Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110: Tiny ION Nettop

TEST METHODOLOGY

Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110 device listing:

Memory Configuration:

Measurement and Analysis Tools

• CPUBurn processor stress software.
• Prime95 processor stress software.
• ATITool artifact scanner to stress the integrated GPU.
• FurMark stability test to stress the integrated GPU.
• Cyberlink PowerDVD to play H264/VC1 video
• CoreAVC to accelerate x264/MKV video (to use CUDA with Nvidia GPUs; software decoding only for IGPs lacking hardware acceleration)
• Media Player Classic - Home Cinema to play x264/MKV video,
• 3DMark05 as a 3D benchmark.
• SpeedFan to monitor system temperatures and fan speeds.
• Seasonic Power Angel AC power meter, used to measure the power consumption of the system

Our first test procedure is designed to determine the overall system power consumption at various states. To stress CPUs we use either Prime95 (large FFTs setting) or CPUBurn depending on which produces higher system power consumption. To stress the IGP, we use ATITool or FurMark, an OpenGL benchmarking and stability testing utility.

Our second test procedure is to run the system through a video test suite featuring a variety of high definition clips. During playback, a CPU usage graph is created by the Windows Task Manger for analysis to determine the average CPU usage. High CPU usage is indicative of poor video decoding ability. If the video (and/or audio) skips or freezes, we conclude the IGP (in conjunction with the processor) is inadequate to decompress the clip properly. Power consumption during playback of high definition video is also recorded.

H.264/VC-1 Video Test Clips

1080p | 24fps | ~10mbps

1080p H.264: Rush Hour 3 Trailer 2c is a 1080p clip encoded in H.264 inside an Apple Quicktime container.

1080p | 24fps | ~8mbps

WMV-HD: Coral Reef Adventure Trailer is encoded in VC-1 using the WMV3 codec commonly recognized by the "WMV-HD" moniker.

x264/MKV Video Test Clips

MKV (Matroska) is a very popular online multimedia container used for high definition content, usually using x264 (a free, open source H.264 encoder) for video. The clips were taken from two longer videos — the most demanding one minute portions were used. To play them we use Media Player Classic Home Cinema configured to use DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) for supported Intel/ATI GPUs, and CoreAVC with CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) support for Nvidia GPUs. For IGPs that support neither, CoreAVC is used to help render the clips using CPU power alone.

720p | 24fps | ~11mbps

x264 720p: Undead Battle is a 720p x264 clip encoded from the Blu-ray version of a major motion picture. It features a battle between undead warriors.

1080p | 24fps | ~14mbps

x264 1080p: Spaceship is a 1080p x264 clip encoded from the Blu-ray version of an animated short film. It features a hapless robot trying to repair a lamp on a spaceship.