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The high caps on card shows ONKYO high intention for the professional audio card. Some internet rumors said next generation SE-300PCI will move to X-FI chipset. I guess it might cater to game or movie hobbyist. SE-200PCI interface is same as VIA driver software. As my personal experience with several VIA 1723/1724 audio cards, this interface is very familiar. VIA interface is pretty simple. You can use default for all. I think it because Envy24HT is audio quality oriented, it doesn’t have many soundstage setups. Conclusion after watching movie High frequency tone is very good. It’s mellower than X-FI, but the difference is small. Middle frequency is very good. You can hear all the human sound detail and the clarity is much better. Low frequency is also mid-high level. Even it’s not such powerful as X-FI, however it’s not far away. Overall, I found the human sound is clear and you can feel the levels as background music or special effects. The accent is not so strong. The sound is a little bit weak, but the stretch is very good. The overall is more balance than X-FI. In game, it’s similar to movie Comparing to X-FI, you still can hear some detail, but the surround sound is a little weak. The difference is not big gap comparing to music. However, it’s not a big problem. You can adjust the soundstage mode in desktop controller to enhance the accent and surrounding. Using SE-200PCI can leverage SP2500 sound clarity and restoration to another level. It’s more suitable for users who need lossless audio. The mid and high frequency is enhanced very much. SE-200PCI comparing to X-FI, the soundstage and accent is a little bit weak.] For the diversity factor, if you like stronger accent, you can use controller to adjust the soundstage to enhance the low frequency. BTW, X-FI uses analog 3.5mm jack, but SE-200PCI uses digital RCA jack. It may be the reason to cause the difference. For built-in X-FI audio has such good quality, G1.SNIPER use high level audio caps is the key factor. I have been using 5.1 channels speaker for years, because I thought only 5.1 channels speaker has better surrounding stereo. After comparing with few friends’ 2.1 channel one, I found the audio detail and human sound are better than 5.1 channels. 2.1 channels speaker is more suitable for my demand. This CORSAIR SP2500 is high end 2.1 Gaming PC speaker. CORSAIR also has mid-end SP2200. SP2200 price is only 40% of SP2500. The position is par price PC speaker. The first sight of SP2500, I feel the outlook and quality are good level. The desktop controller is also very fine. Even though it position at Gaming segment, the sound in move is also very good. It’s a very competent for multimedia PC speaker. Combining with 2 high end audio chips, the overall performance is very good level. Good gaming speakers need good audio cards to bring it into full play. I hope this review can be your reference for gaming speaker. The audio quality test above is subjective. Everyone has your own feeling for audio. The sense range is PC speaker level. I set up in default values to avoid the environment affect. This review also post in my blog WIND3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise. Thanks

Audio Creation mode. I don’t test mix or recorder this time, so I won’t use this mode. Select Entertainment Mode for Watching Movie High frequency tone is very good. You won’t hear grating sound. Mid frequency is mid-high level. You can discern human voice clarity clearly. I think the weak point is the rich sense of mid frequency. X-FI chip needs to improve in the future. Low frequency is the key part of this combo. Accent is not to strong. You can hear the fat and extension. For computer speaker position, this is very high level one. Basically, it’s very average. SP2500 and X-FI build very good soundstage. The sound exquisite and reproduction is mid-high level. This combo is suitable for gaming and movie. Select Game Mode for Playing Game Surrounding sense is very strong, especially the character walks on the plank. The “wide open space” sound is very good due to 2 channels mutual act. In the fighting game, the effect is from characters fight and the background music. Accent and surrounding soundstage make you feel being on spot. This platform is also rare top end LAG 1366 system. CPU is Core i7-990X Extreme which is just launched 2 months. I also would like to share you some air cooling OC performance. CPU 200 X 21 => 4199.8MHz 1.400V DDR3 1600 CL7 8-7-21 1T 1.600V Hyper PI 32M X 12 => 14m 47.891s CPUMARK 99 => 720 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 11.76 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.60 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.8 PCMark Vantage => 22787 Intel 990X review is not many in internet, I just share some OC performance with G1.SNIPE. 990X OC range is better than my previous 980X, air cooling 4.2G at 1.4V Some benchmark software seems don’t support 6C12T. So some CPU test performance is only a little bit higher than 4C8T structure. I suggest you can refer to CINEBENCH R11.5. The multitasking score of 990X 4.6GHzis 11.76 and 920 4.2GHz is 7.23 In full support 6C12T software, 990X can have wider CPU performance improvement. Back to audio again, next is desktop controller and 4 setup pages. Volume, normally over 5 levels is very loud. Subwoofer, I recommend to adjust to second level, the green zone, to have better low frequency. However, low frequency is depending personal like, you can adjust by yourself. Program items LATE NIGHT/STADIUM/CONCERT HALL/CLUB/THEATRE/KARAOKE/DYNAMIC POP/WIDE Input items LINE/AUX1/AUX2 Eq items REFERENCE/CLASSICAL/POP/JAZZ/Mod X/ACTION/DRAMA/FPS/ACTION GAMING/HEADPHONES。 User can fine tune program/eq items to pick the most suitable soundstage effect. It provides 9 languages for choice. It includes Chinese(Simple) and Japanese, etc. The backlight background screen displays the time, dividing into 5/10/30/60 seconds. The colors can choose Day and Night. The LCD color will change to the suitable one. The desktop controller has very rich items. You can optimize your soundstage in many options. It also provides 9 languages to choose and the background can display “seconds” and also can choose Day or Night mode. SP2500 desktop controller is very exquisite. It’s hard to see in normal PC speakers. In order to make CORSAIR SP2500 sound be more clear, I use ONKYO SE-200PCI to test. It’s VIA Envy24HT series and the model is VT1724. This sound card is very suitable for listening music. The patch is more clean and pure. Some audio vendors also use VIA chipset for recorder card. The reputation in internet is very high.

