ASRock VisionX 471D Review - Evolutionary Upgrades for a Powerful mini-PC
by Ganesh T S on January 26, 2015 6:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The ASRock VisionX 471D was evaluated using our standard test suite for low power desktops / industrial PCs. We revamped our benchmark suite early last year after the publication of the Intel D54250WYK NUC review. We reran some of the new benchmarks on the older PCs also, but some of them couldn't be run on loaner samples. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same.
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. In the case of the VisionX 471D, the AMD R9 270MX also pitches in for the OpenCL accelerated components. The end result is that the combination of the Core i7-4712MQ and the AMD R9 270MX GPU results in the VisionX 471D coming out on top for two out of the three PCMark 8 workloads. In certain workloads with more emphasis on single-threaded performance, the higher clocks in the Core i5 2C/4T CPUs result in the VisionX 471D coming in behind the VisionX 420D and the GIGABYTE GB-BXi5G-760.
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
The PCMark Suite in PCMark 7 doesn't benefit much from OpenCL acceleration. This makes the higher-clocked Core i5-based systems take the lead. The Core i7-4770R-based GB-BXi7-4770R has a TDP of 65W and is clocked much higher than the other CPUs in the graph. So, it is no surprise that the BRIX Pro comes out on top in that benchmark.
The 3DMark benchmarks show that the main tussle is between the NVIDIA GTX 760 in the BXi5G-760 and the AMD R9 270MX in the VisionX 420D/471D.
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. As described earlier, the higher clocked CPUs perform better in the single threaded mode. When it comes to mult-threaded performance, the 4C/8T i7-based systems take the lead, with the higher clocked 65 W TDP versions taking a significant lead.
The OpenGL run is definitely in favour of the NVIDIA GPU-equipped BRIX Gaming PC, but the VisionX versions definitely show a big increase in performance over the Iris Pro-equipped systems.
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Zizy - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
I don't see the point of this. Not good enough for fhd gaming, too expensive and power hungry for a HTPC.As for HTPC duties, what about testing 4K@60 and FHD@60 (both with H.265)? Not really needed now, but I would rather get something future proof, especially for this kind of money.
Daniel Egger - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
I totally agree. My (Desktop-grade) Haswell Core i5 with 750 Ti OC uses less in Idle and only slightly more under FurMark load yet is a completely different beast allowing for Full HD gaming despite running very quietly and staying cool.heffeque - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
If you want hardware h.265 4K60p, you'll have to wait until Carrizo comes around.MLSCrow - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
I honestly believe that Carrizo, is going to be the greatest HTPC/MiniGamingPC APU when it comes out and probably the first AMD processor that is worth purchasing since the Phenom II. Granted, they aren't going to release a Desktop version strait away if ever, and instead are releasing a Kaveri update, which is, meh, imo, but whatever...I'm just waiting for Zen to shock the world with it's Intel dominating performance, until Intel copies it, puts more money into it, and produces a better performing product, as they always have.baii9 - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
I believe Intel had the lead on hardware 4k decode for a while, so stick with igpu? :)kmmatney - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
yes - this is pretty neat, but you can get a laptop with better specs at this price, and inlcudes a screen and it portable. This system doesn't really need such a high end processor.britjh22 - Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - link
I'm guessing this would actually be decent at FHD gaming, just not at the presets/detail settings that are used for AT's testing. I would really like to see a second detail setting for FHD be tested, as just because it fails at ultra settings doesn't mean it would at high/medium.boe - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I definitely want lot's of 4K goodness! I don't care if it makes it bigger use heat radiators and lose the fan. Offer a black model to match my other HT equipment as well. Offer a model without a disc player as I'm only using this to stream from a server.Rafterman - Saturday, February 21, 2015 - link
H.265 not really needed now, I would dissagree. AFAICS H.265(HEVC) is fast replacing AVC.ToTTenTranz - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
The GPU's PCB seems to be risen above the motherboard's level.Is the M270X a MXM module? Can it be changed?