Low-Power Gaming: AMD's E-350 Vs. Intel Atom D525 And Ion 2

By Don Woligroski
published

Low-power PC platforms are obviously not built for gaming, but we punish two AMD and Intel systems with popular 3D titles anyway. The results don't shock and awe, but sometimes pleasantly surprise.

Benchmark Results: Left 4 Dead 2

We’re looking at shooter number three with Left 4 Dead 2, everyone’s favorite zombie apocalypse game.

Multicore rendering is disabled by default on both of these dual-core CPUs, and it turns itself off again after restarting the program or changing the resolution, which is extremely annoying. Yet the annoyance is worth the result—enabling multicore rendering adds about 10 FPS, making the game quite playable on the E-350 at 720p and close to playable on the D525/Ion 2 combo. The game looks fairly good at the lowest settings, so this isn't much of an issue.

The frame rate is definitely good enough to enjoy the game on the E-350. Although it isn't perfectly smooth, it runs well-enough. At about 25 FPS, the D525/Ion 2 combo is touch-and-go, so we’ll say it’s on the verge of playable.

Verdict:

Left 4 Dead 2 is playable on the E-350, and on the verge of playable on the D525/Ion 2 platform.

Don Woligroski
92 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tacoslave
    so the gpu's in modern consoles are around the same as the e-350? since these gpus are mainly cpu bound? Also should have put counterstrike fun and not demanding.
    Reply
  • Can they make a video game that features a Monopolistic Chip Company who threatens and bribes computer manufacturers to be zombies?
    Reply
  • ujaansona
    Aamusing... ;)
    Reply
  • ujaansona
    OOPS It's not "Aamusing"
    It's Pointless To Compare Them...
    Reply
  • warjunkieltu
    Why are you guys not testing some good quality freeware first person shooters, that could run smoothly on those low end PCs? For example:
    Urban Terror (my favorite one), Open Arena, Alien Arena? Or at least Quake live?
    Cause it's ridiculous to test all those latest shooters on such low end machines...
    Reply
  • silverblue
    I was just thinking about reinstalling either of the Star Trek: Armada titles now I've moved to Windows 7, just to see if it removes the stuttering I experienced in XP. Good to see one of those titles here.

    Good review; was kinda wishing for the HL2:LC or some previous-gen UT titles though. :)
    Reply
  • nevertell
    You could've tried overclocking them :D
    But seriously, the ION seems to be bottlenecked by the cpu.
    Reply
  • rolli59
    Low end graphics! How about testing them with popular MMOG for addicts that travel, but like the portability of netbooks!
    Reply
  • vaughn2k
    Diablo 2? and Warcraft 3?
    Reply
  • gondor
    Thank you for including older titles in your comparison ! I hope you'll be able to include even more of them in any future tests to give each major game engine of the era a fair chance :)
    Reply