ASRock's High-End Vision 3D HTPC Reviewed
by Ganesh T S on October 3, 2010 10:20 AM EST
We reviewed the performance of the Vision 3D from the standpoint of a HTPC, and it has turned out to be the best SFF HTPC we have ever reviewed, hands down. For anyone in the market for a high end HTPC with a small form factor and low power consumption, the Vision 3D is the perfect choice. Its feature set makes it one of the most future proof PCs to have ever graced our doors.
Within a span of two years, ASRock has managed to get in three different systems catering to the entry level, mainstream (mid-range) and high end small form factor HTPC space respectively. The competition in this space is heating up, with the Dell Zino 410 HTPC slated to ship around the same time as the Vision 3D. However, by catering to consumers on the leading edge (3D Blu-Ray and HDMI 1.4a), ASRock is able to justify the premium pricing that they are demanding for the Vision 3D.
3D technology is yet to become mainstream for many of us at AnandTech, and we are secretly hoping that glasses-free 3D tech comes in before the present tech is able to go mainstream. However, the marketing push by nVidia and other consumer electronic companies, it looks like the present 3D technology is here to stay. But, this is again a story for another article on another day. So, let us wrap up this review with the pros and cons of the Vision 3D:
Pros
- Quantum leap in gaming performance and very small power penalty (under normal usage) over the mid-range Core 100
- The three USB 3.0 ports get maximum performance out of external hard disks
- Perfect 3D Blu-Ray playback with HD audio bitstreaming and GPU MVC decode acceleration using bundled PowerDVD OEM version
- Improved HTPC metrics when compared with the Core 100 or Ion based nettops
- Customers without fancy A/V receivers still get the advantage of the THX Studio Pro certification
- Powerful and stable 300 Mbps Wireless-N networking capable of streaming high bitrate videos.
- Improved industrial design makes sure that the unit blends well in most A/V setups.
- Bundled MCE remote has good build quality can control almost all media playback programs
- Easy overclocking for both CPU and GPU from within Windows
- Perfect wake-up from sleep / shutdown using the MCE remote (No different from using a dedicated media streamer like the WDTV Live)
Cons
- HM55 chipset limitations doesn't allow for full performance from USB 3.0 ports when using external SSDs, and the 3rd USB 3.0 port is an overkill for a SFF HTPC
- No PCI-E expansion slots inside, ruling out the possibility of an internal TV tuner
- Windows 7 OS is not bundled
- Premium pricing ($999 definitely places it beyond the impulse buy category)
We would have liked to present the Vision 3D with one of our first awards in the HTPC space. Unfortunately, the absence of any meaningful competition in the SFF HTPC space for the features enabled by this unit makes it a difficult proposition. That said, we continue to be impressed by ASRock's rapid strides in the industry and look forward to more exciting products from them in the coming months.
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ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Momentus XT is a hybrid and not a pure hard drive. In any case, I have already linked to a StorageReview.com comparison of the 500 GB WD Scorpio Black and the Momentus XT. There are benchmarks in which the Scorpio Black turns out better.http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_scorp...
troystarr - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I'm curious how fast it can load blu-ray discs, such as the time from blu-ray disc insertion to the BD-Java main menu, speed of interacting with BD-Java menus, etc. I have a Blu-ray Profile 2.0 player that's about 2 years old now, and while it plays blu-ray discs great, it's pretty slow to load them and navigate their menus. If I try to use any Internet-based content via BD Live, it's downright painful. I would love to see comparisons in load time between this device, a typical consumer Blu-ray player, and a Sony PS3.Thanks for the review!
michael.gulde - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Was there a cable card for cable tv hd encrypted channels?ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
The ASRock Vision 3D is high end from the viewpoint of supporting the latest standards such as 3D which are yet to go mainstream.Also, the system has been designed taking the world market into consideration, and people outside the US just don't use CableCard.
You can always use the upcoming SiliconDust HD Tuners with CableCard functionality if this is something essential :)
cknobman - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
this is just too expensive to justify for most consumers.I dont do alot of actual computing from my media room so therefore when I think HTPC I want something that can access my network and stream content and play games.
Those things can be done by already existing equipment in my house or even other new equipment for much cheaper.
PS3 - $299
Xbox 360 - $299
Blu Ray player - > $200
Media Streamer - $50 - $150
True this impressive little unit is also a full blown computer but as someone with 4 other pc's in the house already I dont really need a full blown computer as part of my media room.
I think this would be perfect for someone who dosnt really own a gaming system and/or blue ray player already and would like an all-in-one solution.
Otherwise I think that is really is priced too high to be of any real value to most consumers.
vlado08 - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Hi Ganesh, thanks for the good article. I have several questions.1 What was the HDD tems when the GPU was under load? Because the HDD is sitting above the GPU I have some concerns.
2 What does the DPC Latency Checker shows? Are there any latency problems? In the sreen shot of the MPC-HT there are some spikes in the green line?
3 Do we need to disable Intel speed step for latensy free playback?
4 Is it possible to put a HDD vertically mounted to the side wall of the Vision 3D? This way you can have 3 HDD inside - two on the side and one under the DVD/Blu-ray.
ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
1. I never received warnings about HDD temperature when running Furmark. The only time there was a warning was when I was copying around 100 GB of data from the USB 3 port (so much higher write rate than even through GbE network) into internal hard disk, at which point the temperature reached 52 C towards the very end. As long as you are doing normal HTPC activities, I don't think this will be an issue.2/3. I did DPC latency checks for the Core 100, but found no issues with playback even though the checker reported issues. I have come to the conclusion (with help of other editors here at AnandTech), that there is no necessity that there is an issue even if the checker reports it. In all, even though I saw the spikes in MPC-HC, I didn't notice any issues in the playback of Blu-Rays or any of our other test streams, even with SpeedStep enabled.
4. No, there is no space for any more components within the Vision 3D chassis :(
vlado08 - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Thanks again for the quick reply and for your enthusiasm.junkles - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Hi, Ganesh.So which HTPC functions have you found to be lacking with a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu?
Thanks
ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
For starters, Blu-Ray disc playback and HD audio bitstreaming (even for stand alone files)I just wish we had a Linux program capable of playing back Blu-Rays (particularly considering the fact that all standalone BR players run some version of Linux at the core).