Intel PPSTCK1A32WFC Bay Trail-T Compute Stick Review
by Ganesh T S on April 22, 2015 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- Bay Trail
- HDMI Stick
Power Consumption and Thermal Performance
The power consumption at the wall was measured with a 1080p display being driven through the HDMI port. In the graphs below, we compare the idle and load power of the Intel PPSTCK1A32WFC with other low power PCs evaluated before. For load power consumption, we ran Furmark 1.12.0 and Prime95 v27.9 together. The numbers track what one might expect from the combination of hardware components in the machine.
It is not a surprise (given the tablet platform that is inside the Compute Stick) that the unit proves to be the least power-hungry of the lot.
Our thermal stress routine starts with the system at idle, followed by 30 minutes of pure CPU loading. This is followed by another 30 minutes of both CPU and GPU being loaded simultaneously. After this, the CPU load gets removed, allowing the GPU to be loaded alone for another 30 minutes. The various clocks in the system throughout this routine are presented in the graph below.
The cores burst up to 1.83 GHz for a few seconds, before settling down to 1.58 GHz during the pure CPU loading process. The core temperature plateaus around 76 C, while power consumption at the wall is slightly more than 6 W. With thee GPU also loaded, the temperature reaches 80 and the power consumption is closer to 9 W. However, the CPU and GPU frequencies adjust themselves to be within the power budget. The cores run at 1.3 GHz while the GPU is clocked at slightly more than 300 MHz. Removing the CPU load brings temperatures back to 75 C and power consumption to less than 7 W. The CPU cores idle at 500 MHz, while the GPU clocks in around 440 MHz.
It is a very effective thermal solution and the temperatures do not raise any alarm. The presence of active cooling definitely helps in this situation.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
103 Comments
View All Comments
BMNify - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
This is free windows license, windows with Bing is mentioned in the review which is provided free to OEM's.kyuu - Thursday, April 23, 2015 - link
Uh, except it is Windows with Bing. As mentioned in the article.Marc GP - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
It's huge compared with the Asustek Chromebit, it can't be much comfortable to carry with you everywhere.No thank you. Put that capability on the phone instead (that I have no problem to always carry it).
tekeffect - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
I considered preordering this. Thankfully I did not. Thanks for the review. Can anyone suggest the best device to use for plex on 4 k TV ? I would like as small as possible without massive sacrificesMarc GP - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
Have you considered the Asus Chromebit ?http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-chromebit/
It's fanless, much smaller and powerful (specially the GPU, that is capable of 4k).
It comes with Chrome OS, but looks like there is a Plex app for Chrome.
Uplink10 - Thursday, April 23, 2015 - link
Google's Chrome OS can't even compare to Windows or Linux, it is more like a Thin client.Dug - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
Too limiting for my needs. I just picked up an HP stream mini for $10 more.Yes it's bigger, but still fits in the palm of your hand. Added 8GB of ram and stuck to back of TV and good to go.
Lonyo - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
It's also more versatile because it can be used without a TV since it has a screen.BMNify - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
HP Steam Mini does not have a screen, you are confusing HP stream laptop with HP stream Mini desktop PC.Uplink10 - Thursday, April 23, 2015 - link
HP Stream Mini is also limited, you can't put in 2.5" drive without some additional cable.Better to buy Zotac miniPC (ZBOX ID18,...) or Gygabite BRIX with 4-core Bay Trail CPU and add additional 4GB RAM and 2.5" HDD.
You will pay: miniPC (120$) + RAM (35$) + HDD (45$) = 200$
But you will have much better hardware and BIOS which will undoubtedly support Legacy BIOS booting option and more options thatn HP Stream Mini.