SYSTEM
TEARDOWN AND ANALYSIS
The
ASRock Vision 3D 252B is primarily built out of notebook components, and it is
not possible for the average enthusiast to build such a system with off-the-shelf
components.
Motherboard
& Chipset : mini-ITX Intel HM65-MXM
The
motherboard used in the Vision 3D series is based on the Cougar Point Intel
HM65 chipset. The 2 SATA 6 Gbps ports are available as headers on the
motherboard, while one SATA 3 Gbps port is made available as an eSATA3 port.
Another SATA port is available as a header on the motherboard (it is connected
to the Blu-ray drive).
The
mini PCI-E slot is taken up by the Atheros based AzureWave WLAN module. The two
sides of the Vision 3D chassis are used as antennae. The two DIMM slots are on
the right side of the board, next to the CPU. There is also a MXM slot in which
the GT 540M MXM module is plugged in.
CPU : Intel Core i5-2520M
The
Core i5-2520M is a 35W TDP processor belonging to the 32nm Intel Sandy Bridge
family. Clocking in at 2.50 GHz, it is capable of going up to 3.2 GHz for a
single core and 3.0 GHz for both the cores in turbo mode. 3MB of Intel Smart
Cache is shared between the two cores and the integrated GPU.
Integrated GPU : Intel HD Graphics 3000
The
integrated GPU in the Sandy Bridge processors come in two varieties, namely, HD
Graphics 2000 and HD Graphics 3000. The Core i5-2520M uses the latter. It has a
base frequency of 650 MHz, and is capable of going up to 1.3 GHz in stressful conditions.
It supports full 3D video capabilities, QuickSync and WiDi. However, WiDi is
not supported by the CoreHT 252B. WiDi makes sense for laptops, but not much
for SFF HTPCs. So, we don't fault ASRock for avoiding this feature. Since we
also have a discrete GPU in the system, Virtu from LucidLogix is necessary for
users to be able to take advantage of the HD 3000's capabilities. The Vision 3D
252B's BIOS comes with a license for Virtu. Most users will be using Virtu to
take advantage of QuickSync.
Discrete GPU : NVIDIA GT 540M
The
MXM module in the Vision 3D 252B is the NVIDIA GT 540M. This is a slight step
up from the GT 425M used in the first generation Vision 3D 137B.
DRAM : ASInt 2 x 4GB DDR3-1333
ASRock
has used a relatively new memory vendor in ASInt for the CoreHT 252B. The
memory chips operate with a 9-9-9 CAS latency.
Hard Disk : Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB 7200 rpm 2.5"
The
750GB Scorpio Black is one of the best reviewed hard disks in its class. It has
been reviewed to have upto 120 MBps sequential read speeds.
The
hard disk is a good choice with respect to the price - performance ratio for
the ASRock Vision 3D 252B.
Optical Disk Drive : Philips Lite-on Blu-ray / DVD RW Slot Loading
Drive
The
ASRock Vision 3D 252B ships with the Philips Lite-on DS-4ETS BD Combo Drive.
This is a slot loading drive similar to the one in the first generation Vision
3D, befitting a high end premium HTPC.
MCE Remote
One
of the shortcomings of the ASRock HTPCs when compared with something like the
Zinos from Dell is the absence of a wireless keyboard / mouse combo. However,
ASRock does take care to ensure the presence of an IR receiver in the system
and also bundle a MCE remote.
The
MCE remote bundled with this system is the same as that of the CoreHT 252B. When
the CoreHT 252B shipped with the same remote as the Vision 3D first generation
unit, we thought the second generation Vision 3D would also get a step up.
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
As
we have noted before, the quality of the MCE remote is a big letdown. The keys
are quite small and the unit feels cheap in the hand despite being pretty
decent in appearance.
In
the next few sections, we will take a look at the performance of the ASRock
Vision 3D 252B.
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