Close look to satellite speaker front Central blue circle is 3” and official spec is 40W. Upper left circle is 1” and official spec is 16W.. 56 watts per satellite, so the continuous power is 112W . Total output of the speaker system includes subwoofer is 232W RMS which is bridged 6 Class-D amplifiers. Subwoofer backside IO design Upper Left “Remote” is for desktop controller. Upper Right red/white ATX4 jack is for satellite speakers. ATX4 is a really good design that can avoid oxidation after long time use. Lower Left green AUX1 jack is for audio card 3.5mm connector. Lower Right red/white RCA jack is for high end stereo devices to connect. Power Input They list the certificate and caution list. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-990X Extreme MB: GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER DRAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9 VGA: msi N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II HD: Intel 320 SERIES 160GB POWER: be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER GOLDEN 550W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit I separate 2 parts to test the audio quality. One is using MB built-in audio chip. Currently, the most top built-in audio is GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER. Furthermore, G1.SNIPER and SP2500 are positioning for Gaming market. This combo can make audio quality be better. G1.SNIPER changes their audio and network chips comparing to past high end boards. It also supports multi-VGA technology. The users can have more expandibility. GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER built-in Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio processor, model is 20K2. Built-in 128MB Memory cache for 20K2. This design is for Creative high-end audio card only before. Yellow and Green Caps are special for audio only. This is the first time I saw such high end audio chip, capacitors and cache design in MB. There are some threads in internet to discuss this design as well. Some users think the caps will cause audio be too thin and hard. I hope G1.SNIPER can consider the hiend components on audio card to enhance their audio quality level. Creative X-FI software provides Entertainment/Game/Audio Creation modes. Entertainment mode provides highest quality for audio and movie playback. I use this mode for movie test after. Game mode panel optimizes the game soundstage.

Most Gamers use game console or computer to play many games. For PC game users, 3D games’ video and audio effects are very important. First of all, for better visual effects, the users need good VGA and large LCD monitor. For the audio, I suggest hi-end audio chips and Gaming speakers for better audio. If you use computer long time every day, I think LCD, Keyboard and Speaker are worth to invest. Many people use their monitor, keyboard and speaker for 5~10 years. Investing better quality peripherals can let you feel more comfortable and longer life. These peripherals contact your sense directly. Better equipment can avoid your uncomfortable feeling. USA CORSAIR recently launched several audio devices. You can find the headset and speaker product line in their website. This review is Gaming Audio Series. The model is SP2500 High-power 2.1 PC Speaker System. You can clear understand it focus on gaming market. It should be a good option for gamers. SP2500 is official 2 years warranty. The box dimension is 57(Length) X 49(Width) X 40(Height) cm As the box is bigger, the space and protection are quite good. SP2500 is 2.1 channel PC speaker system. The pic below is Subwoofer. 8 inches 120W. It bridged dual 60 Watt class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP for 120 Watts of power. Fourth-order closed bandpass design with durable rubber surround. The dimensions are 46 x 25.8 x 29.7 cm. It’s quite big size which we consider to computer speaker. The manual has notice that user should allow 25cm clearance from Subwoofer to object. SP2500 is one Subwoofer and 2 satellites. It also has 1.8” LCD wired desk controller. Users can adjust the volume easily. Accessories Multi-lingual installation guide and other information Cables Start from Left, Power Cord/3.5mm, Stereo Cable/RCA, Audio Cable /ATX4, Satellites Speaker wire 1.8" TFT controller and satellites base The desktop controller has 2 jacks. One is 3.5mm auxiliary inputs and the other is mini USB. Lower-Right is a 3.5mm headset output. 2-Way Satellite Speakers The dimensions are 10.8 x 12 x 15.9 cm. The actual weight is 924g. The case is made from good quality plastic. Front bottom with block up part, the sound can surround the room more widely. The satellite speaker has round cushion in 4 bottom corners.

GIGABYTE G1.Assassin Good 1. G1.Assassin is most high end model of G1-Killer series. The packing and components are top level. 2. Built-in Creative CA20K2 audio chip, Japanese made high end capacitors and 128MB Memory cache. 3. Killer E2100 Network NPU chip with 1GB DDR2 cache for more efficient traffic control 4. Support both 4WAY ATI CFX and 3WAY NVIDIA SLI technology. It meet Gaming demand. 5. Exclusive Front Access Control Panel supports USB 3.0 and Quick Boost. It also Built-in Front Audio Headphone Amplifier 6. Rich BIOS items and high voltage range. CPU/DDR3 ability is excellent. 7. Very special military style thermal module design. The quality and visual affect are very good. Bad 1. So far, LGA 1366 32nm/6Core CPU price is still too high 2. XL-ATX Case is rare. 3. X58 chipset power consumption is higher than other P series platform. Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ Components ★★★★★★★★★★ Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆ Outlook ★★★★★★★★☆☆ C/P Value ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ G1.Assassin is the top model of G1-Killer series. The components and features are most complete. Of course the price is for high end market. The market price is around 15700NTD, 543USD. Comparing to G1-Kille entry G1.Guerrilla, the price is 10700, around 370USD. However, G1.Guerrilla has no X-FI audio chip and other spec is lower. If you compare G1.Assassin with others top Gaming X58, G1-Killer price has no advantage. The key strength is new audio and network design. Especially the audio performance is almost the best MB built-in audio currently. I also test other brand X-FI audio card, duo to the chipset and components, the real sound field and audio affect is behind G1.Assassin. G1-Killer Series is right position in Game filed. For multi-VGA gaming X58 platform, it’s really satisfied the most gamer’s requirements to build an exclusive high end Gaming platform. This review also post in my blog WIND3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise. Thanks

LOST PLANET 2 DX11 1920 X 1080 TEST B – 46.4 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 4409 As the latest GTX560-Ti, the 3D performance is mid to high level. X58 the best advantage is the PCI-E bandwidth is much higher than P55/67 series. It’s good help for ATI CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI performance. It’s also more suitable for positioning to Gaming MB. BTW, in previous review, I found nVIDIA performance drop issue at 1920X1200 resolution. The new nVIDIA driver has fixed this issue. G1.Assassin is not only focus on audio chip and capacitors. It’s also considering the headset. It built-in Front Audio Headphone Amplifier and be able to drive 150Ω loads, allow Gaming users to enjoy the higher quality audio. For real audio performance, I use CORSAIR HS1A Gaming Headset to test. First of all, you can see the packing. It’s official 2 years warranty. HS1A size is 210mm x 130mm x 235mm The extra-large diameter and deep-dish design help prevent them from touching your ears to avoid the uncomfortable issue. Overall, the headset components and quality are quite high level. If they can improve the wire, that will be perfect. It also provides microphone for users to chat with the others during playing game. The controller can adjust microphone switch and volume. In OS, Creative application interface provides several language packs for users to choose. There are Entertainment, Game, Audio Creation modes. The Game mode panel and items as below. It includes rich fine tune items. Audio Creation mode provides different panel and items. It looks like Creative own EMU audio panel, but actually the items and features are different. Entertainment mode panel interface is easy to use. Items and features are easy to understand. Creative application features are very varity. In Audio Creation Mode, listening songs or music. The high frequency has no ear-piercing or uncomfortable tones. It’s good performance. In intermediate frequency, I can hear all clear sounds. However, it lacks of human sounds reality. This is the part X-FI chip needs to improve. Low frequency is the key part of this headset and audio chip combination. The bass is very good. It’s really high standard. The overall performance is quite average. For the sound field, it can perform well. My most impressive part is the sound field is really surrounding. The sound sophistication and reality restore quality are mid high standard. However, it’s not X-FI strength. In Entertainment mode This is the emphasize part of X-FI. I use CORSAIR Gaming headset to listen all the sounds affect. The sound field is very good. No matter for bass or fighting scene, the sound is very shock. As this combination, it’s very high C/P for Gamers. It’s for your reference only. Fianlly, I post Intel latest launched, end of March, the top end CPU, Core i7 990X Extreme default performance test CPU 133.2 X 26 => 3463.2MHz DDR3 1865.4 CL8 9-8-24 1T 1.600V CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 9.22 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.24 pts 6C/12T has very high benchmark in default mode. In the future, I will find a chance to share you the detail 990X performance and OC share.

