Comparative CPU Performance and System Tests
We wanted to find out where we stood with processing power before we ran any long drawn out benchmarks. To do this we ran AIDA tests CPU, FPU and Memory tests.
What we glean from these tests is that this CPU has the processing power for all daily activities. Though some of the systems that are comparable in speed to the D2500 seem antiquated; the fact is many of these same processors are running in offices around the world today. As far as comparing apples to apples do notice that the i35G pulls ahead of another generic ATOM D2500 based system in all but one test and bests an AMD E350 about half of the time.
Moving to system benchmarks, we simply ran one that is globally comparable, PCMark 7. The resulting score was 836. This may seem low but it is in good company. We tapped the HWBot database for this and systems with comparable scores can be found :HERE: All in all this system is really not weak when compared to other general usage systems.
We also wanted to test out the USB system a little and for this we used a WD USB 2.0 2TB MYBook backup drive, Icy Dock – Blizzard USB 3.0 with 7200RPM SATA II drive and a Thermaltake BlacX 5G USB 3.0 with 7200RPM SATA II drive. The drives hit the wall here so just for fun we
loaded the external drive housings with a Mushkin Chronos 120GB in SATA III flavor
and we got almost identical results.
For compassion we ran some tests on our i7 870 p55 system. We tested with the same HDD as above (left) and then the SSD (right) using the Icy Dock – Blizzard case
and we found no measurable deficiencies when compared to the i7 system.
Moving to gaming tests – again – only one was run. Why? Well though this system does well against other low end systems you will not want to do any heavy gaming. A score of 496 was achieved in 3DMark 11 which compares very well at HWBot. :LINK:
So gaming is an option if you are willing to lower all settings to minimum; just make sure you read the system requirements before you buy.
We know you can game with this system, however limited that may be, so we decided to do a little nostalgic testing – because? Well because we wanted to and we felt it unfair to present this unit, which integrates into your home entertainment center, without giving you more entertainment options.
Project 64 (Nintendo 64 emulator) and MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) were used for this testing as they are very popular. Now we could also try and hook up a console controller through Bluetooth but, since it can be a bit buggy, we will simply use a wireless USB controller with a PS3 layout.
Using Project 64 we tested Super Mario 64, Mario Cart 64 and Scooby Doo (Yeah we like Scooby; what of it?) with good results. We did have to set the frame rate limiter (unplayable at over 200fps) and after that it was smooth sailing.
When we moved to MAME; we knew where we were going – Mr.DO!
After hours of “The Do Man” we did a little 1941 and then loaded up Samurai Showdown for some stress relieving, one on one, bloodletting. This system will run most MAME games rather well but some (Like Tekken) may be slow.
Functional Testing
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is probably one of the most widespread wireless protocols, yet completely underutilized, in the world. It is on every modern cell phone and smart device (I think it is anyway) and all most people ever use it for is an ear piece. People just never notice the connectivity benefits because they just plug and go. Forget the plug – sit in your chair and update your media, sync some phone books and upload your pics.
It is as easy as 1, 2, 3 once you enable Bluetooth on your PC. Simply turn Bluetooth on and make it discoverable on your mobile device, go to your start menu (Win7) open devices and printers and select add device and when prompted by the device allow paring. At that point you are in the door. Your device is paired and will stay that way unless you decide otherwise.
Media and Streaming
DVD, Flash and Silverlight playback was smooth and we were very satisfied with the total (we did not hear it) silence of the i35G when watching movies. Web browsing was a given here as was serving media and office applications but we had a question “Could we serve media while watching a DVD?” We needed an answer to this question; we got it.
Additional components used here were an ASUS USB Powered DVD-ROM (Scooby Doo DVD; Yeah – Scooby! What of it?) and an Icy Dock External HDD enclosure with a 7200 RPM SATA drive.
First we had to play with it a little so we watched a DVD while streaming from another PC and the results are shown below. The power usage was 22 watts but that is with an ASUS USB powered DVD ROM hooked to the system.
We then made our final system test which was streaming out two occurrences of Enemy Mine in HD to two systems while streaming in an SD movie from our media server and playing a DVD.
Power usage was unchanged at 22 watts and CPU/memory stayed relatively the same as well.
Power usage
Moving to power usage we ran into some issues. At idle the system did not draw enough current to give consistent usage readings. We could have opted to use other methods of measuring the power but in the end it really seemed not worth it as the highest draw we saw from the system itself was only 31 watts under OCCT power supply test.
2 Comments
shaun,
Because this system is at the bottom end of the specifications for the InfiniTV 4 USB I would have to say no it would not. This is based on the CPU processor and GFX. The device itself can stream to four devices and playback (probably capture as well) but working with the InfiniTV 4 USB may be an issue.
How would this computer do with a Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB? Would it be able to record 4 shows at once and still play back one without having problems?