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Efficiency Analysis: Core i3 Trumps Atom On The Desktop
Atom was designed to be a low-cost, low-power solution, but its value in the desktop space is debatable if you consider performance. We pit the cheapest Core i3 against Intel's Atom on a performance-per-dollar and a per-watt basis to see which is better.
Lastly, we’d like to mention the H55 motherboard we used to run the Core i3-530. We wanted a solution that was as similar as possible to the Atom 230 and D510 boards, so Zotac's mini-ITX product, the H55-ITX WiFi, made great sense. This board starts at $150, making the combination with a $115 Core i3-530 rather expensive compared with Atom, but you get a lot in return.
This motherboard offers DVI and HDMI outputs, together with ten USB 2.0 ports. You'll find gigabit Ethernet and even eSATA. There's an optical S/PDIF output, as ports for two WiFi antennas (the required Mini Card module is included).
One x16 PCI Express slot is available for any type of PCIe add-on card, including graphics. Two DIMM sockets accommodate DDR3 modules of up to 8GB. Four phases on the voltage regulator deliver sufficient power for even a Core i7-800-series quad-core CPU. This board even has six SATA 3Gb/s ports, while most mini-ITX solutions offer only two. In short, this is a fully featured desktop solution in a minimum size footprint.