PCMark Vantage => 18792 This Intel Core i7 930 is 45nm but the OC range is very good. I just need 1.325V to achieve 4.2GHz. After that, I try to increase the CPU voltage and I can achieve 4.4GHz to run most software at around 1.4V. However, I cannot run all software stable, so I give up this setting. X58 platform OC performance is able to support most applications and conditions. Of course, for users, the speed demand is never enough. Faster and faster DeskTop PC performance is always the never changed goal for IT industry. DDR3 Bandwidth Comparison DDR3 1600 CL7 8-7-21 1T 1.600V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 26409 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 17585 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 19911 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL10 10-10-30 1T 1.640V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30480 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 20361 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 21168 MB/s LGA 1366 is the only 3 channel platform. The DDR3 bandwidth is extremely high. Even though the latest Sandy Bridge LGA 1155 platform optimizes the Memory Controller, these 2 platforms have each own advantages. X58 DDR3 bandwidth is key features and DDR3 OC range is better. In this test, the CORSAIR VENGEANC DDR 1600 CL9 can OC to DDR3 2000 CL10. Even the CL is not as good as DDR3 1600, pulling to higher clock is still good for bandwidth performance. Temperature Enter to Desktop - 37~43 CPU Full Speed - 66~76 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum CPU OC voltage is low, so the temperature is lower as well. This is a good result. In full speed, the temperature is around 66~76. If you put all system into case and make good air flow, it will increase 5~8 maximum. For long time usage, the system is able to be stable Power Consumption Enter to Desktop - 158W CPU Full Speed - 304W Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum OCCT POWER SUPPLY Mode - 525W The VGA is nVIDIA latest mid-end GTX 560 Ti. After OC, the power consumption as entering to Desktop is still acceptable. In 4.2GHz/4Cores full speed condition, it’s also just around 300W. If you use OCCT to make CPU/VGA be full load, the total power consumption is going to 525W. Normally, the PC power consumption is directly proportional. I recommend 600W Power Supply for this system. 3D Performance Test msi N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II default is GPU 880/2100 3DMark Vantage => P23278 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1080 => 289.56 FPS

Memory Setup Page Advanced DDR3 parameters setup Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration Standard/Level1/Level2 CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.120~2.000V CPU PLL 1.300~2.520V ICH Core 0.920~2.380V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V PC Health Status During OC, besides CPU and DDR3 quality, the voltage tuning is also very important. In above G1.Assassin setup screen, QPI/Vtt Voltage item is the key to pull high CPU clock. This i7-930 CPU quality is not bad, in 200/1600 ratio, I don’t need to adjust QPI/Vtt Voltage. If you want to run stable at 200/2000 ratio, the proper voltage is the key factor to OC X58 chipset. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-930 MB: GIGABYTE G1.Assassin DRAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9 VGA: msi N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II HD: Intel X25-V 40GB RAID 0 POWER: be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER GOLDEN 550W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit OC Performance CPU 200 X 21 => 4199.8MHz 1.325V DDR3 1600 CL7 8-7-21 1T 1.600V Hyper PI 32M X8 => 13m 55.912s CPUMARK 99 => 660 Nuclearus Multi Core => 28279 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 32.02/15368 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 313604 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 7.23 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.47 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.7

IO 4 X USB 2.0(black) 4 X USB 3.0(blue) 1 X RJ-45 LAN 1 X S/PDIF Optical/Coaxial output Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Audio Processor, 20K2 Built-in 128MB Memory cache for 20K2. In my impression, this design is for Creative high-end audio card only. Nichicon MUSE ES(green) and MW(yellow) Bi-Polarized audio capacitors. You can see the intention in audio design to get the best audio quality. This is the first time I saw such high end audio chip, capacitors and cache design in MB. I have very high expectation for the audio quality. Of course, this kind of design and other brands X-FI audio card quality must be made real comparison to see the difference. LAN Chip is one more G1-Killer important features. It uses Killer E2100 chip, also called NPU. Besides the past CPU and GPU, now you also can see NPU. You can feel how fast the computer hardware technology improvement. It built-in 1GB DDR2 to process the network traffic control. It helps offload network traffic from the CPU. Another feature is Game Networking, DNA, technology. It offloads gaming data directly to the NPU to deliver tremendous speed benefits. The complete new design thermal module is based on bullet and cartridge, called Locked and Loaded Heatpipe Design . The Upper-Mid and Left are VRM heatpipe. Lower is X58 chipset heatsink and the 5 green LEDs are glowing after power on. This SB ICH10R heatsink is very special Visual effect. The outlook is copy cartridge with one copper bullet. It’s really eye catching. Also the big heatsink, this thermal solution is both for good looking and performance. Boot Screen BIOS Main Page Main BIOS Tuning Menu, called M.I.T. It displays BIOS version, CPU/DRAM clock, DDR3 capacity, CPU temperature and CPU/DRAM voltage info. You can adjust CPU ratio, clock and DDR3 multiplier. The pic is CPU 200Mhz/DDR3 1600 set up screen. CPU Related Technology Items C1E is for power saving. Intel Turbo Boost is contrary with C1E. The CPU can boost speed during high load mode.

