I just cant wait any longer for that Kohjinsha SC3 to arrive. The videos and feedback from early tests have proven to me that this could be one of the best ultra mobile PC / mini-notebooks yet. Its tiny, light, well-specified and looks great. The question we are all asking though is…”How good will Vista run.” We’re one step closer to the answer today because I’ve just recieved a set of CrystalMark test results from DFJ. I believe this is the first ever set of test results for a production Menlow (Silverthorne/Pulsbo) device so lets take a quick look and I’ll make some comments below.
The tests were done on a stock device (Vista Home Premium. 1GB RAM) and overall, its looking good. The CPU figures are quite impressive. Better, in fact, than any other ultra mobile PC platform. Only the Intel notebook-based CPU’s used in the Q1 Ultra Premium and the Sony UX are better. Memory speed is also good. Top marks! Looking at the disk (Spinpoint N, HS06THB, 60G, 4200 RPM, PATA(ZIF), 8MB CACHE) I see a high average which, if you look at the detailed results, translates to a max read speed of 30MB/s and a max write speed of about 27MB/s. For a 1.8″ drive, this is about as good as it gets right now.
Looking at the graphics scores shows some very low-end results. They dont quite tally with the Vista performance score we saw so for anyone looking at gaming on this – dont! For the 3D components in Google Earth and Itunes, we’ll have to see how it performs when we do tests. I suspect it will be OK.
For a big list of comparable CrzstalMark results, see the list that Frank keeps over at Tweaks2K2.
Note that the CrystaMark test doesn’t show us any video performance results. The Poulsbo chipset contains hardware acceleration for many common codecs and we wont see those results until someone does tests with a media player. In theory, results should be good.
So will it run Vista? The jury is still out on that one. Ive seen Vista Home Basic running acceptably on the HTC Shift but it wasnt exactly fast. With some optimisation, i think Vista is going to be acceptable for most people. For others, upgrading the RAM to 2GB might be the answer and for a few people, it simply wont be good enough. The flip-side of the coin is that we know it would run XP extremely well. I hope, after time, a downgrade to XP will be possible. Ive taken the precation to include Vista Ultimate in mz purchase so at least i’ll have the license when it’s a possibility!
Thanks to Direct From Japan for the test results.
Aaaah – sounds like there is hope that this (SC3) really could be the machine for me!
Every morning I look at my SP18+ and think – “…this would be fantastic but for the sticking snail of a processor in it”.
One concern on the SC3 (apart from the perennial Vista issue) may be the size of the keyboard.
When you are doing your review of the SC3, would it be possible to include a side-by-side piccy comparison of the SC3 and a previous Kohji/Vye – ideally the SP18+ :-)
Also, while I like the look of these performance measurement tools, I, like many people I suspect, don’t really know how they relate to the real world.
Soooooooooo, would it be at all possible to include a quick segment in your Youtube vid review showing the SC3 running a few standard apps running *concurrently*, then us laypersons will really get a feeling for how speedy the box really is.
Just a suggestion, but perhaps you could show the SC3 running a couple of standard apps (Word/other), Youtube, and Firefox with a flash heavy webpage concurrently. And if poss, show all this running with AV also installed on the box.
As I may have mentioned, AV running an update, plus IE (SP18+ can barely run FF!) with a flash website maxes my SP18+ running XP, so I will be ready to click the ‘buy’ button for the SC3 if it can pass the above concurrent app test :-)
Cheers very much!
Sorry if this is a naive question, but if purchased at 1GB, would I be able to upgrade to 2GB? I’m in the States, so not sure where I’d even be able to purchase the upgrade, and if I could do it myself.
Sounds positive. Could mean the Sharp D4 is good too, and maybe other to be released umpcs
No bad. Finally Intel is back on the race!
Ill be doing intensive testing when i get the device. Live sessions too.
It will be an exciting time for UMPCs!
@Dimsumfan
User upgrade is easy on this device.
Easy access to memory slot and the module should be easy to buy. Search for Q1 2gb ram upgrade and you are likely to find some references to the required memory part.
Speculation – we may have a new Sony device on Monday too. Power button looks like the new z series but the rest of the shot doesn’t, so it could be a new device
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/12/sony-teaser-points-to-laptop-refresh-on-monday
I wa curious about the OGL test. Why does it get such a low score on this test?
OGL = OpenGL, its a graphics test. Not relevant to the CPU.
It is still relevant to Menlow, which includes the GMA500. (Which explains the poor OGL score.)
The whole graphic test here is wrong!
The GMA500 is a SGX535 core. This core have two pipes at 200 MHz and this solution should be much faster.
If someone here rember, I run this benchmark yesterday on a KYRO II card, it is an PowerVR card with two pipes at 175 MHz and the results are:
GDI: 2802; D2D: 1743 and OGL: 1008.
For the Poulsbo I expect higher scores.
I am in contact with PowerVR, I will hold you informed.
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