Zotac ZBox Blu-ray HD-ID34 Nettop / HTPC Review
To assess the performance of the ZOTAC Zbox, we pitted it against a number of various netbook systems based on Intel Atom processor designs, including the first generation of NVIDIA's Ion platform, as well as standard Atom solutions. Outside of the numbers from the ZBox HD-ID11, the performance figures we've provided are presented for a frame of reference more than anything else, since it was nearly impossible to provide identically configured test systems. As such these test metrics should not be considered "apples to apples" comparisons, but rather a general correlation of how the next-gen Ion-based Zbox will perform versus similar, low power platforms in its peer group.
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Zotac ZBox HD-ID34 Intel Atom D525 (Dual Core) (1.8ThinkGHz) 2GB DDR2-800 NVIDIA Next Gen Ion GPU (GeForce GT218 Ion) On-Board Ethernet On-Board Audio 1x500GB 2.5" Hard Drive 5400 RPM SATA Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit) |
Zotac ZBox HD-ID11 Intel Atom D510 (Dual Core) (1.66GHz) 2GB DDR2-800 NVIDIA Next Gen Ion GPU (GeForce GT218 Ion) On-Board Ethernet On-Board Audio 1x500GB 2.5" Hard Drive 5400 RPM SATA Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (32-bit) |
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e AMD Athlon Neo (MV-40) (1.66GHz) 2GB DDR2-800 Radeon HD 3200 IGP On-Board Ethernet On-Board Audio 1x250GB 2.5" Hard Drive 5400 RPM SATA Windows 7 Professional (32-bit) |
Asus Eee PC 1215N Intel Atom D525 (Dual Core) (1.8GHz) 2GB DDR2-800 NVIDIA Next Gen Ion GPU (GeForce GT218 Ion) On-Board Ethernet On-Board Audio 1x250GB 2.5" Hard Drive 5400 RPM SATA Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64Zot-bit) |
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The Futuremark 3DMark06 CPU benchmark consists of tests that use the CPU to render 3D scenes, rather than the GPU. It runs several threads simultaneously and is designed to utilize multiple processor cores.
Pay close attention to the ZBox versus the Eee PC 1215N. The specifications on these two machines are nearly identical, though one's a destop and one's a netbook. Amazingly, the Eee PC actually edges out the ZBox in three of the four 3DMark 06 benchmarks, but the delta is so minute that we're chalking it up as a wash. Basically, the D525 + Ion 2 combo works the same in this desktop as it does on a notebook, and we definitely couldn't feel the performance difference between the two. As expected, the ZBox left the other two reference systems in the dust, proving that the D525 actually is a major leap for the Atom family (though that next-gen Ion doesn't hurt).
Zotac ZBox ID-HD34 3DMark 06 Score
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We ran the system through Futuremark’s latest system performance metric PCMark Vantage. This benchmark suite creates a host of different usage scenarios to simulate different types of workloads including High Definition video and movie playback and manipulation, gaming, image editing and manipulation, music compression, communications, and productivity. We like the fact that most of the tests are multi-threaded as well, in order to exploit the additional resources offered by multi-core processors.
Here we see the Zbox HD-ID34 running neck-and-neck once more with the nearly identical (specification wise) Eee PC 1215N. It's uncanny how similar the numbers are. We've got the older ZBox HD-ID11 in here for comparison, and it's easy to see how the newer Atom edges the scores ahead on the HD-ID34. The new guy doesn't crush the old guy when it comes to raw figures, but we just feel like this setup is well equipped to handle the rigors of everyday computing, which hasn't been said by us regarding an Atom for some time now.
Zotac ZBox ID-HD34 PCMark Vantage Score
