Update: The Live Testing session is over. Some notes below.
I’ve just started a live stream while I test the Acer Aspire V5 122P, the AMD Temash-based laptop. The stream will run from now and at 2100 Berlin (15 minutes from this post) I’ll start to introduce the Acer and do some interactive active testing, Q&A with anyone that joins in the chat.
It’s all happening on the live page right now.
Notes from Live Session below.
Update: A more controlled set of tests have now been completed. See results here.
1.0Ghz is the max clock rate. 1.4Ghz ‘turbo’ seems like a myth at this point.- After 3hrs of testing, 1.4Ghz finally appears. See below.
- The 3D synthetic tests show 3F performance at HD3000 levels but it appears a lot more efficient at this level.
- The CPU TDP (measure roughly) is about 3W for the four cores.
- The GPU TDP (measured roughly) is between 6 and 8W.
- Average power utilisation of the platform if around 7-8W for online usage with 50% screen brightness
- Screen has wider viewing angles than basic laptops but not extreme viewing angles
- Always remained cool
- Sunspider 610ms (see update)
- Peacekeeper 1184 points.
After some playing with power profiles (honestly, we can’t identify the point at which 1.4Ghz started working) we saw a solid 1.4Ghz clock under mains and battery.
This isn’t a thermally limited short-term turbo boost it’s an increase in base clock that holds despite load.
Cinebench 11.5 score at 1.4Ghz (with a lame process using 6% in b/g) 1.23 points CPU, 10.33 BpS OpenGL
Nice job! Can’t wait to see more benchmark results!
Great Job Steve!
What did you do to achieve the 1,4 GHz?
I’m still trying to re-create it. I can take a fresh image and the CPU only goes up to 1Ghz. At some point, which seems to be random right now, it opens up to 1.4Ghz. I sit here right now and it’s running at 1.3ghz. Suggestions welcome!
After time it ‘just works.’ I spent along time trying different power and performance settings but in the end, after reboots, WIndows Updates, mains and battery power testing it eventually was able to run at 1.39Ghz on both battery and mains. I’m 100% sure it’s not related to thermals as after running very heavy CPU and GPU tests the clock was still at 1.39Ghz!
So it doesn’t go to a lower frequency at all when plugged in and idle?
When it’s working, under performance mode, it stays at 1.4Ghz as the base CPU clockrate. UNder ‘balanced’ power profile the CPU will drop down.
Why get this over Acer’s Intel Core i version? They’re in the same price category.
The Asus X202 is close to this, it’s true. There aren’t any other Intel ‘ultra low voltage’ notebooks that I know of with touch though. When it comes to 11.6 screen, this is quite unique.
Thanks a lot, Chippy. I think the chips enthusiast will be more interested in what this performance will mean for the newer Windows 8 tablets (which I think will only mean good news). Agree that the pricing could have been lower than the Corei3 version.
Expect the price to drop 10-20% once it hits more streets. Yup, well positioned for Win 8 tablets in 2013 although we must not forget Y-Series Intel products. E. G. Acer W8. Might have to buy one!
that would be an interesting match-up. AMD would still be offering better graphics capability than the rumoured Clovertrail Atom Z2760 in Acer W8. But I’m not sure about normal CPU performance…What do you think, Chippy? Hope the OEMs don’t jack up the price of the Temash tablets!
Another great first look. If performance is less than core i3, then price point and power (battery life) must be evaluated. Also is a full Speed Sata 3 controller, native USB3.0 support.
Does the external cable support 1080p, gig Ethernet and usb 3.0?
have to check heavy flash sites and YouTube 1080p.
Will need external monitor for 1080p checks. How good is the 3 cell battery. What about AMD turbo dock?!
Again thank you for all the work you’ve done!
I’ve had 490Mbps from an SSD. USB 3.0 is on board. 1080p YouTube processing in hardware no problem. Need to pick in a minimum cable tomorrow for further testing.
thanks!!
so is turbo dock only available on “tablets”?
are you planning to run all tests again with ssd?
how much memory does temash support? what speed is memory controller. memory upgradeable?
they didn’t power limit ssd!
three cell battery is low-mid-high quality cells?
AMD had a very similar setup/demo with turbo dock.
good stuff!
on Amazon US, two skews, dual core A4-1250 and quad core A4-1450. 4/6 GB memory configurations. no price or availability
graphics are radeon 8210/8250
so powerboost might not be implemented dynamically, but energy source mode dependant. like in the early asus netbook days, to save battery on the run. again the question in regard to video editing. btw is there a lot of software around that uses 4 cores efficiently? what’s the price for the extra battery, ’cause one will need this for full day work? these short live battery stuff is in any case an annoying drop-back by the whole industry from netbook standards.
The short battery life is mainly because it comes with a small 3 cell battery that has just 30WHr, when most 6 cell batteries come with 48-56WHr capacities.
Even the previous Core i5 version of this same V5 laptop came with a 4 cell 37WHr battery.
Along with under utilization of the lower power states… But a tablet hybrid usage would usually provide noticeable longer run time as then it could stay in its tablet optimized state most of the time and the keyboard dock would usually provide an additional battery for something closer to a 6 cell capacity that’ll provide more decent total run times…
Effectively Acer have used the A6 to shave costs from the battery!
Not much difference between 30 WHr and 37 WHr compared to the huge difference in performance between the Core i5 version. For budget conscious people just looking for a notebook, the Intel version is a better buy.
Also, I’m talking about this notebook and the Intel version specifically. Not necessarily AMD Temash vs Intel Core i5.
So for whatever configuration Asus has for the 122P and you should never hope for better drivers and BIOS firmware to fix things, it’s better to get the 171 or maybe the Asus X202 if you really want that touch screen.
Update: Detailed A6-1450 performance tests are being performed here.
http://www.umpcportal.com/2013/05/amd-temash-a6-1450-performance-acer-aspire-v5/
Hi Steve,
Very good job and thank for the review. I have a question to ask. I just bought this aspire v5 122P and I found out that it don’t have any backlit on keyboard. do you know what model that include with backlit. I hope you can help me clear on this matter.
thank you