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| Introduction and Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When we first took a look at the ASRock Vision 3D 137B with NVIDIA 3DTV Play last year, we were quite impressed with the machine. It offered excellent all-around performance for a system in its class and had an extensive feature set that included Blu-Ray and 3D video playback capabilities, all wrapped up in what we considered to be an attractive enclosure. So, when ASRock came to us with an updated model outfitted with a newer CPU, GPU, and other components, we were eager to check it out.
Before we dive in and check out the system itself, here’s a look at what ASRock includes with the Vision 3D 252B HTPC's bundle. There are a number of accessories that come with the machine, including an IR MCE Remote Control, a VGA to DVI adapter, a 19v power brick, user’s and quick installation guides, and a couple of CDs. One CD contains all of the drivers and utilities necessary to properly set up the machine and the other is a copy of Cyberlink PowerDVD 10. The utilities and other software on the first CD include NVIDIA’s 3DTV Play, LucidLogix Virtu, trial versions of Cyberlink MediaEspresso 6.5 and DVD Suite and the MAGIX Multimedia Suite. Note, however, that an OS does not come installed on the system. While many free OSes work very well on the ASRock Vision 3D 252B HTPC, some of the features, like 3DTV Play for example, only work under Windows. |
| ASRock Vision 3D 252B Exterior |
ASRocks’ Vision 3D SFF / HTPC machines are available in either black or silver finishes. But all of the Vision 3D-branded systems use the enclosure and have the same complement of ports and connectors. ASRock does, however, also offer the Vision HT and Core HT series mini-PCs, which have different configurations and enclosures.
The machine you see here is a black (obviously) ASRock Vision 3D 252B. As you can see, the machine has an understated appearance and ASRock makes no effort to stealth or otherwise hide any connectors. The fact that all of the system’s various connectors are in plain sight at all times may turn off some potential users, but we think the system looks great. The front is home to nothing but a slot for the optical drive and a single row of ports in a clean, uncluttered arrangement.
The ASRock Vision 3D 252B HTPC offers a host of connectivity options on its front and rear. The front of the machine houses headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 3.0 ports, an optical drive, flash card reader, a drive activity indicator and a lighted (blue) power button. On the back of the machine, users will find an HDMI output, a DVI output, an eSATA port, six more USB ports (4 x 2.0, 2 x 3.0), various audio inputs and outputs, an RJ45 LAN jack, a Kensington lock port, and a power port. About the only thing “missing” here is a Firewire port, but with USB 3.0 and eSATA available, that’s not much of a concern in our opinion. |
| ASRock Vision 3D 252B Interior |
Although the ASRock Vision 3D 252B appears to be a compact, sealed fortress of a mini-PC, it is actually very easy to disassemble. There is a single button on the back of the machine, that when pressed, ejects the glossy lid off the top. Once the top is removed, it’s just a matter of unscrewing a few screws and removing an EMI shield.
We should point out that the EMI shield in the system also asks as a drive tray. The system’s slot-loading Blu-Ray drive and 2.5” Western Digital 750GB hard drive are mounted to the tray and can be removed right along with it, after unplugging their cables, of course.
ASRock’s Vision 3D HTPC systems are built up using mobile components. Various Intel Core i3 / i5 / and i7 processor options are available, but the form factor and most other features remain unchanged, save for the optical drive, which can be either a DVD or Blu-Ray drive.
There are multiple different models of the ASRock Vision 3D and Core HT series mini systems. The "B" or "D" in the model number designates the optical drive configuration (B for Blue-Ray, D for DVD), and the higher model number machines are equipped with progressively faster processors. The Core i5-2520M in the model we tested, however, proved to be more than capable for every multimedia task we threw at the machine, though.
Other specification of the system we tested include 8GB or DDR3-1333 RAM, an Intel HM65 Express chipset, Gigabit LAN, 7.1 channel HD Audio with THX TruStudio support, and built in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. |
| Performance: PCMark Vantage | ||||||||||||
Test System Configuration Notes: We compared the ASRock Vision 3D HTPC's performance to an array of other HTPC systems we've used in the past. We compared the Vision 3D to a number of AMD Zacate E-350 Processor-based platforms and a handful of other mobile platforms based upon Intel's Atom or NVIDIA's ION as well. The comparisons will show relative performance versus other low-power power platforms, but as you'll see, the Vision 3D HTPC is markedly more powerful than any of the other systems. In the absence of similarly configured mobile machines to be used for reference testing, we used performance data on hand from other HTPCs, which unfortunately do nt offer nearly as much performance.
First up, we ran our test systems through Futuremark’s latest system performance evaluation tool, PCMark Vantage. PCMark Vantage runs through a host of different usage scenarios to simulate different types of workloads including High Definition TV and movie playback and manipulation, gaming, image editing and manipulation, music compression, communications, and productivity. Most of the tests are multi-threaded as well, so the tests can exploit the additional resources offered by a multi-core CPU.
