# Simple Q: Capacity of a CD-Rom disk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139 "2005-04-19T22:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/1 "2005-04-19T22:16:58Z")
Can someone refresh my memory…what’s the capacity of a CD-Rom disk? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/2 "2005-04-19T22:19:59Z")
Depends, but generally, 700 MB ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/3 "2005-04-19T22:34:57Z")
it’s generally possible to “overburn” quality discs to something around 800. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/4 "2005-04-19T23:05:38Z")
Which is why I said “depends” and “generally.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/5 "2005-04-19T23:20:02Z")
According to Wikipedia, ‘standard’ 74 min discs have a capacity of 650MB; higher capacities may be achieved by overburning (although attempting this can allegedly wreck your CD writer) or by using discs with a higher native capacity due to tighter spacing of the tracks (which places them outside of the ornage book standard - such discs may not necessarily be as reliable as the standard, or universally readable). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/6 "2005-04-19T23:51:41Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > it’s generally possible to “overburn” quality discs to something around 800. YMMV That’s not true. Depending on your drive and CD brands, you may be able to overburn a few MB. I can usually get an extra 2-4MB out of a CD. I’ve never seen an overburn that was even remotely close to an extra 100MB. You can get 800 MB onto a standard “700MB” cd by turning off the built-in error correction for the disc. Technically, an 80 minute CD is 800MB of raw storage, but 1 in 8 bits are used by the cd formatting to control errors. Such a move is very risky (the tiniest scratch can render the whole thing worthless), and I’m not sure if you can even make normal readable discs that way. I know you can do it for Video CDs, because the video format used has its own built-in error correction. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-q-capacity-of-a-cd-rom-disk/300139/7 "2005-04-20T03:28:43Z")
- - - One site that is unofficial yet is still pretty reliable would be the CDRFAQ site: [http://www.cdrfaq.org/](http://www.cdrfaq.org/) \*\*Subject: [1-5] How much can they hold? \*\*: [http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq01.html#S1-5](http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq01.html#S1-5) ~