Before you buy a drive, make sure your PC meets the minimum requirements, unless you're willing to accept performance that's slower than the drive's rated speed. To reap the benefit of our Plextor's 8X DVD+R speed, we needed at least an 800MHz Pentium III CPU, and Plextor suggests at least a 1.6GHz Pentium 4. Consider saving money by opting for a slower drive if your system doesn't meet the recommended requirements.