The ASRock Vision 3D 252B's Sandy Bridge CPU with Hyper-Threading (it a dual-core CPU capabile of processing 4 threads), 8GB of RAM, and relatively fast HD give it the ability to easily outpace the other, lower-powered systems in our DB of performance results. |
| Performance: Cinebench and 3DMark | ||||||||
Cinebench R11.5 is an tile-based rendering performance test based on Cinema 4D from Maxon. Cinema 4D is a 3D rendering and animation tool suite used by 3D animation houses and producers like Sony Animation and many others. It's very demanding of system processor resources and is an excellent gauge of pure computational throughput.
This is a multi-threaded, multi-processor aware benchmark that renders a single 3D scene and tracks the length of the entire process. The rate at which each test system was able to render the entire scene is represented in the graph below.
Like the PCMark Vantage tests on the previous page, the ASRock Vision 3D 252B blows all of the other systems out of the water in our Cinebench R11.5 tests.
3DMark Vantages built-in CPU tests are multi-threaded DirectX gaming metrics that are useful for comparing relative performance between similarly equipped systems. This tests consists of two different 3D scenes that are processed with a software renderer that is dependent on the host CPU's performance. Calculations that are normally reserved for the 3D accelerator are instead sent to the CPU for processing and rendering. The system's performance in each test is used to determine the final score.
The Core i5-2520M's higher clocks (2.5GHz base / 3.2GHz Turbo), in addition to its support for Hyper Threading give it a big edge in 3DMark's CPU test, where it outpaces all other systems by a wide margin. |
| Performance: Gaming | ||||
For our next set of tests, we moved on to some in-game benchmarking with Left 4 Dead 2 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. When testing low-power platforms with L4D2 or ET:QW, we dialed the image quality settings down to medium quality settings and tested at various resolutions. Since these are more entry-level game tests on highly mobile platforms or platforms equipped with mobile parts, we left anti-aliasing turned off and image quality settings set from moderate to high levels where possible.
We've got a couple of different things going on in these game tests. Fist, keep in mind the GeForce GT 540M in the Vision 3D 252B and the GT 425M in the older Vision 3D PC we looked at are both 96 CUDA core GPUs. The GeForce GT 540M and 425M only differ in their clock speeds, with the 540M being the faster of the two (1120MHz vs. 1344MHz.) We also think the newer drivers and higher-clocked system memory on the newer 252B HTPC help it out here, particularly in the ET:QW test. Regardless of the deltas, the Vision 3D 252B is the fastest of the bunch. |
| Total System Power Consumption | ||||
Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we monitored how much power our test systems consumed using a power meter. Our goal was to give you all an idea as to how much power the base platform configuration used while idling and while under a heavy workload. Please keep in mind that we were testing total system power consumption at the outlet here, not just the power being drawn by the processors alone.
Despite offering much better performance than its predecessor, the Vision 3D 252B consumed less power under both idle and load conditions. We were only loading up the CPU with Cinebench in this test, however. In situations where both the CPU and GPU are loaded up (like in a game like L4D2, for example), power consumption will be higher. We saw peak power consumption of 89 watts in L4D2 to be specific. |
| Quality and User Experience | ||||
To test video decode and playback capabilities of ASRock Vision 3D 252B HTPC, we played back a 1080p H.264-encoded QuickTime clip, along with 1080p Blu-ray movie content, a 1080P MKV file, and HD Flash video (along with just about every other file type). We then fired up Windows Task Manager take a look at CPU utilization in all instances.
The ASRock Vision 3D HTPC also handled all of the 3D content we had available perfectly. 3D Photos, video clips, live streaming from the web, Blu-Ray discs, and games all worked as they should. This is a testament to the work NVIDIA has put in to ensure a good 3D experience for end users with their 3D Vision and 3DTV Play technologies. |
| Our Summary and Conclusion | ||||
Performance Summary: The ASRock Vision 3D 252B performed very well throughout our entire battery of tests. Its performance in comparison to the other HTPC and low-power systems we tested was excellent and power consumption was somewhat lower than the previous-gen Vision 3D PC we tested. Within the confines of a system designed to be an HTPC though, the user experience is also a big factor in determining performance, and in this regard the ASRock Vision 3D 252B excelled. The system’s combination of high-performance components and a GeForce GPU allowed it to flawlessly playback all of the media we tested.
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We think home theater PCs should conform to certain criteria. They need to be quiet and low power. An HTPC also needs to be easy to connect and use and capable and playing back a wide range of media types. It should also be unobtrusive, able to blend in with other AV equipment, and hopefully be aesthetically pleasing. In our opinion, ASRock has hit the mark on all points.
