ZOTAC IONITX-P-E: Can Intel's CULV Processors Reinvigorate Interest in NVIDIA's ION?
by Rajinder Gill on August 26, 2010 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Mini ITX
- ZOTAC
- NVIDIA
Ganesh rolled out the addition of the HQV 2.0 test suite to our HTPC and media streamer reviews last month in the ASRock Core 100HT-BD review. As the ION's primary purpose is to be used as a HTPC, it's only fitting to see how it stacks up in this objective benchmark. The HQV 2.0 test suite consists of 39 different streams divided into 4 different classes. The playback device is assigned scores for each, depending on how well it plays the stream. Each test was repeated multiple times to ensure that the correct score was assigned. The scoring details are available in the testing guide [PDF]. In the table below, we indicate the maximum score possible for each test, and how much the IONITX-P-E was able to get.
| ZOTAC IONITX-P-E : HQV 2.0 Benchmark | ||||
| Test Class | Chapter | Tests | Max. Score | IONITX-P-E |
| Video Conversion | Video Resolution | Dial | 5 | 2 |
| Dial with Static Pattern | 5 | 2 | ||
| Gray Bars | 5 | 2 | ||
| Violin | 5 | 3 | ||
| Film Resolution | Stadium 2:2 | 5 | 5 | |
| Stadium 3:2 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Overlay On Film | Horizontal Text Scroll | 5 | 3 | |
| Vertical Text Scroll | 5 | 5 | ||
| Cadence Response Time | Transition to 3:2 Lock | 5 | 5 | |
| Transition to 2:2 Lock | 5 | 5 | ||
| Multi-Cadence | 2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCam Video | 5 | 5 | |
| 2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video | 5 | 0 | ||
| 3:2:3:2:2 24 FPS Vari-Speed | 5 | 0 | ||
| 5:5 12 FPS Animation | 5 | 3 | ||
| 6:4 12 FPS Animation | 5 | 5 | ||
| 8:7 8 FPS Animation | 5 | 0 | ||
| Color Upsampling Errors | Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP) | 5 | 2 | |
| Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE) | 5 | 2 | ||
| Noise and Artifact Reduction | Random Noise | SailBoat | 5 | 5 |
| Flower | 5 | 5 | ||
| Sunrise | 5 | 5 | ||
| Harbour Night | 5 | 5 | ||
| Compression Artifacts | Scrolling Text | 5 | 3 | |
| Roller Coaster | 5 | 3 | ||
| Ferris Wheel | 5 | 3 | ||
| Bridge Traffic | 5 | 3 | ||
| Upscaled Compression Artifacts | Text Pattern | 5 | 0 | |
| Roller Coaster | 5 | 0 | ||
| Ferris Wheel | 5 | 0 | ||
| Bridge Traffic | 5 | 0 | ||
| Image Scaling and Enhancements | Scaling and Filtering | Luminance Frequency Bands | 5 | 2 |
| Chrominance Frequency Bands | 5 | 5 | ||
| Vanishing Text | 5 | 5 | ||
| Resolution Enhancement | Brook, Mountain, Flower, Hair, Wood | 15 | 15 | |
| Video Conversion | Contrast Enhancement | Theme Park | 5 | 0 |
| Driftwood | 5 | 0 | ||
| Beach at Dusk | 5 | 0 | ||
| White and Black Cats | 5 | 0 | ||
| Skin Tone Correction | Skin Tones | 10 | 0 | |
| Total Score | 210 | 108 | ||
Not overly impressive from the ION, the main loss in points coming from the Upscaled Compression Atrifact tests, where we did not monitor any real change on our 40" Sony Bravia TV. Video Conversion scores are also off the menu because the ION system lacks necessary compute power to enable adaptive contrast and skin tone features - NVIDIA don't include the options in drivers for the platform.
Before we move away from this page, we'll include a screenshot of peak CPU usage when playing back a 50Mbps MKV file:
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Ipatinga - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
"To Zotac’s credit, we found the IONITX-P-E stable and functional for everyday use..."Yes... for Zotac, when it works, its credit (or a Plus... since even bricked bios Zotac does not take away from it´s download list and solving the problem takes forever).
For other manufacturers... a motherboard that works stable and is fully functional is mandatory (even though some forget that on the launch... and focus on overclock... shame :( )
Still, Zotac does a lot of Mini ITX and it´s good to see many options (hope the competition will catch up). Price wise... well....
fredson - Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - link
Olaestou querendo usar essa placa em sistema para ficar passando imagem em 3 monitores o que vc acha com relaçao ao funcionamento e consumo de energia!!!
abs
Fredson Jorge
hybrid2d4x4 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Thanks for the review. Since the power consumption is in similar if not better than Atom, have you guys tried running the board without the fan? Did you test what the temps are like (with the fan)?It'd be sweet if you could run this thing passively cooled with the stock heatsink...
mindbomb - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
ffdshow includes a truehd transform filter.so the lack of bitstreaming doesn't mean you can't enjoy a truehd track.
aguilpa1 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
I wish we could evolve past this 9400 or 9400 derivitivesDigitalFreak - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
There's no reason for Nvidia to come out with another Core2 / Atom chipset. Core2 is a dead end. Both Atom and the Core i CPUs use DMI or QPI for the system bus, and Nvidia doesn't have a license for either of those.Taft12 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Oh there is plenty of reason for Nvidia to come out with a chipset for this platform. Too bad Uncle Monopoly says no.DigitalFreak - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Boo hooBlendMe - Friday, August 27, 2010 - link
They do have a newer and better chipset, the 320M, which seems to be an Apple exclusive. It is a pretty powerful chip, a least compared to the 9400M. The 320M is what the 9400M was 2 year ago. The absolute minimum and you should not go lower than that.BlendMe - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Hey look! It's a Mac mini! Sort of...