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TEST RESULTS
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Test Results: AMD Maui
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Test State
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Mean
CPU Use
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Peak
CPU Use
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System Power
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Off
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N/A
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1W
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Sleep
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N/A
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3W
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Idle
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N/A
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86W
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Rush Hour
(H.264)
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40%
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55%
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~100W
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Coral Reef
(WMV-HD)
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29%
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53%
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~98W
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Drag Race
(VC-1)
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41%
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59%
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~104W
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Disturbia
(Blu-ray)
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32%
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58%
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~100W
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CPUBurn x 2
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100%
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121W
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CPUBurn x 4
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100%
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154W
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CPUBurn x 4
+ FurMark
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100%
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173W
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The overall power consumption of the system was a lot higher than we're used
to seeing. The system is equipped with various extra components:
a TV tuner, amplifier, and IR remote, all of which require extra juice.
The system idles at 86W, though with Media Center open, it jumps between 92
and 96W. Power draw during video playback was in the 100W range.
When all four cores of the CPU were stressed,
power consumption increased by 68W compared to idle, which is close to the 9350e's
65W TDP rating. Video playback, with an advanced IGP and
a quad core processor was not an issue, of course, it's a more than competent
media player.
Keep in mind that this PC can replace an external amplifier or AV receiver, a PVR, external DVD or Blu-ray player, a cable/STB or Tivo box, and any TV tuners installed in the flat panel TVs — the power draw is more than offset by the power of components you can eliminate from around the entertainment center.
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Benchmarks Comparison
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System
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AMD Maui
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Dell Studio Hybrid
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CPU / RAM
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Phenom X4 2.0Ghz / 2GB
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Core 2 Duo T5850
2.13GHz / 3GB
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Boot-up Time
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90 sec
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59 sec
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PCMark05
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5169
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4176
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3DMark05
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1561
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953
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3DMark06
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3369
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444
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NOD32
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382 sec
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~95W
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301 sec
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~40W
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WinRAR
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377 sec
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~95W
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274 sec
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~45W
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iTunes
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584 sec
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~96W
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312 sec
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~43W
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TMPGEnc
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289 sec
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~122W
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468 sec
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~52W
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*Boot-up Time - start button to when the desktop
appears
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Performance on the whole was surprisingly poor if you don't take into
account its media functionality and treat it purely as a standard
PC. The Dell Studio Hybrid, a simple, efficient system using notebook components, defeated the Maui
system in many of our real-world benchmarks including NOD32, WinRAR and iTunes,
despite only sporting a dual core CPU. A Core 2 Duo is more powerful than a
Phenom processor at similar clock speeds in many applications — those that
can take advantage of more than two cores (like TMPGEnc) are the exception.
The Dell Studio Hybrid's less-than-extreme Intel graphics is a severe detriment when
it comes to 3D video performance, though, while the Maui's 780M graphics are quite strong. This helps the Maui on the PCMark and 3DMark benchmarks, which are probably more relevant for HTPC apps.
Is quad core a good choice for a HTPC? The most demanding function for a media PC is probably to
record and playback video/audio at the same time, so in our view, a
quad core is not the best choice... unless recorded content is encoded on the
fly with a threaded application that can utilize the potential of all four cores. One point AMD makes is that the use of a Phenom allows for HT3.0 speeds, which offers better de-interlacing performance for broadcast and other interlaced content. We never did spend any time with the tuner, so no comment there.
A higher-clocked, cheaper, 45W AMD X2 processor (like the 2.6 GHz Athlon 64 X2 5050e) would bring general performance closer to that
of an a Core 2 Duo, and at the same time, lower overall system power draw substantially, at idle as well as at full load. For a box that many users will want left on 24/7 (for timed TV recording, instant access to TV or music on demand, etc.), the reduced power draw at idle would be most welcome.
Despite the quad core processor, the system felt a bit sluggish at times,
especially on boot-up. The system loads several applications into the system
tray and Media Center also fires up after boot-up. The system took 90 seconds
to get to the Vista desktop, but an additional 43 seconds passed before Media
Center finished loading. It's a rather clunky startup procedure, so it was
best to keep this system in Sleep until we were ready to use it.
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