AMD Fusion Hits Retail: Zotac and Gigabyte E-350s

Name: AMD Fusion Hits Retail: Zotac and Gigabyte E-350s - Page 7
Brand: AMD

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 09:00 AM EDT

To test video decode and playback capabilities of Zotac and Gigabyte E-350 APU-based systems, we attempted to play back a 1080p H.264-encoded QuickTime clip, along with 1080p Blu-ray movie content, a 1080P MKV file, and HD Flash video. We then fired up Windows Task Manager take a look at CPU utilization in all instances.

HD Video Playback and CPU Utilization

HD Video Decode Performance

1080P MKV File Playback

1080P YouTube Flash Video

HD video playback was mixed with the Zotac an Gigabyte E-350-based systems. First, the good news. Blu-Ray video and QuickTime files played back beautifully. CPU utilization for Blu-Ray playback (Iron Man 2) remained relatively low--in the 20% to 25% range--and no frames were dropped using PowerDVD 10 (unfortunately, it would not let us capture a screenshot). The same was basically true with the QuickTime clip, but CPU utilization was somewhat higher and hovered in the 40% - 55% range. The MKV file also played back well (screen-cap above) and there were no issues to speak of, except for the fact that CPU utilization was even higher and lingered around 65%, with spikes in the 75% range.

Flash video is another story, however. Throughout the review process, AMD has been sending updates regarding support for Flash video acceleration. With current drivers and the latest official Flash 10.2 release, CPU utilization is very high and dropped frames are common with full-screen HD video. Lower resolutions also have high-CPU utilization, but the experience is much better. With that said, different versions of the plug-in seem to offer varying levels of support, and Adobe and AMD are working on optimizing performance. We expect Flash video acceleration to be much better in future driver and plug-in releases.

Tags: AMD, Gigabyte, Zotac, Fusion, APU, ZBox HD

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com