Comparison systems
| Laptop | MSI Wind 12 U230 (AMD Congo) | Acer Timeline 3810T (Intel CULV) | MSI Wind U100 Plus (Intel Atom) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | AMD Athlon Neo X2 L335 (1.60GHz, 512KB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 (1.40GHz, 3MB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) |
| Motherboard | MSI 780M (AMD RS780M + SB710) | Acer GS45 | MSI 945GSE |
| Memory | 2GB DDR2 | 2GB DDR3 | 1GB DDR2 |
| Memory timings and speed | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 640MHz | 6-6-6-15-2T @ 800MHz | TBC |
| Graphics | ATI Radeon HD 3200 | Intel GMA 4500MHD | Intel GMA 950 |
| Screen size and native res | 12.1in - 1,366x768 | 13.3in - 1,366x768 | 10.1in - 1,024x600 |
| Wireless | Ralink 1T2R 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 | Ralink 1T2R 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 |
| Disk drive | Seagate Momentus 320GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 500GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | 160GB, 5,400RPM |
| Optical drive | None | None | None |
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 9.11 | Intel 7.15.10.1666 | Intel |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit | Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit | Windows XP SP3, 32-bit |
| Current price | £399 (as tested) | £550 (as tested) | £289 |
| Benchmarks | 7-zip (7z4.65, 32-bit) - internal benchmark HEXUS.PiFast - calculation to 10m places CINEBENCH - multi-CPU render VLC 1.0.2 playback of Terminator Salvation 720p YouTube HD playback of Earth clip Quake 4 v1.30 - 800x600 LQ Far Cry 2 v1.0.3 - 800x600 LQ Battery test -Terminator Salvation 480p movie (VLC) looping |
|---|
Notes
In order to gage performance, we're comparing results with two competing Intel platforms; CULV and Atom, productised as the Acer Timeline 3810T and MSI Wind U100 Plus.
In terms of benchmarks, 7-zip is a compression program that's multi-threaded for optimum performance. We're running the built-in benchmark.
HEXUS.PiFast tests single-core performance and CINEBENCH stresses as many cores as are available.
The first video-playback test measures CPU utilisation during the playback of a 720p Terminator Salvation trailer using VLC player. The second test then measures CPU utilisation during playback of a high-definition clip on YouTube.
For a quick take on gaming, Quake 4 and Far Cry 2 are run at 800x600 with low quality settings.
The above tests are run on mains power with the notebook(s) set to high-performance mode. Lastly, the battery test involves setting the laptop to power-saver mode, using the 480p Terminator Salvation QuickTime movie on a looped basis, with screen set to mid-brightness (50 per cent) and WiFi/Bluetooth switched off. We time how long it takes for the laptop to go from full charge into hibernation.
