Samsung's ATIV Smart PC 500T: An Atom-Based Windows 8 Tablet

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

Samsung takes Intel's Atom Z2760 SoC, the full version of Windows 8, and builds a tablet that begs to stay connected to its docking station. Is this the combination of freedom, performance, and battery life we've been waiting for, or are we left wanting?

Can A Tablet-Oriented GPU Handle Desktop Gaming?

If you follow our tablet coverage, you've seen our GLBenchmark charts with Imagination Technologies' PowerVR hardware riding high and mighty up on top. But that's a synthetic, mostly intended to represent tablet-oriented gaming. Can the SGX545 apply those chart-topping GLBenchmark numbers to an entry-level PC title?

WoW: MoP on Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T

This was probably wishful thinking, but since we have an x86 processor with Windows 8, we had to install a mainstream game like World of Warcraft to see if the little Atom could handle it. After all, what good is the freedom to install whatever you want on a device without benchmarks addressing the viability of such a position.

We've seen World of Warcraft run acceptably on netbook-class hardware at the lowest detail settings. Unfortunately, even at 800x600, we wouldn't consider the Atom Z2760 to be powerful enough for a workload like this one.

We are left with a few interesting thoughts, though. First, the single-core PowerVR SGX545 is a little quicker than the older Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 found in Intel's Atom N450. The iPad 2's dual-core SGX543MP2 should deliver close to two times as much performance, while the third-gen iPad's quad-core SGX543MP4 might be expected to increase that result four-fold. Given that Qualcomm's S4 Pro tops both Apple SoCs, it wouldn't be unrealistic for it to drive a game like World of Warcraft smoothly.

Of course, that's all theoretical since those other graphics engines are part of ARM-based SoCs. Intel would need to license a more advanced GPU in order for us to confirm, which would require dedicating more power budget to graphics. More power means less battery life, and we know the direction that goes. Alternatively, AMD could show us a tablet-oriented APU, which would be interesting, too.

Andrew Ku
42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • knowom
    Way overpriced would much rather just get a laptop.
    Reply
  • tanjo
    Too bad tablets can't get drunk and hook up; we'd love to see what the kids of Samsung's ATIV Smart PC 500T and Microsoft's Surface would look like.
    Don't know about the looks but they'd name it Samsoft.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    i wonder what a Surface with a Quad core Krait S4 would look like.
    Reply
  • DjEaZy
    ... An Atom-Based Windows 8 Tablet... two terrible things put together...
    Reply
  • hp79
    I got one of these from Staples for $600 when they first released it.
    The battery life is amazing for me. Probably due to that fact that I never blast the brightness because it'll hurt my eyes. I usually recharge the battery overnight, once in 1-3 days. It's like a cell phone (I actually charge my Galaxy Note every night), where it stays connected. Press the power button or standby in the Windows menu, and the screen turns off, but everything else is still going on in the background. I can listen to music and press the power button, and it's just like a smartphone. All this while sipping very little power.
    I can play movies on my 1080p TV using cheap hdmi cable, and after watching 4 hours of movies, it still has 60% battery left.

    I really like the digitizer too since I also use OneNote 2010 on my x230t, which gets synched on the xe500t's OneNote 2010.

    Because I don't have to worry about the battery life at all, sometimes I just keep it on, running a movie or something while working on my desktop or laptop.

    Now the bad things are obviously the slower CPU, and everywhere-glassy plastic feel.
    There are also bugs in the drivers where the touch interface often stops working, especially in Skype. There were several updates on the drivers and bios, but I think they better keep working on it.
    Reply
  • jonjonjon
    this is so ridiculous how bad ms screwed this up. windows 8 could not be more a disaster. why would you release a arm and intel x86 version of the same tablet? with that said why use arm at all. maybe i don't see ms's infinite wisdom. if i buy a windows tablet i'm expecting that i can run all my x86 programs on it. i would love to be in some ms management meetings i'm sure you could get some good laughs. poor ms i almost feel bad for them.
    Reply
  • demirci
    "72% of Nvidia's Tegra 3, and 92% of Qualcomm's S4 Pro"
    This is not correct according to the graph.
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Talk to me when a tablet can run Crysis 3 on its highest settings. Then, I'll buy one. Then, the Desktop PC will be dead.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    Windows Vista had 2.2% after two months on the market.
    Windows 8 market share after two months - 1.65%, meaning it gained only 0.6% Nov 26 - Dec 26
    At the same time Windows 7 gained 0.4% to just over 45%.

    Metro is dead, it should be obvious even to Microsoft now.

    Reply
  • killerclick
    JOSHSKORNTalk to me when a tablet can run Crysis 3 on its highest settings. Then, I'll buy one. Then, the Desktop PC will be dead.
    No problem, they'll make Crysis 3 for Windows tablets, so it'll run exactly the same on the PC. It's what Microsoft is expecting devs to do with their apps.
    Reply