How Long Does It Take to Burn a CD? A Gamer‘s Perspective
As an avid gamer and content creator, I‘ve burned my fair share of game discs over the years. Whether installing that hot new RPG release or backing up save data to an old-school PS1 memory card, optical drives continue playing a vital role in gaming. But a question I often get asked is how long does it actually take to burn a CD? The answer depends on several key factors.
Disk Capacity Sets the Maximum Duration
The type of blank disc you use sets the upper limit for burn time. Standard CDs store 700MB of data, while DVDs store substantially more at 4.7GB for single layer and up to 17GB for dual layer. Some "80 minute" CD variants squeeze on roughly 850MB. Hence, DVD burning takes longer than CDs in general.
As an example, I tested burning a DVD ISO rip of the original Half-Life 2, which requires 6GB split over 2 discs. Burning each took around 18 minutes at 16x speed on my LG drive. For comparison, copying my save files to a PS1 memory card took barely over 2 minutes at 52x.
Write Speeds Vary Greatly
Burn speed, measured in multiples of 150KB/sec, ranges wildly across optical drives.
- 1x burns at 150KB/s
- 16x at 2,400KB/s
- 52x at 7,800KB/s
My aged Asus DVD drive peaks at 16x, while my LG Blu-ray burner maxes out at 52x. Burning at maximum supported speed is quickest, slashing time considerably.
Based on my tests, here‘s how long various burn speeds take for a full 700MB CD:
| Speed | Time |
|---|---|
| 1x | 80 minutes |
| 16x | 5 minutes |
| 52x | 1-2 minutes |
So while my LG technically burns over 7x faster than my Asus, copying a full CD only saves around 4 minutes. Still, those minutes add up when burning batches of disks!
Amount of Data Impacts Duration
If you don‘t completely fill the blank disc, burning finishes faster. Audio CDs are fixed at 80 minutes, but data discs utilize only necessary space.
I regularly back up save files around 100-200MB. At 52x, burns take under a minute. Whereas fully burning a 4.7GB game ISO like Skyrim pushes 15+ minutes.
Don‘t Forget the Finalizing Step!
You must "finalize" discs once writing completes, adding 1-2 minutes. Finalizing closes sessions so no additional data can be written. It ensures proper formatting for universal compatibility across devices.
So factoring together capacity, speed, data amount, and finalizing – burning a full 700MB CD-R at 52x takes around 1 minute to write, plus 1-2 minutes to finalize, for a total of 2-3 minutes. And a complete 4.7GB DVD-R at 16x takes approximately 15-17 minutes.
Which Burner Speed Do You Need for Gaming?
For playing disc-based games, your optical drive speed largely doesn‘t matter. The critical specification is read speed, not write. For example, the PS2 only utilizes up to about 5x speeds.
Burning games to install or back up is where drive speed makes a bigger difference. As shown above, 52x drives slash burn times versus 16-24x models. I‘d suggest at least a 24x burner for efficient burning.
There are other factors like buffer underruns and media quality that can impact success rates. But strictly for duration, targeting higher burn speeds is key, while read speed is secondary for gaming.
Bottom Line
At the end of the day, burning a full CD generally takes 80 minutes at slow 1x, 20 minutes at moderate 16x speeds, or as little as 1-3 minutes on speedy 52x burners. Reducing the data amount directly cuts duration as well. DVD burning pushes 15-20+ minutes due to greater capacity.
Hopefully this gives you a good gauge of optical burning times as average computer user or gamer. With the right drive and media, you can mass produce game backups incredibly quickly these days compared to the era of 1x writing! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
