Nettop Round-Up: Four Tiny PCs, Benchmarked And Reviewed
Table of contents
- 1. Nettop Nirvana
- 2. Arctic Cooling MC001-BD
- 3. ASRock CoreHT 252B
- 4. Zotac Zbox AD03BR-PLUS
- 5. Giada i50 B5541
- 6. Test Systems And Benchmarks
- 7. Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- 8. Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 9. Benchmark Results: StarCraft II
- 10. Benchmark Results: Left 4 Dead 2
- 11. Benchmark Results: World Of Warcraft
- 12. Benchmark Results: Video Playback
- 13. Benchmark Results: Networking
- 14. Power, Temperature, And Noise Benchmarks
- 15. Have Nettops Transcended Productivity?
We're testing four nettops: Arctic Cooling’s MC001-BD, ASRock’s CoreHT 252B, Giada’s i50, and Zotac’s Zbox AD03BR-PLUS. All of these tiny, quiet systems take a very different approach to compact computing, and we fill you in on what makes them unique.
Intel’s Atom CPU might have been the driving force behind the popularization of the nettop form factor, but manufacturers are squeezing more powerful hardware into these tiny machines. Sometimes, more potent graphics performance is added via a mobile chipset. Sometimes, processing m muscle is emphasized instead with a CPU designed for powerful notebook. And now, APUs belonging to AMD's Fusion initiative are an option, serving up efficient power use and higher-performance graphics on a single processor die.
Truly, the nettop is no longer a stripped-down machine barely capable of Web browsing and word processing. These tiny PCs are tailor-made to excel in specific applications, which often includes use in a home theater.
We’re taking a close look at four very different nettops. Before we examine them, here are their specifications:
| ASRock Core100HT-BD | Giada i50 B5541 | Arctic Cooling MC001-BD | Zotac Zbox AD03BR-Plus | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nettop Specifications | ||||||
| Chipset | Intel HM65 | Intel HM55 | Intel NM10 | AMD A50M | ||
| CPU | Intel Core i5-2520M (Sandy Bridge), Dual-Core, Hyper-Threaded, 2.5 GHz (3.1 Max. Turbo), 3 MB L3 Cache | Intel Core i3-430UM (Arrandale), Dual-Core, Hyper-Threaded, 1.2 GHz (1.73 Max. Turbo), 3 MB L3 Cache | Intel Atom D525 (Pineview-D) Dual-Core, Hyper-Threaded, 1.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache | AMD E-350 (Zacate) Dual-Core, 1.6 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache | ||
| System Memory | Asint PC3-10700, 2 x 2 GB, 665 MHz, CL 9-9-9-24-1T (dual-channel) | Kingston PC3-10700 1 x 4 GB, 400 MHz, CL 6-6-6-15-1T (single-channel) | Nanya PC3-10700, 2 x 2 GB, 399 MHz, CL 6-6-6-15-2T (single-channel) | Samsung PC3-10700 1 x 2 GB, 533 MHz, CL 9-9-9-24-1T (single-channel) | ||
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 3000 (Integrated, shared RAM) | Intel HD Graphics (Integrated, shared RAM) | Mobility Radeon HD 5430 (512 MB dedicated GDDR3, 800 MHz ) | Radeon HD 6310 (Integrated, shared RAM) | ||
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Scorpio Black 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA 3Gb/s | Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA 3Gb/s | Hitachi Travelstar 7K500 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA 3Gb/s | Samsung Spinpoint 250 GB, 5400 RPM, 8 MB cache, SATA 3Gb/s | ||
| Optical Drive | LG DS-4E1S Slimline 4x Blu-ray ROM 8x DVD-RW SATA | Not included | LG DS-4E1S Slimline 4x Blu-ray ROM 8x DVD-RW SATA | Blu-ray/DVD/CD Combo Drive | ||
| Remote | Included | Included | Not included, but Smartphone app available soon | Not included | ||
| Internal Interfaces | ||||||
| Memory Support | Two 204-pin SO-DIMMs DDR3-1333, Up to 8 GB | One 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3, up to 8 GB | Two 204-pin SO-DIMMs DDR3, Up to 4 GB | Two 204-pin SO-DIMMs DDR3, Up to 8 GB | ||
| I/O Panel Connectors | ||||||
| DVI | none | none | none | 1 | ||
| VGA | 1 | 1 | 1 | none | ||
| HDMI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| USB 2.0 (3.0) | 4 (4) | 4 (1) | 5 (2) | 1 (2) | ||
| Memory Card Reader | none | SD/MMC/MS/MSPRO | 4-in-1 Memory Card Reader | MMC/SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/xD | ||
| Network | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| eSATA | 1 (combo eSATA/USB 2.0) | none | none | 1 (combo eSATA/USB 2.0) | ||
| Digital Audio Out | Optical/HDMI | HDMI | Optical/HDMI | Optical/HDMI | ||
| Analog Audio | 5 rear, 2 front jacks | 2 top jacks | 6 rear, 2 front jacks | 2 front jacks | ||
| Mass Storage Controllers | ||||||
| Chipset SATA | 3 x SATA 3Gb/s (2 used for optical and HDD) | 1 x SATA 3Gb/s (used for HDD) | 2 x SATA 3Gb/s (2 used for optical and HDD) | 2 x SATA 3Gb/s (2 used for optical and HDD) | ||
| Ethernet & Wireless | ||||||
| LAN | Realtek 8111E PCIe | Realtek 8111E PCIe | Realtek 8111E PCIe | Realtek 8111DL PCIe | ||
| Wi-Fi | Atheros AR9287 2T2R 802.11b/g/n | Azurewave AW-NB037H 802.11b/g/n | Ralink RT3070L 802.11b/g/n | Atheros AR9287 2T2R 802.11b/g/n | ||
| Bluetooth | none | Azurewave AW-NB037H 802.11b/g/n | none | none | ||
| Audio | ||||||
| HD Audio Codec | Analog and optical: Realtek ALC892 HDMI: Intel Display Audio | Analog: Realtek ALC662 HDMI: Intel Display Audio | Analog and optical: Realtek ALC892 HDMI: AMD HD Audio | Analog and optical: Realtek ALC888 HDMI: AMD HD Audio | ||
| Audio Channels | 7.1-Ch HD Audio with THX TruStudio PRO | 5.1-Ch HD Audio | 7.1-Ch HD Audio | 7.1 + 2-Ch HD Audio | ||
| Price | ||||||
| With Windows OS | Not Available | $659 at shop.polywell.com (including Windows 7 Home Premium) | $714 at www.arctic.ca (including Windows 7 Home Premium) | Not Available | ||
| Without Windows OS | $800 at www.newegg.com | 2 GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive alternate available at www.amazon.com with Ubuntu for $465 | Not Available | $504 at www.zotacUSA.com, or $399 for barebone (no OS, memory or hard disk) | ||
- nettop ,
- zbox ,
- coreht-252b
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I'm sure you mean Core i5-430UM in the Giada i50...