I still remember Intel launched the 1st Core i7 platform in Nov 2008 to depart from Core 2 Duo structure. The 1st Core i7 chipset is X58 and CPU socket is LGA 1366 which position in extreme segment. In mid 2009, Intel launched same structure with LGA 1156 socket which is mid to high end market. Early this year, the 2nd generation Core i structure, LGA 1155, launched and the position is overlap with LGA 1156. In the market, there are 3 platforms for Core i7 structure, but the most high-end is still X58. As per the internet news, LGA 1366 product line will be available till end of 2011, and the life cycle will be over 3 years. The existing time for the platform is catching up LGA 775. GIGABYTE latest G1-Killer X58 series has 3 models, G1.Sniper, G1.Guerrilla and G1.Assassin Even though this is late X58 products, if you use Intel latest Core i7-990X, it’s still the most top LGA 1366 platform. Of course the cost is also high end market level. G1.Assassin is the most high-end model of G1-Killer series. The form factor is XL-ATX, 34.5cm x 26.3cm. The XL-ATX Case is still rare in the market. The pantone is black and green. This is the first time for GIGABYTE MB. There are 5 Smart Fan headers. The users can control the chassis temperature more efficiently. G1-Killer is also the first GIGABYTE Gaming series MB. In the past, many brands used to launch gaming series high end boards. No matter components usage and features, G1.Assassin is really fit for Gaming. You will see the detail as following my further introduction. Accessories Product manual, Software manual, Driver CD, I/O shield, SATA cables and CrossFireX/SLI bridge G1-Killer poster and stickers Front Access Control Panel It offers 2 USB 3.0 and 1 Power eSATA Left side Quick Boost button can switch user to OC mode to enhance the system performance. Lower-Left Corner 2 X PCI-E X16 support X16 bandwidth 2 X PCI-E X16 support X8 bandwidth The PCI-E can support up to 4-Way ATI CrossFireX and 3-Way NVIDIA SLI 2 X PCI-E X1 1 X PCI Bigfoot Killer E2100 LAN chip Creative CA20K2 Audio chip supports Dolby Digital Live, DTS Connect, X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity and EAX Advanced HD 5.0 technology. It supports up to 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio. Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X black SATAII, provided by ICH10R, SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X white SATAIII, provided by Marvell 9182, SATA3 and support RAID 0, RAID 1 2 X 16 Mbit flash, Dual BIOS, dual protection. Upper-Right Corner 6 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/2200 and max capacity is 24GB DDR3 has 2 phase PWM and next is 24-PIN power connector Upper-Left Corner LGA 1366 CPU Socket, CPU metal cover uses plating one G1.Assassin uses 16 phases PWM and support dual 8 phases power switching mode. It needs GIGAYTE Dynamic Energy Saving (DES2) software to enable the dual power switching function. Back is two 8 PIN design for enhancing system stability under high loading condition

Of the many cases in which ITX motherboards can be installed, sometimes design specifications call for installation of 2.5-inch HDDs in order to keep the space compact If you need larger capacity, you can choose a 2.5-inch HDD for notebooks. If you need performance, SSD immediately comes to mind Currently on the market there are two different directions in the choice of storage hardware In those platforms equipped with CORSAIR FORCE SERIES F60, we hope to make the ITX platform achieve better transmission performance When the ATTO DISK Benchmark exceeds 16k, performance is good, and the maximum read speed is 281.9 MB/s, while the maximum write speed is 264.4 MB/s When the EVEREST File Benchmark exceeds 1024k in these tests, performance begins to approach or exceed 250-275 MB/s CrystalDiskMark 4K QD32 Read -97.57 MB/s Write - 60.34 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 201.18 MB/s Write - 44.04 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 100.32 MB/s Write - 47.20 MB/s For the ECS H67H2-I using the latest H67 chipset, data transfer performance is quite good The CORSAIR FORCE F60’s maximum specification is 285/275 MB/s, and maximum performance is almost certain to be achieved with some test software The 4K performance is quite good, and for users’ small file performance needs, the selection of the SSD with faster 4K read speed is a vital factor Video playback test Startup of Inception, a Blu-ray movie on hand. All rights are reserved by the publisher of the above video. Start menu Software used -- PowerDVD 10 Resolution of 1920 x 1080 At this point, CPU usage is very low, about 0-2% Video process 2-6% CPU usage Playing video files directly Video resolution of 1280 x 720 0-5% CPU utilization Video resolution of 1440 x 1080 5-12% CPU utilization The second generation Core i3 has excellent multimedia performance, and in video playback tests, CPU utilization seldom exceeds 15% Under playback conditions for most video formats, CPU utilization in general is only 1-12% With regard to the ITX architecture, performance is very high, and for use as a HTPC it is more than sufficient by several times Although the performance of an HTPC needs at least smooth video playing, we are certain that consumers will never be dissatisfied with performance Video conversion is a new technology of Sandy Bridge -- one of its main features The following is a test of Intel's new Quick Sync Video technology MediaEspresso test of the time required for video conversion by the built-in GPU DVD file VTS_01_1.VOB, size capacity of 1023MB, 2500K converted into an MP4 file Intel HD Graphics HD2000 Starting Intel Quick Sync Video (better quality) 10 minutes 39 seconds For the Intel Quick Sync Video technology to speed up video conversion, a prerequisite is the need to run the built-in GPU HD2000/HD3000 before this feature can be used. We have previously compared Intel Quick Sync Video with nVIDIA and CUDA, two video conversion technologies. The speed comparison shows Quick Sync Video has the advantage, and for users with this application in mind, this should be a significant benefit. ECS H67H2-I Advantages 1. High-end Mini ITX specification H67 product with abundant accessories 2. All solid capacitors, eSATA, USB 3.0/eSATA and other components 3. Built-in Bluetooth capability, support for v2.1 + EDR technology, with a Mini PCI-E for extended use also provided 4. BIOS allows overclocking of the GPU so that 3D performance achieves a higher standard 5. With regard to the performance of the i3 CPU that is part of Sandy Bridge, temperature and power achieve good performance Shortcomings 1. We recommend that a BIOS C1E option be created for users to freely choose performance modes 2. If an antenna that’s necessary for the wireless network can be added, it will be an improent vem Performance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Components ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Specifications ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Appearance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Price to performance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ☆ In the past two years, ECS has performed well in the area of small Mini ITX motherboards The launch of the H55H-I in the earlier generation LGA 1156 architecture was very well positioned in the market in terms of price to performance This time around, the H67H2-I added Bluetooth capabilities and a Mini PCI-E slot for wireless networks to the specifications, making the HTPC platform an even better proposition. The price is about NT$3,450, or about US$120 With the H67 chipset, the price makes the H67 a worthy entry-level solution, and therefore we have very high marks for the price to performance of this product. Some time ago I shared my views on Mini ITX products based on the AMD Fusion architecture which were even a bit cheaper than this platform currently reviewed However, the AMD architecture is equivalent to the Intel Atom CPU series in terms of performance, and we can only say that the assembled HTPC's performance meets basic needs Intel’s new generation H67/H61 chipsets in the Mini ITX product line achieve quite satisfactory performance Of course, Sandy Bridge ITX products should only be considered by consumers with a certain budget range In this review of the ECS H67H2-I, I’ve found many areas where performance has been above the standard, I hope this article can be of use to ITX enthusiasts as a reference before you buy This review also post in my blog WIND3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise. Thanks

