ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700T) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 25, 2012 3:00 AM ESTGPU Performance
The increase in memory bandwidth from using DDR3-1600 memory should improve 3D performance as well as maintain general UI perf. To find out we turned to GLBenchmark 2.1. Let's start with the synthetics:
The fill rate test shows a greater than 20% increase in performance, all due to memory bandwidth. We saw a jump with the TF Pad 300 for similar reasons as well.
Triangle throughput hasn't changed, which makes sense because there's no increase in processing power or GPU clock speed. Let's look at the impact on simulated gameplay however. First up are the offscreen, 720p results:
As we've surmized in the past, GLBenchmark's tests are largely compute bound - thus the 11% increase in performance over the Transformer Prime isn't too surprising at 720p.
The older Pro test is less compute limited and here we see nearly a 20% increase in performance thanks to the higher bandwidth memory subsystem. The real question is whether or not DDR3-1600 is enough to drive a game at the panel's native 1920 x 1200 resolution.
Although hardly the most visually complex demonstration in the world, the Egypt benchmark does show us that over 30 fps is possible at 1920 x 1200. GPU performance is obviously shy of what Apple crammed into the next-generation iPad, but it can be sufficient for the Infinity.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
112 Comments
View All Comments
Screammit - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
sadly, "tinkering" for 90% of the public is to change their background picture.Belard - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
" I’m only afraid they will end up being too schizophrenic for that, trying to do it all and ending up doing nothing well enough for people to give a shit."BINGO!
andrewaggb - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
Personally I haven't been able to use either for work. The TF + dock is almost usable, but it doesn't have enough of the apps I use (I don't want lame substitutes) and ultimately the tf+dock is almost a netbook... so I just use my much more powerful laptop. The ipad is not work worthy. And apple doesn't try to market it that way, so I'm ok with that. I love the ipad for what it is, instant-on, relax on the couch.Surface may be suitable for light work, though I'm not sure how it will work in your lap, so the asus version will probably be better. But I suspect it'll take a good year for the apps to be available for ARM, so at launch I'd be looking at an x86 version... and it doesn't look like AMD or Intel has a tablet winner SOC for the fall. Ivy Bridge will do, but haswell would have been better. And an ultra low voltage trinity maybe?
I'm not certain that when the dust settles I'm going to want to work on a tablet with a keyboard anyways. I like the idea of one less device, but maybe it's a dream. I think phone,tablet,laptop,desktop,xbox/appletv, all play a somewhat different role and I'll probably keep buying all of them.
I like the concept of running windows 8 on everything, but I'm currently mixing android,apple,and lots of microsoft and I'm getting along just fine :-)
kmmatney - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
" BUT what disadvantages do you get? On Android I have none, except of voiding my warranty."I have my iPad 2 Jailbroken, and there are no disadvantages - at least none that I've ever come across. The advantage is being able to install RetinaPad, iFile, NES emulators with Wiimote support, and a few UI customization apps.
DeciusStrabo - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
My iPad 2 slowed down a lot when I jailbroke it and installed some jailbroken software. It was rather annoying and the reason I went back into Apple's golden cage. No such issue with rooted/custom-ROM Android, where you rather see a stability and speed increase, not a decrease.BabelHuber - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
I miss tests of actual games on the TF Infinity.The TF Prime is a real joy in this regard. Shadowgun, GTA3, Max Payne, N:OV.A. 3, everything is running smooth like butter, but only at 720p.
How does the TF Infinity play these games? With its 1080p resolution the GPU has much more to do, especially the Pixel Shaders.
So, does the higher-clocked Tegra 3 with its enhanced bandwith compensate for the higher screen resolution?
XZerg - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
^^ when?bleh0 - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
I love the form factor of the Transformer series but it needs RT. With Nvidia being the ARM partner for Microsoft at the moment we might see better battery life and performance out of RT then under Android. As always I'll be waiting patiently for the Anandtech review when the device is released.jwcalla - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
Maybe slapping Ubuntu for Android would help seal the deal on this thing. You get the "hybrid device" feel that Windows is going for, plus you have the Android app ecosystem to work with.Quad-core Cortex A15s will be interesting as you could run two operating systems (like Ubuntu and Android) simultaneously. And Ubuntu is surprisingly mature and smooth on ARM w/ GPU acceleration.
riottime - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
it's alright tablet but i'll wait for win8 surface. i own ep121 and it's still working great with i5 cpu. i might just upgrade the os on it to win8 when that comes out instead of buying a brand new 'surface' tablet. as for android, my samsung player 4 is sufficient. :)