AMS e-Cube EG65 Review - Benchmarking

(Page 6 of 7 )

AMS e-Cube EG65 Barebones System Review

 

 

BENCHMARKING (Continued...):

 

 

PCMark2002:

PCMark2002 is a general system benchmark released by Futuremark. Again, this is a synthetic benchmark but it offers something to compare to your current system. We've run PCMark2002 three times on the EG65 e-cube, one run each with all three video solutions we're looking at today. The On board Extreme Graphics 2, the MSI Ti4200, and the FIC Radeon 9800 Pro..

 

 

 

We see here primarily what we expected, which is like results regardless of the graphics card, except for the memory. Now the memory deviation makes sense a little bit anyway. The on board graphics uses shared memory, which means that it takes away from the system memory to create graphics memory. So the change from on board to a add on video card makes sense, but the difference between the Ti4200 and the Radeon 9800 Pro doesn't make as much sense. We'll chalk it up to food for thought. Suffice it to say that again, we've seen scores right in line with what we've come to expect from full size systems.

 

Unreal Tournament 2003:

UT03 is for now the status quo benchmark when it comes to real world 3D graphics comparisons. It replaced QuakeIII and I largely expect Doom3 or Half Life 2 to replace UT03 in the not so distant future, but for now, this is it.

Because at higher resolutions and higher quality settings the on board Extreme Graphics 2 chipset is a bit overmatched we've run additonal tests to highlight what it CAN do. We ran UT03 using "Low Quality" settings at 800x600 and at 1024x768 with the on board video to see what it can deliver..

 

 

While this is "Low Quality" settings I am pretty impressed with these scores for an on board video solution. Basically it shows that 1024x768 is pretty much playable and that 800x600 would offer flawless game play. Not that any of us would ever run this exclusively as our video choice, especially in a LAN box, it is nice to know that it's capable of performing relatively decently. If your at a party and your primary card dies you can still get in on the fun by reverting to the on board solution. If you happen to be using this box for an every day PC either at home or at a dorm, this video solution may actually be all you need if intense gaming isn't your thing.

Now let's take a look at how this lil' box can do when you put "real" video cards in it...

 

 

 

 

Now that's exactly what I was hoping for. The Radeon 9800 Pro numbers are impressive no doubt, clearly showing that this box is small only in actual size and not performance. But what excites me is the performance with the MSI Ti4200. This is a budget card at best in todays graphics arena and it delivered MORE than playable frame rates at every resolution up to 1600x1200. Impressive!

 

 

Aquamark:

Aquamark is the benchmark based on the popular Aquanox 3D graphics engine. It's a good indication of 3D performance and offered us a nice mix so we decided to run it. We've thrown in the Extreme Graphics 2 on board video scores fun for grins...

 

 

Again this system fails to disappoint us with it's performance. You'll notice the big fat ZERO under 1280x1024 with the Intel Extreme chipset, it simply wasn't capable of running that resolution.

Alright, let's go see how this little gem runs the 3dMark applications and see if we can wrap this thing up.. Page Seven...

Next: More benchmarking and conclusion >>
 

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