ARTEC DHI-G40

• Interface: Enhanced IDE (ATAPI).
• Formats supported:
• DVD-ROM : DVD-ROM, DVD-Video
• CD-ROM : CD-DA, CD-ROM (mode 1), CD-ROM XA (mode 2 form 1 and form 2), CD-ROM XA, Mixed-Mode CD, CD-I, CD-I Ready, CD-Bridge, Photo CD (single and multi session), CD Extra (CD-Plus), CD Text, Video CD, I-Trax CD, UDF, Bootable CD
• Reads discs of 8 and 12 cm in diameter
• Data buffer: 512 KBytes
• Data rate:
• DVD Transfer Rate 16X (22160 KBytes/s)
• CD Transfer Rate 40X (6840 KBytes/s )
• Access time:
• DVD 115 ms
• CD 100 ms
• Error-free running time:
• MTBF 100,000 Power On hours (POH)
• at the working cycle not more than 20%
• Installation: horizontal and vertical
• Weight: 0.96 kg

Accessories: user manual, fastening bolts, CD audio cable, CD with drivers and a soft-DVD player. The front panel has two buttons for Audio CD playback - Open/Close/Stop and Play/Skip.

Test results

Quality of operation with CDs

CDWinBench 99

• CDWinMark99 - 1750
• CD-ROM Transfer Rate
• Inside - 3000 KBytes/s
• Outside - 5800 KBytes/s
• CPU utilization - 9.52%
• CD-ROM Access Time - 80.5 ms

Nero CD-Speed

The following information on the drive is obtained with the Drive check utility:

• Vendor : IDE
• Product : DVD-ROM 16X
• Firmware version : 1.06
• Buffer size : 512 KBytes
• Maximum read speed : 7744 KBytes/sec (44 X)
• CDDA accurate : yes
• C2 pointers : no
• Speed settings : 4-44 X
• Read RAW mode : yes

The drive doesn't support C2 error correction, therefore, it can't detect and correct group errors. Usually it is used by programs of audio track extraction. Besides, it's the first time I see a drive with the maximum speed of 44x.

Testing of the drive using a standard CD

	ARTEC DHI-G40
Average Speed	24.18x
Start Speed	17.30x
End Speed	7.65x
Random Seek	82 ms
1/3 Seek	92 ms
Full Seek	129 ms
Reading type	P-CAV
CPU usage 1x	1%
Accurate stream	Yes
DAE quality Score	10
SpinUp Time	6.40 sec
SpinDown Time	4.02 sec
Disc Recognition Time	9.40 sec

CD-ROM Drive Analyzer

CD-R reading

CD-RW reading

Damaged CD reading

The doesn't read CD-ROM discs stably and it doesn't distinguish CD and CD-R discs.

Advanced DAE Quality(Nero CD-Speed)

Soundtrack extraction from audio CDs (CDDAE 99)

	Licensed CD	Pirated CD
Average extraction speed	15.9x	15.4x
Total errors	0.00%	0.00%

Direct copying of data from a 780 MBytes CD-R onto a hard disc.

The drive read the 780 MBytes disc very good. The time of full copying is 4 min. 32 sec.

Quality of operation with DVD discs

Nero DVD Speed

Testing with a two-layer DVD disc

	ARTEC DHI-G40
Average Speed	7.57x
Start Speed	4.15x
End Speed	5.31x
Random Seek	97 ms
1/3 Seek	106 ms
Full Seek	143 ms
Reading type	CAV
CPU usage 1x	13%
SpinUp Time	2.07 sec
SpinDown Time	3.63 sec
Layer Change Time	70 ms
Disc Recognition Time	14.19 sec

DVD-Video playback with the Cyberlink PowerDVD 2.55

The DVD-Video was played without any problems; no artifacts were noticed. When a layer was changing DVD quality didn't get worse, although the layer changing time is quite big.

Noise characteristics

• Tray - 6/10
• CD
• Seek - 5/10
• Total noise - 5/10
• DVD
• Seek - 6/10
• Total noise - 6/10

Both at the maximum and reduced speeds the noise level wasn't acceptable. It is possible to reduce a speed of operation with CDs using external programs (CDBremse, Nero DriveSpeed): 4-44x.

Vibration

When the drive worked with badly balanced CDs it didn't shine. The vibration was quite noticeable. However, the disc was read at a high speed.

Thermal conditions

There are no any complains about its thermal conditions. The data were read after an intensive 2-hour operation:

T inside the case - 36°C
T of the upper surface - 39°C
T of the lower surface - 42°C

Possibility to make the drive region free (RPC-1).

According to www.firmware.fr.st, you can change the firmware version to make the drive region free. But before changing it make sure your current firmware version is lower than 2.xx. Starting from v2.xx these drives have their hardware part changed.