The Intel Compute Stick (Core m3-6Y30) Review
by Ganesh T S on June 27, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- Core M
- Skylake
- HDMI Stick
- Compute Stick
Networking and Storage Performance
Networking and storage are two major aspects which influence our experience with any computing system. This section presents results from our evaluation of these aspects in the Intel Core m3-6Y30 Compute Stick. Despite the absence of a bonafide SSD, we had no trouble in runnng the PCMark 8 storage bench where certain common workloads such as loading games and document processing are replayed on the target drive. Results are presented in two forms, one being a benchmark number and the other, a bandwidth figure. We ran the PCMark 8 storage bench on selected PCs and the results are presented below.
The eMMC is obviously not going to be better than the bonafide SSDs in the other PCs, but, given the form factor and the price, it is good that Intel at least put in a good-quality eMMC module in the system. CrystalDiskMark provides some numbers to give further insight into the performance of the storage subsystem.
On the networking side, we restricted ourselves to the evaluation of the WLAN component. Our standard test router is the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk configured with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. The router is placed approximately 20 ft. away, separated by a drywall (as in a typical US building). A wired client (Zotac ID89-Plus) is connected to the R7000 and serves as one endpoint for iperf evaluation. The PC under test is made to connect to either the 5 GHz (preferred) or 2.4 GHz SSID and iperf tests are conducted for both TCP and UDP transfers. It is ensured that the PC under test is the only wireless client for the Netgear R7000. We evaluate total throughput for up to 32 simultaneous TCP connections using iperf and present the highest number in the graph below.
In the UDP case, we try to transfer data at the highest rate possible for which we get less than 1% packet loss.
The Intel AC8260 solution is a premium 802.11ac client solution, and it is apt that the Core M Compute Stick adopts it. The WLAN subsystem (including antenna placement) design enables the Core m3-6Y30 Compute Stick to top our Wi-Fi performance charts when compared against systems with a similar platform / form-factor.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
105 Comments
View All Comments
Vaz - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
Product photography seems to have hit rock bottom in anandtech reviews.tamalero - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
The cheer size of the power block kinda makes the stick size useless, doesnt it?xodusgenesis - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
Can this handle software decode of H.265? Or does it stress the CPU too much?ganeshts - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
There is hybrid decoding for HEVC 8b - I expect it will work ok for 24p content, even 4K.However, 4Kp60 or HEVC 10b will be a no-go.
Kinematics - Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - link
What about 10-bit h264?It's what's most disappointing in all this small form-factor reviews: At what point is this product *not* going to be useful to you? And all it ever does is cover stuff that I know already is going to work fine. Since I know that 10-bit won't be hardware accelerated (whereas everything that's tested is), it's impossible to even guess at how it compares in areas that you actually need a reviewer to look at.
DonMiguel85 - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
I'm still waiting for that GTX 960 reviewnfriedly - Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - link
I have one of these and one of the m5 versions and I pretty much agree with Anandtech's conclusions. They're the first compute stick that feel "fast enough" for basic office/browsing/htpc tasks. But they're definitely a bit on the expensive side.From what I've seen elsewhere and my personal experience the m5 version is a little faster for bursty workloads, but about on par with the m3 for anything sustained. The graphics might be a bit more powerful, though. Probably not worth the price difference.
Also, on a different topic, Anandtech seriously needs to put some improvements into the commenting system. I had to get to page 4 just to find a single comment about the article... A way to collapse comment threads would probably be good enough, although voting or some kind of moderation might be even better.
lhorror - Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - link
core m3 version on video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWcULkwryH4piasabird - Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - link
I would like to see comparison of this to something like an STX system where you can use normal DDR4 Ram and a standard CPU, with an M.2 SSD drive, and also an ITX system. All this to determine if it is worth it and also what are the advantages to having a larger drive and more RAM.grand_puba - Friday, July 1, 2016 - link
This website is going from bad to worse. There are few reviews and at least half of them are about cases and shit like that. I am going to remove you from my bookmarks.