With any modern PC (< 5 years old), the machine itself
isn't limiting factor.

What limits you for CD burning is
- the speed of the drive (most drives now are 40X+)
- rated speed of the CD-R media (most all media burns at 40X+ now)

What limits you for DVD burning is just like CDs: the
speed of the drive and speed of the media. The quality of
DVD varies widely though (just like CD media years ago) so
get good media. Videohelp.com has ratings to help you out.

It sounds like you are trying to burn a DVD at 2X speed,
which takes a half hour or so. Buy a faster drive and
media that is rated faster.



> Is it just the HD speed? 'Cause my drives max out a 16x. If i put it to burn at
> 24x, it stays at 20x for a minute then spins down to 16x and stays.
>
> I moved up the processor and ram ( 1800 266 to 2800 333 ), but that had no
> effect. Would the only way to speed it up be a faster HD? ( this one is 7200rpm,
> the next step would be SATA )
>
> A CD burn at 5-6 minutes ain't bad, but being stuck with 2x DVD burning isn't
> fun. 30 minutes a pop is pretty time consuming.