GIGABYTE U60 UMPC - Exclusive Look!

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Benchmarks

Using gaming benchmarks on this UMPC all-in-one solution is a bit of a joke. Most of the benchmark tests in the 3DMark suites just don’t work, period! BUT, I still couldn’t resist the temptation to bench this machine and catalog the results. Check it out below.

PCMark05

PCMark05 was not so great, but the good news is that despite only a few graphics trails from the suite running, it still completed those tests without any hitches.

3DMark2001 SE

3DMark2001 SE was barely able to run and it’s clearly evident that the UMPC was beginning to struggle. The result is just made out below :-

Yes, that’s 901 3DMarks, but just to bring you back into perspective here; how many of you can run 3DMark2001 SE on your PDAs? With this type of computer being a whole new genre with really no suitable benchmarks out there, it’s a little cruel to think too much of this. The emphasis of the product is on performance per watt and not on games performance. I still maintain that this product does exactly what it has been designed to do, and it expresses itself in an endearing way that fits the profile.

Doing more benchmarks turned up the following results:

CPU Bench Results

1. Intel Celeron 700 MHz

2. AMD Duron 800 MHz

3. AMD Thunderbird 850 MHz

4. AMD Thunderbird 900 MHz

5. Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz

6. Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz

7. Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz

8. AMD Athlon XP 1600+ 1.4 GHz

9. AMD Athlon XP 2000+ 1.67 GHz

10. Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz

1. Intel Celeron 700 MHz

2. AMD Duron 800 MHz

3. AMD Thunderbird 850 MHz

4. Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz

5. Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz

6. AMD Thunderbird 900 MHz

7. Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz

8. Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz

9. AMD Athlon XP 1600+ 1.4 GHz

10. AMD Athlon XP 2000+ 1.67 GHz

1. Intel Celeron 700 MHz

2. AMD Duron 800 MHz

3. AMD Thunderbird 850 MHz

4. AMD Thunderbird 900 MHz

5. AMD Athlon XP 1600+ 1.4 GHz

6. Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz

7. AMD Athlon XP 2000+ 1.67 GHz

8. Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz

9. Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz

10. Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz

The CPUs capabilities are right alongside some of the hottest CPUs out there in the last decade. If you consider the low TDP of the VIA chipset and the economical output of the C7-M CPU with all the special power saving features, then you realize how good this setup really is.

CPU Multimedia Bench Results

Technology: SSE

Built-in Co-Processor: Yes

MMX Extensions: Yes

Enhanched MMX Extensions: No

3DNow! Extensions: No

Enhanched 3DNow! Extensions: No

As a multimedia device, the system lacks powerful capabilities such as the special instruction sets (3DNow! and Enhanced MMX), but it may be more simply that neither AMD nor Intel are prepared to license out those functions to VIA. Either way, I didn’t notice any problems when running DVDs, videos streamed from the web, TV or music media at all.