ASRock's E350M1: AMD's Brazos Platform Hits The Desktop First

Test Setups And Software

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Test Hardware
Platform 1ASRock E350M1AMD E-350 APU (dual-core, 1.6 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache/core, 80 stream processors @ 500 MHz, 18 W, 40 nm), A50M FCH
Platform 2Zotac 880GITX-A-EAMD Athlon II X2 240e (dual-core, 2.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache/core, Cool'n'Quiet enabled, 45 W, 45 nm), SB850 southbridge
Platform 3Zotac IONITX-P-ECeleron SU2300 (dual-core, 1.2 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 10 W, 45 nm), Nvidia Ion (16 CUDA cores, 450 MHz)
Platform 4Zotac IONITX-L-EAtom 330 (dual-core, 1.6 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, 8 W, 45 nm), Nvidia Ion (16 CUDA cores, 450 MHz)
MemoryCrucial 4 GB DDR3-1333, CT51264BA1339.16FD @ DDR3-1333/1066, 1.5 V
Hard DriveIntel SSDSA2M160G2GC 160 GB SATA 3Gb/s
Power SupplyEnermax ELT400AWT-ECO 400 W, 80 PLUS
System Software And Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
DirectXDirectX 11
Platform DriversNvidia GeForce/Ion Release 260.99
Row 11 - Cell 0 Nvidia Chipset Driver 50.51
Row 12 - Cell 0 Nvidia GeForce Release 262.99 (For GTX 580)
Row 13 - Cell 0 AMD VGA Driver 8.792
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3D Games Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
Left 4 Dead 2Video Mode: 1680x1050Game Settings: Anti Aliasing: none, Filtering: Trilinear, Wait for vertical sync: disabled, Shader Detail: High, Effect Detail: High, Model/Texture Detail: High, Demo: THG Demo 1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Video Mode: 1680x1050Game Settings:  Anti Aliasing: Disabled, Sync Every Frame: No, Shadows: Yes, Specular Map: Yes, Depth of Field: Yes, Number of Dynamic Lights: Normal, Ragdoll: Yes, Bullet Impacts: Yes, Texture Quality: Manual (Extra), Demo: Second Sun, 45 second FRAPS log
World Of Warcraft: CataclysmVideo Mode: 1680x1050Game Settings: Quality Settings: Fair, Vertical Sync: Disabled, Hardware Cursor: Enabled, Max Framerates: Disabled, Demo: Crushblow to The Krazzworks Flight Point
Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 10.0.1.1, 64-bit Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min., Convert to AAC audio format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 kb/s)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.94Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept Reference v2Version: 2.0.0.1555 MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
WinRARVersion 4.0 Beta 4 RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinZip 14Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZIP Commandline Version 3, ZIPX, Syntax "-a -ez -p -r", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
BlenderVersion: 2.54 beta Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, Resolution: 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing: 8x, Render: THG.blend frame 1
Adobe Photoshop CS 5 (64-Bit)Version: 11 Filtering a 16 MB TIF (15000x7266), Filters:, Radial Blur (Amount: 10, Method: zoom, Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar)
ABBYY FinereaderVersion: 10 Professional Build (10.0.102.82) Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.2.0 Patch 1901
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version: 2010.1.16.10 Processor Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith

Test Notes

First off, special thanks to Zotac for sending over the 880GITX-A-E and IONITX-P-E platforms. We know that Zotac is working on the Zbox version of its own Brazos-based setup, and given the numbers we've seen so far, that should be an interesting configuration.

We tested all of the above setups using a single 4 GB memory module. This is despite the fact that 880G is a dual-channel architecture. The original plan was to use a pair of 2 GB modules in each board. However, our IONITX-P-E board simply would not boot with two modules installed. To avoid mixing different kits, we simply standardized on the single Crucial module. In order to demonstrate that single-channel operation wouldn't hurt AMD's desktop platform, we spot-checked results with two 4 GB Crucial modules and determined that it was, indeed, not bandwidth-constrained (you'll see some of that on the next page).

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
  • iam2thecrowe
    now they need some devs to take advantage of that apu to see its full potential as a processor.
    Reply
  • reprotected
    Ironic of how Nvidia quality is worse than AMD.
    Reply
  • Reynod
    This is an awesome processor ...

    Chris ... did you manage to overclock it at all?

    Give it your best shot ... call crashman in with the liquid nitrogen if you need to mate !!

    Really impressive stats for such a small piece of silicon.
    Reply
  • dogman_1234
    So the Brazo is great for media and hard processing I assume. If someone came to me and asked for a good platrom to watch Blu-Ray...I would say get the Brazo APU for them, right?
    Reply
  • sparky2010
    Nice, things are starting to look good for AMD, and i hope it stays that way as they start unveiling their mainstream and highend processors, because i'm really fed up with intel dictating crazy prices.....
    Reply
  • cangelini
    reynodThis is an awesome processor ... Chris ... did you manage to overclock it at all?Give it your best shot ... call crashman in with the liquid nitrogen if you need to mate !!Really impressive stats for such a small piece of silicon.
    Didn't get a chance to mess with overclocking. If this is something you guys want to see, I might try to push it a little harder over the weekend.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    cangeliniDidn't get a chance to mess with overclocking. If this is something you guys want to see, I might try to push it a little harder over the weekend.
    Yeah that would be much appreciated, these little chips are so much faster than Atom, let's see if you can get them to perform similarly to a Dual-Core CPU at 1.8GHz
    Reply
  • cangelini
    Alright, I'll see what I can do. A shiny new video card landed this afternoon, so that's going to monopolize the bench for much of the weekend ;)
    Reply
  • dEAne
    Yes integration is the key to higher performance, lower power consumption and lower price (affordability this is what people really wanted).
    Reply
  • haplo602
    can you also run gaming benchmarks with a 5670 or similar plugged into the PCIe slot ? Just to have a look how the limited memory interface will bottleneck ...

    also what happens with the intgrated graphics core when you plug in a discreet GPU ? you gave so much detail about this in the sandy bridge review but totaly skip it for Fusion ...

    the board got me interested. I am trying to buy a small "workstation terminal" ... something to code OpenGL/OpenCL on a budget. Seems this is what I am looking for.
    Reply