CPU full speed - 63W Standby / full speed power consumption is 25W/63W, a significant reduction compared with the previously tested i3-540 and H55 at 52W/83W This shows that all LGA1155 second-generation Core i-series platforms made with the same 32nm manufacturing process have lower power consumption and higher performance For users who care about power consumption and temperature, these two aspects make the performance advantages of the Sandy Bridge stand out even more DDR3 bandwidth DDR3 1064.4 CL7 7-7-20 1T ADIA64 Memory Read - 13912 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 14146 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy -15356 MB/s Because the previous LGA 1156 architecture uses the built-in GPU, the DDR3 suffers bandwidth limitations Starting with the new generation LGA 1155 i3, this problem has been fixed, and even if you use the built-in GPU, you can begin to take advantage of high bandwidth DDR3 provided under the new architecture. In the same way, the DDR3 1066 bandwidth of the previous and current two generations will have a greater than 50% improvement If ECS can provide an option in BIOS to switch freely between 1066/1333, higher bandwidth performance should be possible Intel HD Graphics HD2000 Benchmark Test Default clock 1100MHz 3DMark Vantage => P1041 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 26.53 FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 720 => 25.25/21.77/28.80/17.80 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 368 The specifications of the GPU in the i3-2120 are Intel's latest for the HD2000 Compared with the i5-2300 equipped with the HD2000 that was previously tested by windwithme, there is a difference in 3D performance of about 10 to 15% Compared with the 3D performance of the previous generation i3-540, this current generation has clearly made huge progress Although 3D performance is not the main strength of ITX, the performance of the built-in GPU is high, and for general 3D needs in the future, this will certainly be a big help. HD2000 Overclocking 27 X 50 => 1350MHz 3DMark Vantage => P1314 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 31.01 FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 720 => 29.52/24.30/33.54/20.71 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 434 Overclocked 3D performance can be improved by 17-26%, yet unfortunately, unlike several earlier i5 HD2000’s, overclocking in the 1700-1800MHz range is impossible. But within a small overclocking range, performance gains are not insignificant, so for those web surfers who need performance, this is worth considering However, if a huge increase in 3D performance is necessary, the better choice is to spend more for an additional graphics card

Information on hardware devices in the operating system Atheros wireless network card installed Performance tests CPU 99.8 X 33 => 3293.4MHz C1E Activated DDR3 1064.4 CL7 7-7-20 1T Hyper PI 32M X 4 => 17m 32.908s CPUMARK 99 => 508 Nuclearus Multi Core => 11878 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 13.01/6243 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 190657 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.16 pts CPU (Single Core) => 1.31 pts PCMark Vantage => 11922 Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.1 The CPU-Z cannot display the correct voltage, and BIOS must be used to find the correct voltage The situation is the same with the H55H-I generation, which may be related to the design of the special PWM that results in some software errors regarding the voltage information The i3-2120 clock goes up to 3.3GHz, providing a performance improvement of up to 10-20% with the new architecture In many of the above tests, this platform has pretty good test data, and especially in the ITX area, the performance level is high Temperature performance (room temperature about 18 degrees) System Standby - 20-26 CPU full speed - 44-49 Intel Burn Test v2.4, Stress Level Maximum Regarding the temperature of the i3 CPU, the 32nm process has always performed well, and the original thin heat sinks were used in the test Did not exceed 50 degrees at full speed, but of course after installation in the chassis, this will depend on differences in the environment or system thermal convection, raising the temperature by about 5 to 8 degrees Power Consumption Test System Standby - 25W

The top part of the H67 chipset is covered by a black heat sink with a larger surface area for heat dissipation BIOS screen M.I.B III, ECS overclocking technology This page provides adjustable voltage options. DDR3 1T/2T with the current CPU clock / DDR3 capacity / voltage status CPU Voltage +20 to 320mV IMC Voltage +10 to +630 mV DIMM Voltage -800 to +630 mV PCH Voltage 1.05/1.10V ICC options page Provides front side bus (FSB) options: actual tests show it is impossible to boost FSB I hope that later BIOSes can display options here DRAM timing information Intel default GPU overclocking options When overclocking, we recommend that graphics current be set to max The clock is set for a default of 22 at the graphics core ratio limit Each level represents a clock of 50MHz: in the figure, the setting is 27 or 27 x 50 => 1350MH IGD Memory has three options, namely 32/64/128MB For DVMT / FIXED Memory, there are three options: 128/256MB/Maximum PC Health Status In the past, most Mini ITX systems did not emphasize performance or overclocking, so the BIOS used a reduced instruction set With the H67H2-I, the BIOS options are more abundant, but if an option can be added to switch between DDR3 1066/1333, it will be better Test platform CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 MB: ECS H67H2-I DRAM: CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 VGA: Integrated Graphics HDD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB POWER: Antec HCG 400W Cooler: Intel installed heat sink OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit The CPU is the Core i3 2120 that was just recently introduced in March The product name is the Intel Core i3-2120 with a system clock of 3.3GHz The actual two cores have Hyper-Threading technology with a capacity of up to four threads that is referred to as 2C/4T 32nm process, power 65W, L3 Cache with total of 3MB, as second entry-level LGA 1155 with dual core CPU Lower left corner is Revision D2 version back column Top right is the original heat sink, and for their dual cores CPUs, Intel always uses a non-copper based design For the Sandy Bridge architecture, there are two Core i3 models on the market, namely the i3-2100 and the i3-2120 The main difference between the two models is the clock, which for the 2100 is 3.1GHz, and for the 2120, it's 3.3GHz For consumers, we feel the i3-2100 provides better price to performance value

