Synthetics | |
| SPECviewperf 9 | Version: 9.0.3 |
| PCMark05 Pro | Version: 1.1.0System, CPU and Memory TestsWindows Media Player 10.00.00.3646Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980 |
| 3DMark05 | Version: 1.2System Test Only |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2005 | Version 2005.7.10.60CPU Test = Arithmetic, Multimedia BenchmarksMemory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
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