785G And H55: Two Powerful Mini-ITX-Based Desktop Solutions

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When it's time to look into small form factor machines, do you pick AMD or Intel? With an increasing number of motherboard companies offering Mini-ITX platforms with powerful desktop performance in a diminutive footprint, we compared two modern options.

Test Setup

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System Hardware
HardwareDetails
Performance Benchmarks
Motherboard ISapphire IPC-AM3DD785G (Rev. 1.0), Chipset: AMD 785G, BIOS: (01/21/2010)
Motherboard II (Socket LGA1156)Zotac H55 ITX-WiFi (Rev. 1.0), Chipset: Intel H55, BIOS: 1.3
CPU AMD IAMD Athlon II X2 240e (45 nm, 2.8 GHz, 2 x 1 MB L2 Cache, TDP 45 W, Rev. C2)
CPU AMD IIAMD Athlon II X2 260u (45 nm, 1.8 GHz, 2 x 1 MB L2 Cache, TDP 25 W, Rev. C2)
CPU AMD IIIAMD Phenom II X3 705e (45 nm, 2.5 GHz, 3 x 512 KB L2 6 MB L3 Cache, TDP 65 W, Rev. C2)
CPU AMD IVAMD Phenom II X4 905e (45 nm, 2.5 GHz, 4 x 512 KB L2, 6 MB L3 Cache, TDP 65 W, Rev. C2)
CPU Intel IIntel Core i5-661 (32 nm, 3.33 GHz, 2 x 256 KB L2 and 4 MB L3 Cache, TDP 87 W, Rev. B1)
CPU Intel IIIntel Core i3-530 (32 nm, 2.93 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 and 4 MB L3 Cache, TDP 73 W)
RAM DDR3 (dual)2 x 2GB DDR3-1333 (OCZ3G2000LV4GK 8-8-8-24)
Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda 7200.11, 500 GB (ST3500320AS), 7,200 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 32MB Cache
Power SupplyEnermax Pro82+, EPR425AWT
System Software & Drivers
Operating SystemWindows Ultimate x64 Updated on 2010-03-03
Drivers and Settings
Intel Chipset DriversChipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.1.1025
Intel Storage DriversMatrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.​9.​0.​1023
Intel GraphicsIntel Graphics Media Accelerator 15.17

Benchmarks and Settings

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Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 9.0.3.15 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 Kbps)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
Handbrake CLIVersion: 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 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 Kbps) Codec: H.264 Pro Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS) Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
7-ZipVersion 9.1 beta LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRARVersion 3.92 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
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080
Adobe Photoshop CS4 (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 ProfessionalVersion: 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 2007Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer
FritzFritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.3.2
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
3DMark06Version: 1.2 Patch 1901 Default Settings
SiSoftware Sandra 2010Version: 2010.1.16.10 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith