Zotac ZBOX Nano ID65 Plus Out NUCs Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Friday, August 23, 2013, 12:39 PM EDT

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.

HD Video Playback and CPU Utilization

HD Video Decode Performance

Full Screen 1080p YouTube Video Playback

Full HD H.264 MP4 Playback, Streaming From a NAS Device

Playback of every file type we threw at the Zotac ZBox Nano ID65 Plus was virtually flawless. We have been using the machine both in the lab and in a home theater environment for about a week and there hasn't been a single file or type of media the machine couldn’t handle. CPU utilization was low with every file we tested, including H.264 encoded MKVs or MP4s and Flash video, and the quality of the video output to both a desktop monitor or Samsung 3D HDTV was excellent.

As you can see in the images above, CPU utilization was very low when playing back HD content. We should point out that these screen caps were taken with the machine connected to an 802.11n wireless network, either streaming form YouTube or playing back an MP4 stored on a NAS attached to the same network.

Tags: core i7, SFF, Zotac, Nano, HTPC, ZBox, id65

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