Efficiency Analysis: Core i3 Trumps Atom On The Desktop

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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.

Test Setup

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System Hardware
Hardware Details
Performance Benchmarks
Motherboard I Intel D510MO (Rev. 1.0); Chipset: Intel NM10; BIOS: 0175 (03/8/2010)
Motherboard II Elitegroup 945GCT-D (Rev. 1.0); Chipset: Intel 945GC; BIOS: 08/07/08
Motherboard III (Socket LGA 1156) Zotac H55 ITX-WiFi (Rev. 1.0); Chipset: Intel H55; BIOS: 1.3
CPU Intel I Intel Atom D510 (45 nm, 1.66 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, TDP 13W)
CPU Intel II Intel Atom 230 (45 nm, 1.6 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, TDP 4W)
CPU Intel III Intel Core i3-530 (32 nm, 2.93 GHz, 4 x 256KB L2 and 4MB L3 Cache, TDP 73W)
RAM DDR2 (dual) 2 x 2GB DDR2-800 (Apogee AU2G732-12GH001)
RAM DDR3 (dual) 2 x 2GB DDR3-1333 (OCZ3G2000LV4GK 8-8-8-24)
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.11, 500GB (ST3500320AS) 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 32MB Cache
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling, Silencer 750EPS12V 750W
System Software & Drivers
Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Updated on 2010-03-03
Drivers and Settings
Intel Chipset Drivers Chipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.1.1025
Intel Storage Drivers Matrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.​9.​0.​1023
Intel Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 15.17
Audio Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
iTunes Version: 9.0.3.15 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format
Lame MP3 Version 3.98.3 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min. convert WAV to MP3 audio format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kbps)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
Handbrake CLI Version: 0.94 Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Channel, English to Video: AVC1 Audio1: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
Mainconcept Reference v2 Version: 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 Kbps) Codec: H.264 Pro Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS) Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
7-Zip Version 9.1 beta LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRAR Version 3.92 RAR Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinZip 14 Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZIP Commandline Version 3 ZIPX Syntax "-a -ez -p -r" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080
Adobe Photoshop CS 4 (64 Bit) Version: 11 Filtering a 16MB 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)
Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional Version: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferenced Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128-bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321
Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer
Fritz Fritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.3.2
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
Benchmark Details
3DMark06 Version: 1.2 Patch 1901 Default Settings
SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Version: 2010.1.16.10 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith