ASRock Vision HT: Ivy Bridge Carries the SFF HTPC Forward
by Ganesh T S on November 12, 2012 3:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- ASRock
- HTPC
- Ivy Bridge
Networking Performance and Streaming Aspects
In this section, we will take a look at the networking capabilities of the unit and also our standard HTPC streaming tests (involving YouTube and Netflix). ASRock delivered dual-band Wi-Fi in the Vision HT 321B. The 5 GHz band is able to practically deliver more than double the throughput of the 2.4 GHz band when used with an appropriate router.
Dual Band Wi-Fi
We used Ixia's IxChariot to check the TCP throughput in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands using Western Digital's MyNet N900 router with default settings. We tested at two locations, one right next to the router and the other across a wall, separated by around 30 ft. The gallery below shows the throughput graphs obtained. While the 2.4 GHz band is able to deliver around 65 Mbps real-world throughput, the 5 GHz band delivers around 160 Mbps.
Under these circumstances, it becomes possible to even stream uncompressed Blu-ray rips over the wireless network. Unlike 2.4 GHz, the 5 GHz band is not prone to interference. However, the range is smaller.
YouTube and Netflix Streaming
The drivers for the Intel HD 4000 enable hardware accelerated decode and rendering for both YouTube and Netflix streams in Flash and Silverlight respectively. Screenshots of our standard test streams in action are provided below. In addition, we are also providing power consumption graphs over time for the full YouTube clip and a segment of the Netflix clip.
Adobe Flash Hardware Acceleration (YouTube)
The power consumption graph for the YouTube clip above shows that the unit consumes more power in the beginning as the video is streamed over the Wi-Fi network, but, later, settles down to a lower value corresponding to the decode and rendering steps.
Hardware Acceleration for Netflix in Microsoft Silverlight
Unlike YouTube, Netflix doesn't seem to buffer the full movie during playback on a PC. After filling up a pre-determined buffer size, the download rate seems to throttle down to maintain it. The power consumption graph shows the unit's characteristics during playback with simultaneous download over Wi-Fi.
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Death666Angel - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
I had a WD TV (the first one I think) and it always annoyed me that it could not decode DTS, which meant that I did not have dual audio for most of my library. It also lacked menu support and Blu Ray support. The menu was terribly slow and browsing a somewhat larger HDD was just awful.I'm sure those boxes have come a long way, but that was the point where I decided I would much rather go all in and have something that I know handles everything I throw at it in one way or another, than to have something that is cheaper and smaller, but worry about whether or not it will play everything I have the way I want it and be burdened by somewhat lacking software/firmware support.
Easy browsing of the web and games are the added bonus and I always have a good back up PC in case one of them breaks and someone needs a quick replacement.
If your set up has never failed you with a film you had, awesome. I have been disappointed by it too much to go back. :)
Jaybus - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
I have two WD-Live boxes and they do have their use. A PC brings several things to the table.To begin with, it brings adaptability. My biggest complaint with set top boxes in general is that it puts you at the mercy of the manufacturer for software fixes / features. When any of the online services change something, it may be months before an update is available. A HTPC is far more adaptable in terms of software.
Another area is remotes. The WD remote is sluggish and is an oddball format that hardly any third party remotes can emulate.
I can see why someone wouldn't care if they don't wish to play games. But it is damn handy to have real surfing capability along with a keyboard and mouse. Is there anything else it beats the set top box in besides surfing and games? Of course! It can do almost anything that a laptop can do! It essentially is a laptop.
prdola0 - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Atom+ION might be quite slow, but for SFF HTPC usage, it served me quite well. I've been using it for the past two years and it still does the job. Of course it's not a gaming machine - it can't handle anything more demanding than TESIV: Oblivion with low details, but for casual Steam games like Machinarium, Worms Reloaded etc. it's completely sufficient. You shouldn't bash the Atom+ION combo so much. After all, it was the one thing that made this from factor popular, in my opinion.Death666Angel - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Kinda sad that AsRock does not provide a unit that has an AMD APU inside it. I don't think many HTPC uses are limited by single threaded performance and the better iGPU can make a difference when playing games on the big TV (I use my A6 Llano HTPC as a console sometimes). The only thing I could think of to stop the use of an AMD APU is power consumtion. Pity AMD chooses way too high voltages (I dropped mine from 1.4xxV to 1.15V at max turbo).ericore - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
If you do the math, it costs them about 450$-475$ to build, but you only get a dual core CPU (TRAY: $225.00). Since Intel is charging so much for a mobile dual core, you might as well get the quad core for just under 300$. The whole system retails for 700$. Even at 600$, it would still be a crappy deal. A good deal would include 8 GB of RAM, and quad core CPU for 670$. To top off this shitty deal of theirs, they give you a piece of crap power supply adapter, and cheap plastic enclosure. Apple gives you a solid enclosure and a solid adapter, and ships with the same stuff for 599$.ericore - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
This AMD system is much better value; complete build 250$. I would just wait for Jaguar since current E-350 isn't quite HTPC prime yet.joetekubi - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Form factor is great, performance would fit my needs, but just a little too procey.I may go for this 6-8 months from now when they version the platform and the old ones
are available for (much) less.
valnar - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
How quiet is it? Does the fan speed up on load? Turn off on idle? What?johnny_boy - Sunday, November 18, 2012 - link
The product isn't bad but compared to a premium machine like a mac mini, the price of the ASRock makes no sense.jeffkibuule - Thursday, November 22, 2012 - link
Mac Mini only has integrated graphics. This system does not.