Shuttle XS29F: Is VIA's Nano Processor Powerful Enough?

Name: Benchmark Results: Applications - Shuttle XS29F: Is VIA&#039;s Nano Processor Powerful Enough?
Author: Thomas Soderstrom

by Thomas Soderstrom September 2, 2009 at 1:00 AM

77 Comments

Benchmark Results: Applications

We tried to limit today’s benchmarks to applications that are used in a typical office environment, such as word processing, Web browsing, and database management. But because the benchmark we use for checking MS Office and Internet Explorer performance isn’t compatible with the Chrome9 HC3 graphics driver of the VIA Nano platform, we were forced to chose the most “office friendly” benchmarks from our high-end system test set.

Anyone working with 96MB TIF images probably calls his or her office a studio, so the traditional office tasks of resizing or cropping an image don’t take nearly this long. On the other hand, those who already experience operational delays when using traditional desktop processors would probably find even less performance unacceptable.

Recent versions of AVG anti-virus appear extremely friendly towards multi-core processing, giving the Atom 330 a substantial performance lead over the single-core Celeron 430. The Nano U1700’s slow single core is poorly suited to the task.

Video conversion isn’t the most common office application, but we have seen downsized videos attached to organizational newsletters. A marginal lead in DivX and a much larger lead in Xvid favor the single-core Celeron, while the dual-core Atom is still significantly faster than the Nano.

WinRAR almost perfectly reflects CPU clock speed, rather than architecture, while WinZip appears optimized towards the desktop CPU.

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About the author

Thomas Soderstrom @hardware_tom

Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.

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Wouldn't this just be a linux-only machine then? I can't possibly see any other use for it other than maybe a childs pc or a general "Internet & Email only" PC.
pakardbell486dx2

This may be a dumb question, but why was Xp not used for this test? Clearly "just barely" wont work for people who spend their hard earn money on something like this. Maybe the celeron is ok for vista basic but the atom and nano platforms are just not good enough for Vista. If I can make an analogy comparing Vista and Atom/Nano it's like an old 73' Corolla trying to haul ten tons uphill.
werr20

wonderful ! i'm waiting for faster cpu-s from via
ethaniel

No CPU usage tests on Blu-ray playback? I was expecting that...
tacoslave

amd huron platform thats all i have to say i want to see it benched see how it stakes up.
Blueridge

I agree that the major drawback of this review is the use of Microsoft Vista. I think that Windows XP Home edition for ULPC or a netbook spin of a linux distro (e.g. Ubuntu) would have been a much better choice for this review, especialy since is very well known that Vista is just not the right choice for netbooks (or nettops). Some time ago I read several reviews of the nano processor, based on Win XP and they performed more than OK, they were even suitable for a small HTPC at that time (the toughest challenge was DVD playback back then) and with a better chipset would have performed even netter. But this happens when a resource hungry OS like vista is used... just my 2 cents.
HalfHuman

i guess a windoze xp or 7 would be a lot better to use with this kind of hardware. in fact i cannot think at a more inapropriate os to run on a nentop than vista.
maybe the performance delta would be the same but the usability would be more than "acceptable".
regarding the "benchmarking" stuff... i do not think that anybody sane would buy a nettop to use it for hardcore photo editiing or transcoding.
if i'd buy a nettop i'd be interested in several factors:
- to be powerfull enough for office work and maybe hd playback
- to use as little power as possible (which nano does nicely) as this kind of device would be rarely powered down
- to be silent (which nano is)
i think that performance per watt is irrelevant here as a system like this is not meant to be "performant". i think that the one that uses less watts, has more features is queter wins here.
my take on this is that via has a very nice platform and nano wins even if it's not the fastest.
Blueridge

I just took a look at Via's website and it seems that Nano is available in flavors up to 1.8GHz. I wish a machine based on such a processor was used for this review, though I think the main issue here is availability.
HalfHuman

i would be nice to see some noise evaluations, some hd playback tests... some appropriate os.
eddieroolz

The Nano would be the perfect computer to just leave it powered on, seeding torrents and such.
apache_lives

Intel must still have large stock piles of 945 based chipsets if there still selling them with Atom's etc - kinda sad we have to wait for the next gen SoC like designs to see true low power setups and platforms etc
Don't understand y u even wrote this article.
No Point at all.
u guys problems are u doesn't even know what we want to read. You guys simply put up unprofessional article. Who would run vista in these types of platform? where is da video performance? Where is the noise test?

speechless... really speechless...
juliom

Why is a dual core CPU being compared to a single core one?...
tenshin0313

Why not using 1.6Ghz Nano XS29 system to do a fair test against Atom 330?

http://www.mostreviews.com/reviews/23357
tenshin0313

Why not using 1.6Ghz Nano XS29 system to do a fair test against Atom 330?

http://www.mostreviews.com/reviews/23357
Blueridge

Yep, I totally agree! As long as there is a Shuttle machine equipped with a Nano processor that's running at a frequency close to the Atom's, that's the one that should have been used for this article. It's not fair to make the Intel based machine a clear winner in this article without pitting against a worthy opponent.
Though this may seem far fetched, if Tom's hardware wants to maintain their standards as professionals, there should be a sequel to this article with a proper suite of benchmarks, a proper OS and balanced HW configurations (at least a 1.6Ghz Via Nano).

After digging a little on the VIA's website, I think a better netbook would be build with the fastest Nano processor and the ULV version of the VX800 chipset. Just my two cents... again
Regected

juliomWhy is a dual core CPU being compared to a single core one?...

I was thinking the same thing through most of this write-up. Come on Thomas, you can do better than that. Compare comparable equipment. Why not throw an entry level dual core Pentium in for good measure?
DjEaZy

... give the nano a nVidia 9400m...
amnotanoobie

This would be an interesting 24/7 printer server/web server/NAS and an occasional movie box.
amdfangirl

I would so want this computer...
You should this properly: Intel Atom 270/280 vs VIA Nano U1700
That would be a useful test for those interested in fanless nettops.
The Atom 330 is a dual core which requires a fan...
Crashman

ethanielNo CPU usage tests on Blu-ray playback? I was expecting that...

You don't play blu-ray movies on office PC's. Well you might, but generally speaking office PC's don't even come with blu-ray drives.

These two models target the desktop specifically, not home theaters.

juliomWhy is a dual core CPU being compared to a single core one?...

That's the way Shuttle wanted it.

tenshin0313Why not using 1.6Ghz Nano XS29 system to do a fair test against Atom 330?http://www.mostreviews.com/reviews/23357

That's not the way Shuttle wanted it.

plinoYou should this properly: Intel Atom 270/280 vs VIA Nano U1700That would be a useful test for those interested in fanless nettops.The Atom 330 is a dual core which requires a fan...

Then why doesn't the CPU HAVE a fan?
HalfHuman

http://www.trustedreviews.com/cpu-memory/review/2008/08/14/VIA-Nano-vs-Intel-Atom/p1
saint19

Where is the Athlon neo???, could be interesting make a comparation fo those 3