Before in the desktop PC consumer market, it was generally difficult to buy ITX MB products The few ITX MB products on the market were expensive and suffered the limitations of notebook CPUs and DRAMs In the past two years, there has been a clear expansion in the ITX market that reflects its increasing popularity with consumers Starting with the previous generation P55/H55 chipset, a number of notebook brands invested in ITX product development and sales in order to offer more ITX MB products and let consumers set up HTPCs more easily while also allowing them to use the CPU and DDR3 specifications of desktops, thereby dropping the cost of an ITX system a lot After Intel launched the new generation Sandy Bridge this year, we've heard on the web about a lot of motherboard companies that have plans for ITX products In general, it seems they will use the H67 or H61 chipsets to reach price points comparable to Micro ATX specifications ITX has given rise to new market trends, and the new PC architecture will help boost ITX PC performance gains and allow Intel to significantly raise its visibility in the ITX market. At this point, let's return to the star of the show, the H67H2-I launched by ECS that uses the high-end H67 chipset in the Sandy Bridge architecture During the LGA 1156 era, ECS also launched the H55H-I with an H55 chipset, which shows the amount of attention this brand has paid to the ITX market. To start, take a look at the H67H2-I overall and size specifications for the Mini ITX at 17 x 17cm A comparison of the differences in the previous H55H-I generation The H67H2-I has changed to a black PCB with gray DIMM / PCI-E slots that give a stronger contrast to the appearance Another addition is the overall use of commonly seen solid capacitor materials that effectively increase the durability of the product Included accessories Manual, quick installation guide, IO bezel, SATA cable and driver software CD Includes low profile bezel meeting more general specifications allowing users to install a wireless network antenna Bottom of motherboard LGA 1155 CPU socket, LOTES brand name 1 X PCI-E Gen2.0 X16 Realtek RTL8111E LAN chip Realtek ALC892 audio chip and a codec supporting 8-channel audio and High Definition Right section of motherboard 2 x DIMM DDR3, supporting 1066/1333, DDR3 maximum capacity of 16GB. On side of board, a 24-PIN power input Top of motherboard 2 x white SATA, H67 chip installed, SATA2 specifications 2 x gray SATA, H67 chip installed, SATA3 specifications IO D-SUB/DVI/HDMI 6 x USB 2.0 (red / black) 2 x USB 3.0 (blue) 1 x RJ-45 network holes 1 x Bluetooth module 1 x eSATA CPU using four types of power input Based on Sandy Bridge's low power consumption, the maximum should be 2500K/2600K Sticker on top part indicates device meets Bluetooth specifications Another feature of the H67H2-I is the built-in Mini PCI-E slot Interface allows expansion with hardware meeting the same specifications such as mSATA SSD, TV cards or ordinary wireless network cards

At full speed of CPU: - 105W There is also a slight lag between the power consumption after overclocking and the default value. It can be known that CPU overclocking has little effect on the temperature and power consumption. Intel HD Graphics HD2000 performance test Preset frequency 3DMark Vantage => P1251 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 30.65 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 408 By comparing the built-in 2300K HD2000 GPU with the previously tested 2500K HD3000 GPU, there is a lag of about 30%~40% in its 3D performance. There is no big difference between the two in this aspect when compared in the Game. For example, the performances of 2300K HD2000 GPU and 2500K HD3000 GPU in StreetFighter IV are 30FPS and 40FPS, respectively. HD2000 overclocking frequency 37 X 50 =>1850MHz 3DMark Vantage => P2078 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 44.61 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 623 After the overclocking of HD2000, there is a performance increase of over 50% in the three kinds of Game Benchmark softwares mentioned above. Sandy Bridge’s GPU overclocking scope is greatly increased. Similarly, the preset performance is also 2~3 times higher than the last generation of i3-540 integrated with H55. The great leap in 3D performance definitely creates an impact on the M-ATX/ITX market for built-in GPU, but this also depends on how the competitor -- AMD respond with new chipsets in the future. BIOSTAR TH67XE Advantages 1. H67XE is much cheaper compared to the H67 products of other brands; 2. Built-in Power/Reset button, 7-phase PWM power supply design, USB 3.0/eSATA and other extended interfaces 3. BIOS provides CPU external frequency/GPU frequency/DDR3 frequency setting, as well as diverse voltage options. 4. The Sandy Bridge platform has low temperature and low power consumption. It also has more DDR3/GPU performance than the previous platform. Disadvantages 1. BIOSTAR has no channels in Taiwan at present; 2. Segmental adjustment is required when adjusting the external frequency of the CPU from 100MHz to 107MHz. Performance ratio: ★★★★★★★★☆ Material ratio: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Specification ratio: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Appearance ratio: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ C/P ratio: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Intel Core i5-2300 is sold at about NT$5,600 in Taiwan, which is equivalent to around US$ 190. Core i5-2400 is about NT$5,750, which is equivalent to around US$195. There is a small price difference between these two CPUs. Specifically, i5-2300 has 2.8GHz and i5-2400 has 3.1GHz; the C/P of 2400 seems to be much higher. Unless there is a price reduction of 2300 in the future so as to create a price difference between the two, customers may opt for the 2400 CPU. The tested TH67XE still has the advantages emphasized by BIOSTAR, which include effciency, overclocking and affordability. Moreover, its material and specification are much better than the low level H67, but its price is lower than the middle and high level H67 of other brands. The C/P ratio of BIOSTAR is indeed attractive to consumers given its price. It also provides an overvalued choice for consumers with limited budget. This article mainly shares information on the performance of i5-2300 integrated with H67, and its affordability in many aspects. It also provides the HD2000 3D performance test. To those who still have some questions about the 3D performance of HD2000/HD3000, I suggest you read the previous tests related to 2500K which I have uploaded. Thank you for reading this article:) This review also post in my blog WIND3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise. Thanks

DDR3 1426.8 CL7 7-7-20 1T ADIA64 Memory Read - 17417 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 18980 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy -18573 MB/s The built-in CPU of previous LGA 1156 Core i3/i5 integrated with H55, may not be able to run the DDR3 bandwidth. However, the new generation LGA 1155 may have addressed this problem with its built-in CPU that begins to retain the architecture performance. With regard to the Core i platform of Intel built-in GPU, its DRAM bandwidth performance is no longer as good as that of Core 2 Duo. There is an improvement of over 50% in the bandwidth of DDR3 1333. Overclocking performance CPU 107 X 28 =>2996MHz Start up Turbo Boost and C1E DDR3 1426.8 CL7 7-7-20 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 11m 25.356s CPUMARK 99 => 509 Nuclearus Multi Core => 17939 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 19.63/9424 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 221505 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 4.92 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.33 pts PCMark Vantage => 16264 Windows experience index - CPU 7.4 There are more limitations for Sandy Bridge in CPU overclocking than ever before. If only the CPU external frequency is adjusted, then the CPU can operate stably within a range of 104~107MHz. In terms of overclocking and multiplication, there are only 2500K/2600K integrated with P67 chipset that can realize a drastic overclocking. As to H67, only a small overclocking of the external frequency can be adjusted, and the whole frequency after the external frequency’s change to 107MHz, will increase from 2.8 to almost 3GHz. Temperature performance (room temperature is about 18℃) During system standby: - 25~33 At full speed of CPU: - 61~64 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum Since the overclocking is only about 7%, there is no big difference in the temperature. By comparing the default values, the temperature difference during system standby is about 3℃ and this is just about 4℃ at full speed of the CPU. Power consumption test During system standby: - 37W

Nuclearus Multi Core => 15988 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 18.13/8700 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 208508 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 4.63 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.25 pts PCMark Vantage => 14528 Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.4 Core i5-2300 is a version of Sandy Bridge 4Cores CPU with the lowest frequency and poorest specification. However, because of the enhanced performance of the new architecture and the 4C4T core architecture, it has earned a good performance score in the software testing. With a default value of 2.8GHz, plus a Turbo Boost 2.0 frequency that can reach up to 3.1GHz, it has many applications. Temperature performance(room temperature is about 18℃) During system standby: - 23~30 At full speed of CPU: - 58~60 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum The performance of the original Intel radiator is relatively good At full speed, the temperature is even a little lower than the previous temperature as the 2500K original radiator is tested. The 5~10 ℃ difference might be caused by the high or low frequency. For better temperature performance, there is a need to spend more money for a replacement with a higher level CPU radiator. Power consumption test During system standby: - 35W At full speed of CPU: - 100W The power consumption performance is also one of the characteristics of Sandy Bridge after it changes its 4Cores CPU process into 32nm. With the integration of the C1E energy-conserving technology, power consumption can be reduced more effectively and the CPU’s power consumption at standby and full speed modes is greatly reduced compared to the previous 45nm CPU. Comparison of DDR3 bandwidths DDR3 1331.2 CL7 7-7-20 1T ADIA64 Memory Read - 16142 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 17674 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy -17341 MB/s

IO VGA/DVI/HDMI/Display Port 4 X USB 2.0(Red/Black) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X eSATA/USB 2.0 (share the red) 1 X IEEE 1394a 1 X RJ-45 (network connector) 1 X S/PDIF Out Port The power pack is covered with heat sinks. Both the appearance and the texture are quite good; the design of the radiating area is also considered. The heat sink of the H67 chipset also adopts the same material and design BIOS Homepage O.N.E Adjustment page CPU Clock 100 is adjusted to 107MHz Graphics Core Ratio Limit is the overclocking option of GPU DDR3 DRAM Multiplier 10.66/13.33 Voltage options There are four CPU VCore Mode options, including SPEC Volgate/Auto/Offset Mode/Fixed Mode CPU VCore Offset +0.010~+0.520V CPU VCore Fixed 1.000~1.790V There are four IGD VCore Mode options, including SPEC Volgate/Auto/Offset Mode/Fixed Mode IGD VCore Offset +0.010~+0.520V IGD VCore Fixed 1.000~1.520V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.200V IGD Memory can select the capacity of the shared main storgae that is required by the built-in GPU. CPU Configuration Enable and disable some relevant functions of the CPU Common HT technology or the function of selecting the use of a few cores PC Health Status The built-in monitoring chip of MB can be used to know the current status of various primary voltages or the temperature conditions inside the system Above is the BIOS settings of windwithme in the BIOSTAR TH67XE overclocking. H67 chipset is characterized by All In One positioning, thus overclocking only requires CPU external frequency/GPU frequency/DDR3 frequency. Test platform CPU: Intel Core i5-2300 MB: BIOSTAR TH67XE DRAM: CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 VGA: Integrated Graphics HDD: Intel X25-V 40GB RAID 0 POWER: CORSAIR CX430W Cooler: Intel original radiator OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Preset performance CPU 99.8 X 28 =>2794.4MHz Start Turbo Boost and C1E DDR3 1331.2 CL7 7-7-20 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 12m 16.446s CPUMARK 99 => 476

In the beginning of 2011, Intel released its latest platform with LGA 1155 version, also known as Sandy Bridge architecture. The release modes of its processor and chipset products are much similar to the last generation of LGA 1156. What’s more, Sandy Bridge’s process technology has been improved comprehensively up to 32nm, and its efficiencies have also been enhanced in many aspects. Each CPU carries a built-in HD2000 or HD3000, which is another feature of the new platform. It is the first wave to release several 4Cores 32nm versions for CPUs; the series name is Core i5/Core i7. Chipsets with built-in display and output function include H67/H61 types, and the major difference lies in the specification and ability to support Riad. H67 is an advanced chipset that was released in the beginning of January this year, but the H61 entry level positioning will be made available after March. Currently, the leading CPU is 2300, a version with the lowest price of Core i5. Product model: Intel Core i5-2300; Frequency: 2.8GHz It supports the latest generation of Turbo Boost 2.0 technology and can reach a performance of up to 3.1GHz. It has 4 Cores but does not adopt the Hyper-Threading technology. It can reach a maximum of 4 threads, which is called 4C/4T. It has a 32nm process and power consumption of 95W, as well as a L3 Cache of 6MB, and easy-to-use 4Cores CPU in LGA 1155 products. Intel 4Cores CPU integrates with the copper heat sink which has its bottom attached to some solid thermal conductive adhesive. I personally suggest coating some thermal grease onto the CPU before installing it because this can reduce the temperature efficiently. MB adopts BIOSTAR TH67XE, its XE series is a high-level product line and its price isn’t as high as that of other brands. The price of this product in the U.S. is about US$105, which is equivalent to around NT$3,100. Compared to other H67 products in Taiwan which cost NT$4,000~5,000 or higher, the price of BIOSTAR H67 is much reasonable. In terms of color, the black PCB is common while other PCI-E or DIMMs have red and white colors. These are much more conspicuous than the previous yellow or green colors. Attached accessories Product manual, IO files, SATA wires, driver software and disc Lower left of mother board 2 X PCI-E 2.0 X16; Bandwidth: X16+X1 1 X PCI-E X1 1 X PCI Realtek RTL8111E network chip Realtek ALC892 audio chip supports 8+2 sound channels and Blu-Ray Codec technology. Lower right of mother board 3 X red SATAII, provision of H67 chip, SATA2 specification, supports RAID 0， RAID 1，RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X white SATAIII，provision of H67chip，SATA3 specification，supports RAID 0， RAID 1，RAID 5 and RAID 10 Power and Reset buttons Upper right of mother board 4 X DIMM DDR3，supports 1066/1333 and a maximum capacity of DDR3 of 16GB There is a 24-PIN power input end at the side Upper left of mother board TH67XE adopts a 7-phase power supply design and there is a 8Pin power input end at the upper side

StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 33.23 FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 720 => 29.10/23.52/34.55/20.80 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 558 OC GPU from 500MHz to 760MH, the 3D performance only increases 10%. According to source, AMD will lock GPU clock in following revision. It’s a pity news for all users. You can know AMD Radeon HD6310 OC is not big help to performance. CPU is another factor to impact the performance. Vedio Decoding Test I use 2 original video to test. 1 is blue-ray, Inception, and the other is DVD, Taiwan Puppet Show. The video copyright is owned by the published company. Openning Menu Software is PowerDVD 10 Resolution is 1920 X 1080 CPU utilization rate is only 1~5%. Playing Video CPU utilized rate is 18~29% DVD resolution is 720 X 480 Software is Windows Media Player CPU utilization rate is only 1~8%. Play Video File Directly Resolution is 1280 X 720 CPU utilized rate is 38~83% and most time is 40~50% Video resolution is 1440 X 1080 CPU utilized rate is 40~94% and most time is 45~62% If using playing video, no matter DVD or BD, the utilization rate is very good. If play video file directly, the CPU utilization rate rise a lot. I don’t know it’s caused by format decoding or transfer rate issue. But final result is playing smoothly. Video decoding is a great strength of AMD Fusion. GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 Good 1.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design. 2oz copper PCB, 100% Japanese made capacitors and Ferrite core choke. 2.Active cooler and support SATA3 and USB 3.0 latest spec. 3.Built-in AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU 3D performance is improved a lot and it can play BD/DVD very smoothly. 4.AMD latest 40nm CPU Bad 1.It could also add on wifi card, but the price will go higher. 2.CPU OC range is less and GPU OC doesn’t improve performance much. Performance ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Components ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Specification ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ Outlook ★★★★★★★★☆☆ C/P Value ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Currently, GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 market price is 4700NTD, around 160USD. Even though it’s ITX, but BIOS menu and components are same level as own M-ATX/ATX. Plus AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU, the 3D performance or video decoding are increasing a lot. AMD dual core E-350 CPU is same level as Intel Atom, the performance is only so so. For components, spec and performance, E350N-USB3 C/P value is quite good in AMD ITX market. For AMD market, AMD Fusion provides one more fair price option for ITX or NetBook market. This should be the main target for Fusion structure. Now, many MB makers all launch their related ITX product. From the price point, if your HTPC budget is 7000NTD, you can choose Intel 55/H61 ITX MB with i3 CPU. If you don’t fix in IXT, your budget can have Micro ATX 880G and AMD X2 CPU. Of course you need bigger chassis. Due to HTPC market is growing, in the future, users can see more ITX MB in the market and it can reduce the PC dimension. I provide 2 more option for mid-end performance combo. Users can pick the right option by yourself. Later on, if I got time, I will share Toshiba NB520 latest NetBook. It uses Intel Atom N550 1.5GHz and I can make the comparion with AMD Fusion. This review also post in my blog WIND3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise. Thanks

PCMark Vantage => 4094 E-350 CPU FSB rise from 100 to 107MHz. The CPU performance increase about 7%. Adding on OC GPU clock, some media benchmark scores are more than 7%. AMD Fusion OC range is not much and no need to adjust too many BIOS items. However, less OC is still better than none. Temperature (Room is 18℃) System Standby - 48~49 CPU Full Speed - 66 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum No matter OC or not, the temperature is the same. Even it’s lower 1~2℃ due to room temperature. The main reason is still the OC range is small. DRAM Performance Test ADIA64 Memory Read - 3936 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 3900 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 4331 MB/s DDR3 1333 CL6 6-6-18 1T DDR3 1426 CL6 6-6-18 1T ADIA64 Memory Read - 4232 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 4313 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 4629 MB/s DDR3 performance increase 6~8% after OC. Also AMD Fusion only supports single channel. Users cannot expect too much the memory performance. The right way should be increasing the DDR3 capacity. GPU Test Default 500MHz 3DMARK VANTAGE => P800 CPU SCORE => 2057 GPU SCORE => 665 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 30.07 FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 720 => 25.65/21.33/30.04/19.75 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 502 AMD Fusion structure is built-in latest Radeon HD 6310 GPU, supports DirectX 11. Comparing to own 890GX chipset, HD4290 GPU, it’s still higher. In 3D performance, E350 enhance a lot. Maybe it dues to AMD suffer vert hard push from Intel Sandy Bridge built-in GPU？ OC to 760MHz 3DMARK VANTAGE => P891 CPU SCORE => 2187 GPU SCORE => 744

CPU Full Speed - 34W Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum OCCT POWER SUPPLY Mode - 41W As per 40nm, standby power consumption is pretty good in PC. If it’s in NB, the value is too high. When CPU full speed is 34W and CPU/GPU simultaneous operation is 41W. The difference is only 7W, not much. Main BIOS Tuning Menu called M.I.T. CPU Host Clock 100~120 Memory Clock X5.33/X6.66 Voltage Items DDR3 Voltage 1.200~2.100V FCH Voltage 1.100~1.600V PCIe PLL Voltage 1.800~2.200V CPU NB VID Control -0.600~+0.600V CPU Voltage Control -0.600~+0.600V Built-in AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU Items UMA Frame Buffer Size 256/512/1024MB VGA Core Clock 300~2000MHz Advanced DDR3 Setup Page The setting below is DDR3 1333 CL6 6-6-18 1T PC Health Status GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 BIOS still provide very rich items. It doesn’t simplify BIOS menu as it’s ITX MB or AMD Fusion OC capability. Since then, user can adjust by your free mind and also OC some portion. OC Performance Test CPU 107 X 16 => 1712.3MHz DDR3 1426 CL6 6-6-18 1T GPU 760MHz Hyper PI 32M X2 => 38m 01.798s CPUMARK 99 => 136 Nuclearus Multi Core => 3356 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 3.57/1711 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 86639 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 0.67 pts CPU(Single Core) => 0.35 pts