Test machine

---

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 (Intel X48 chipset)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
• RAM: 8 GB Crucial Balistix Tracer (red) dual channel kit DDR2 800
• GFX: ATI HD 4870 (512 Megabytes GDDR5 HDCP compliant)
• Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC889 HD audio controller
• Hard disk OS: OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD
• Hard disk storage: 1X 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (SATA 2) – 1x 1TB Samsung SpinPiont.
• Case: Antec 900
• PSU: Enermax Liberty 620W
• Display: Samsung Syncmaster 245B 24” widescreen LCD (HDCP compliant)
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit) with Service Pack 1

System setup:

The Lite-On iHAS324 was connected to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard’s SATA controller.

And another screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the Lite-On iHAS324 supports the main media groups. The drive came shipped with firmware version BL17.

Included software package

---

The Lite-ON iHAS324 came supplied with the Nero 8 Essentials software package, which should provide a good platform for burning your CD-R and DVD recordable media.

Nero 8 Essentials

Note: We did not install this software on our review PC or test it.

Installed software:

For conducting our various tests, we will be using the following applications.

• Nero Burning Rom 9
• Nero CD/DVD Speed
• Nero InfoTool
• DVDFab Platinum
• Slysoft CloneCD
• Exact Audio Copy

Our review PC has Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit installed with Service Pack 1.

Features and techniques

---

PI/PIF Disc quality scanning

The Lite-On drives have become famous for Disc Quality Scanning and the iHAS324 is no exception. The drive can be used with either CD-Speed/Nero DiskSpeed or K-Probe for disc quality scanning. In our reviews we always use a CLV scanning method at 4x scanning speed. Please note, 8x scanning speed has been set as a standard on the CD Freaks forum.

4x CLV scan

8x CAV scan

As well as being able to scan for PI/PIF errors, the Lite-On iHAS324 is also capable of testing Jitter. You can read a full explanation of the tests in our explanation at the start of the DVD+R page.

4x CLV scan with Opti Drive Control (by Erik Deppe)

SmartErase

For a full explanation of SmartErase, please see the Special Features page in this review.

BookType (Bitsetting):

The Lite-On iHAS324 supports set and forget bit-setting and supports Bit-Setting on DVD+R/RW and DL media via burning applications such as Nero Burning Rom.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get something like this:

DVD+R with BookType DVD-ROM

DVD+RW with BookType DVD-ROM

DVD+R DL with BookType DVD-ROM

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

Writing technique

---

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Lite-On iHAS324.

For these tests we used CD-Speed and wrote a full disc at the drive’s maximum speed.

CD Recordable:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write CD-R media at a maximum speed of 48x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X. This gives an average speed of 36.74x and a total writing time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

As we can see, the Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the fastest drives when writing CD-R media.

CD Re-writable:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write CD-RW media at a maximum speed of 32x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 32X. This gives an average speed of 24.63x and a total writing time of 3 minutes and 52 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

As we can see, the Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the slowest drives when writing CD-RW media.

24x DVD+R/-R writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD+R/-R media at a maximum speed of 24x.

DVD+R

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24X. This gives an average speed of 17.37x and a total writing time of 4 minutes and 3 seconds.

DVD-R

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24X. This gives an average speed of 17.51x and a total writing time of 3 minutes and 55 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

As we can see from our table, the Lite-On iHAS324 was the fastest drive when writing our test DVD R media.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD+RW at a maximum speed of 8x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8X. This gives an average speed of 7.38x and a total writing time of 8 minutes and 19 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

The Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the slowest drives when writing our test DVD+RW media.

6x DVD-RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD-RW at a maximum speed of 6x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 6X. This gives an average speed of 5.83x and a total writing time of 10 minutes and 42 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

The Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the slowest drives when writing DVD-RW media.

8x DVD+R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD+R DL at a maximum speed of 8x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at 8X. This gives an average speed of 6.23x and a total writing time of 18 minutes and 55 seconds.

8x DVD-R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD-R DL at a maximum speed of 8x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at 8X. This gives an average speed of 6.36x and a total writing time of 18 minutes and 48 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

The Lite-On iHAS324 was about average in writing speed when writing double layer media.

12x DVD-RAM writing speed

According to the specifications of the Lite-On iHAS324, it should be able to write DVD-RAM at a maximum speed of 12x.

The Lite-On iHAS324 uses P-CAV, (Partial Constant Angular Velocity), to write at 12X. This gives an average speed of 10.15x and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 40 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table:

The Lite-On iHAS324 was one of the fastest drives when writing our test DVD-RAM media.

Summary:

The Lite-On iHAS324 has excellent writing performance on CD-R media. Writing performance on DVD R media is also extremely fast.

Let’s head on to the next page where we will check reading performance….

• Introduction
• Reading performance