# Do DVDs spin slower than CDs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 18, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188 "2005-12-18T18:05:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188/1 "2005-12-18T18:05:19Z")

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I bought myself a new laptop three days ago, and lo and behold, it ain’t quite right–the optical drive buzzes like a B52 when a CD is running. It is much quieter when playing a DVD, though. Might this be because DVDs spin slower than CDs?

Also, is it absolutely clear that I’ll have to exchange my laptop for another, or might this be something I can fix myself, quickly and easily, without voiding the warranty?

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188/2 "2005-12-18T18:25:40Z")

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Are you playing an ordinary audio CD at 1x rate or a data CD that may be spinning at maximum rate? I honestly don’t know what the 1x spin rate is for both but that may account for what you’re seeing.

Does it happen with all CDs? This is often a consequence of the disk being unbalanced by something as little as the label design having more ink on one side than the other.

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**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188/3 "2005-12-18T19:57:55Z")

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The 1x rate for CDs and DVDs is about the same, between 200 and 500 rpm.

However, computer CD drives are much, much faster than DVD drives. The fastest CD-Rom drives can go up to 58x, or 29,000 rpm (which is actually dangerously fast, as Mythbusters proved) while the fastest DVD-Rom drive on the market is only 16x – and if your laptop is over a year old, it’s likely only a 4x or 8x drive.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with your laptop. This is normal. 🆒

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**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-dvds-spin-slower-than-cds/336188/4 "2005-12-18T21:02:48Z")

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Some CD/DVD drives have built-in vibration sensors. This allows them to automatically reduce the motor speed when an out-of-balance CD or DVD starts making noise.