• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Benefits of having multiple optical drives?

Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
5,196 (0.95/day)
System Name Dust Collector
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard Asus B550I Aorus Pro WiFi AX
Cooling Alpenfohn Black Ridge V2 w/ Noctua NF-A9x14
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3200MHz/CL16
Video Card(s) Power Color Red Dragon RX 5700 XT
Storage Samsung EVO+ 500GB NVMe
Display(s) Dell S2721DGF
Case Dan Case A4
Power Supply Corsair SF600 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G603
Keyboard Logitech G613
Hey guys, I'm doing a rough sketch of a potential summer project, building my own tech station, and was wondering if there were any benefits of having more than one optical drive?
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
1,334 (0.24/day)
Straight disc to disc copy and write/read two discs at the same time. Can't think of anything else.
truth be told I haven't opened my DVD drive in weeks.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2009
Messages
2,644 (0.47/day)
Location
...
System Name MRCOMP!
Processor 5800X3D
Motherboard MSI Gaming Plus
Cooling Corsair 280 AIO
Memory 64GB 3600mhz
Video Card(s) GTX3060
Storage 1TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung Neo
Case No Case... just sitting on cardboard :D
Power Supply Antec 650w
ripping those "borrowed" DVDs from your friends/store rented faster :D

you could blast through a stack of 4 at a time :D
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.63/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
When a disk explodes in one drive, you still got another drive to use. Also, for example, you could have two disks in the computer at a time so you could switch between two games without changing disks.

I used to do/recommend, one DVD-ROM and one DVD-RW per computer. Since, I've discovered DVD-ROM drives are crap and I rarely use disks so my most recent builds had only one (Lite-On) DVD-RW drive.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,930 (2.85/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
Since, I've discovered DVD-ROM drives are crap and I rarely use disks so my most recent builds had only one (Lite-On) DVD-RW drive.

Why are they crap? Most of my old DVD drives have been much better at reading than the brand new DVD-RW's I've had.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2009
Messages
2,644 (0.47/day)
Location
...
System Name MRCOMP!
Processor 5800X3D
Motherboard MSI Gaming Plus
Cooling Corsair 280 AIO
Memory 64GB 3600mhz
Video Card(s) GTX3060
Storage 1TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung Neo
Case No Case... just sitting on cardboard :D
Power Supply Antec 650w
DVD Rom drives dont seem to be able to read as well as DVD RW drives.


thats why.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,930 (2.85/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
DVD Rom drives dont seem to be able to read as well as DVD RW drives.


thats why.

That's wierd, for me it's been the other way round. Stroke of luck maybe. ;)
 

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.86/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
My experience is, those drives are all cheap, and they seem to be random on life expectancy.
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
491 (0.09/day)
Location
ireland
Processor amd phenom 2 x4 955 @3.8
Motherboard asus m4n68t v2
Cooling tx2 cooler
Memory kingston hyperx blu 1600mhz
Video Card(s) gtx460
Storage 300gb+320gb+500gb
Display(s) targa 19"
Case black
Audio Device(s) audigy 2
Power Supply 700 watt generic brand
Software win 7 64bit
my dvd -rw has been unpluged since my last clean up about 3 months ago. lol

its never used anyway...
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
875 (0.15/day)
Installing a LEGAL copy of Diablo2 - having 4 X Optic drives will make your life a breeze :)
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
601 (0.11/day)
Location
Ireland.
2 years ago, I would swear by having two DVDRW drives, purely for disc-to-disc recording on the fly. Very handy feature to have ; and as cheap as ~40 bucks for the two drives.
However, I haven't used my DVD drive in at least 6 months. Not even for OS installations.

However, if you have the money, how about a BD + BDRW combo? ;) Might be interesting to have.

Offtopic a little.... @rizla1, where on the emerald isle do you hail from?
 

AsRock

TPU addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
18,875 (3.07/day)
Location
UK\USA
Processor AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling D15
Memory Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s) eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s) Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores Meh benchmarks.
Hey guys, I'm doing a rough sketch of a potential summer project, building my own tech station, and was wondering if there were any benefits of having more than one optical drive?

Some games like D2 used all optical drives and was ideal with the install as the annoying disk swapping. I found some games checked for more CD\DVD players were some don't.

A shop i used to go to used to use multiple CD players ( yeah that long ago ) so they could copy their required info faster from HDD.
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (8.18/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
i find a BD + DVD-RW combo works well. put the DVD's and CD's into the DVD-RW, so you dont get wear and tear on the more expensive drive.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
4,267 (0.70/day)
Location
Sanford, FL, USA
Processor Intel i5-6600
Motherboard ASRock H170M-ITX
Cooling Cooler Master Geminii S524
Memory G.Skill DDR4-2133 16GB (8GB x 2)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte R9-380X 4GB
Storage Samsung 950 EVO 250GB (mSATA)
Display(s) LG 29UM69G-B 2560x1080 IPS
Case Lian Li PC-Q25
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply Seasonic SS-460FL2
Mouse Logitech G700s
Keyboard Logitech G110
Software Windows 10 Pro
Back in the P2/P3 days: Had a DVD-ROM with decoder card and a CD-RW. Could play DVD's (and all other MPEG content) on my TV while playing a disc-based game.

Couple years ago: Had 3 DVD-RW for burning multiple copies at once. Not much need for that now and I just have one installed.

Future: None of my systems will have one. Just a single Blu-Ray in the home server for ripping and sharing over the network and the occasional burn.

Installing a LEGAL copy of Diablo2 - having 4 X Optic drives will make your life a breeze :)

I know how long that can take! But if you register your keys with Blizzard you can download a pre-patched D2 and LOD installer package.
 

_33

New Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2006
Messages
1,248 (0.19/day)
Location
Quebec
System Name BEAST
Processor Intel Core i7 920 C0 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA batch 3844A509
Motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3
Cooling CoolIt ECO A.L.C. 120mm radiator
Memory G.SKILL F3-12800CL8TU-6GBPI PC3-12800 6GB 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL8-8-8-21
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB 850MHZ 1GB 3.9GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDTV
Storage SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F1 750GB X 2, WD2500KS 250GB, WD15EARS 1.5TB, WD20EARS 2.0TB
Display(s) LG W2361V-PF Monitors 23” Widescreen LCD Monitor (23.0” diagonal)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 600W Power Supply ATX V2.2 20/24PIN EPS12V Qfan 140MM Fan Active PFC
Software Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Doom 3 can install using all optical drives available so U don't wait and swap discs.
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.41/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
I have a DVD-RW and a DVD-ROM. Most things go in the DVD-ROM... I only use the DVD-RW to burn.
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
5,731 (1.12/day)
Location
West Midlands. UK.
System Name Ryzen Reynolds
Processor Ryzen 1600 - 4.0Ghz 1.415v - SMT disabled
Motherboard mATX Asrock AB350m AM4
Cooling Raijintek Leto Pro
Memory Vulcan T-Force 16GB DDR4 3000 16.18.18 @3200Mhz 14.17.17
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ 4GB RX 580 - 1450/2000 BIOS mod 8-)
Storage Seagate B'cuda 1TB/Sandisk 128GB SSD
Display(s) Acer ED242QR 75hz Freesync
Case Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair VS 550w
Mouse Zalman ZM-M401R
Keyboard Razor Lycosa
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6220813
dvd drives are becoming like floppy drives, I barely use mine at all, though cant see optical drives being replaced anytime soon because of the advent of BR and the fact that other storage mediums like flash drives are expensive in comparison.
 
Top