ASRock ION3D (152B with Bluray) Review featuring Cyberlink

Rating: 9.0.

Defining a ‘media PC' is a difficult proposition, everyone has a different view on what makes a perfect HTPC computer. Some users will aim for high performance components in a large chassis while others will opt for the smallest possible physical footprint with virtual silence.

Today's review of the ASRock ION3D computer falls firmly into the latter category as it features a low power Intel Atom D525 processor with nVidia graphics.

The ASRock ION3D will be a media ‘purists' wet dream. It is only slightly larger than the diminutive Macintosh Mini but features a slimline Bluray drive. While I have a soft spot for Apple, their substandard Bluray support has certainly not helped them gain a substantial foothold in the demanding media PC sector.

ASrock sell other models in this range: The 152D, featuring a DVD Supermulti drive with an MCE Remote Controller and the 152DL with the DVD Supermulti Drive without Wifi and MCE Remote Controller. We were informed of a £399 inc vat price point but I don't have pricing information at this stage for the cheaper 152D or 152DL.

The ASRock ION 3D arrives in an attractively designed box featuring images and information on the front and back.

Inside the ION3D is securely packaged and is wrapped with a soft protective cover. A brown box on the right contains the peripherials and on top is the software DVD with manual. We received a very early version of this product, from the first production run. We are pretty sure the final bundle also features 3D glasses (and a few other small accessories).

The bundle is comprehensive: A remote controller (which works with Windows Media Center), batteries, an external power adapter, stickers, manual, discs and a felt pad to place under the product so it won't slip around on surfaces.

The product itself also ships with a protective cover on all surfaces, this is removed by pulling on the edges. A nice final touch to stop scuffing during transportation.

Although the ION3D is small there is no shortage of connectivity. The front features 2x USB 3.0 ports, a microphone and headphone connector, power on/off button. At the rear there is a DC in connector, Optical S/PDIF Out Port, 5 Audio jacks, Gigabit Lan (RJ-45) connector, 6 x USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA and DVI connectors. Phew!

The top of the case is attached by two screws. Inside the slimline bluray drive is attached to a metal plate with the 2.5 inch drive underneath. Its a clever space saving design which works well. WiFi is also installed with this particular model (Realtek RTL8191SU Wireless LAN 802.11n).

Installed are a Philips/Lite-on Slimline Bluray Combo drive (DS-4e1S: BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) and a Hitachi 320GB 2.5 inch 5,400 rpm hard drive.

At the rear is a small fan which is used to exhaust heat from the chassis as it is forced in from the front. The motherboard can support two SATA devices which are already populated (Hard Drive and Bluray Drive). There is a rather clever power system in place which feeds both devices directly.

Internally this machine looks fantastic – everything well routed with a neat, clutter free design.

The ASROCK ION3D is supplied without an operating system installed, which is to keep the cost down, otherwise the end user will have to pay an additional licensing fee. This means you will already need a Windows operating system disc available.

For our build we used our OS of choice, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit – the flagship Microsoft product.

Installation went smooth, although we could immediately feel that the internal 5,400 rpm drive was sluggish via our system install from USB drive. ASRock supply a DVD disc with a simple ‘1 click installs all' button. It then goes through various reboots installing all the necessary drivers and bundled software. A very cool option and we hope more manufacturers take note of this.

CPU-Z gives us a quick overview of the Atom D525 processor, it is clocked at 1.8ghz and is supplied with 1MB of L2 Cache. The memory onboard is 2GB of 800MHZ DDR3 by Nanya Technology.

System validation can be seen over here.

The nVidia graphics (GT218) is a capable solution for this kind of small form factor design and while it is no powerhouse it does offer a wealth of hardware acceleration to help ease the load. It has 512MB of GDDR3 onboard via a 64 bit bus and the reference clocks are 535 mhz on the core and 790mhz on the memory.

Our overall Windows 7 rating was 3.5 which is not an average of the figures, but limited to the lowest category, in this case the processor. The graphics results are quite positive, falling at 4.9 on desktop performance and 5.7 for gaming.

We have reviewed many ASrock motherboards in the past and have been impressed with their layout structure and ease of use. We also like their bios updating methodology – you simply copy the bios file to the root directory of a USB drive/key and update from there, taking only a few seconds.

We initially experienced a few issues but ASrock sent us a new bios ‘ION3DHT1.10' which resolved the problems – we had planned to take a photograph of the bios updating procedure, but by the time we had the camera focused it was already over.

The new P1.10 bios installed and ready to rock – this cured some minor issues with our Windows 7 Install and we retested to ensure our results reflected the newest code.

ASRock have fully loaded the bios for the ION3D and we have all of the usual settings, plus a dedicated section for overclocking, including voltages, memory settings and clock speeds. The nVidia graphics can also be overclocked which is a fantastic option to include.

As with their ‘full sized' ATX boards ASRock include pre configured overclocking settings for users who don't want to get their hands dirty with voltage and frequency settings. We simply selected the 2.1ghz setting and rebooted.

Our overclocked settings took hold and we tested for complete stability. At 2.1ghz we can confirm that our sample was 100% stable. We did try to manually increase the clocks higher but we could only get another 50mhz out of the CPU before issues would occur, therefore we left the system at the preconfigured settings. The result of the overclocking means that the memory speeds have increased from 800mhz to 932mhz.

We also tried overclocking the nVidia graphics in the bios and while the 650mhz core setting proved unreliable, the 600mhz setting was stable throughout all our testing, a nice little free speed boost. memory also increased to 830mhz, with the shader clocks rose from 1230mhz to 1550mhz.

System Validiation over here.

All in all we were very happy with the bios and surprised with the variety of options for both inexperienced and skilled tweakers alike.

The supplied 5,400 rpm hard drive was a little bone of contention for us, we found it very slow (as they all are) and decided to try a system reinstall with an Intel X25-V 2.5 inch Solid State Drive – which would be a really worthwhile upgrade at a later date. We know media buffs aren't that bothered about benchmark results but an SSD really helps overall system responsiveness. Even media programs would load in a fraction of the time.

You can buy these from our partner YoyoTech for only £81.59 inc vat.

Finally we can see the effect of the ASRock preconfigured ‘2.1ghz overclock' setting.

A healthy series of performance increases from simply using a preconfigured ‘2.1ghz overclock' setting in the bios. With the new SSD Drive installed, it felt like a totally new system. By simply purchasing a USB 2.0 2.5 inch external chassis (under £20) you could use the supplied 320gb 5,400RPM drive for file storage, so it wouldn't go to waste.

As this is the first time we have analysed the Intel Atom D525 processor on this platform we thought it would be worthwhile to run a few tests to get an overall view of performance against other hardware. Synthetic testing is not a major point for the ATOM/ION platform, so if this holds no interest, skip ahead to the BluRay page.

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.

Sandra is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.

It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

Native ports for all major operating systems are available:

• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
• Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
• Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
• Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)

All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:

• SMP – Multi-Processor
• MC – Multi-Core
• SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
• MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
• GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
• NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
• AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
• IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit

For an Atom based product, the D525 is a very good performer, especially at 2.1ghz. It certainly isn't going to be breaking any records, but considering the 13W power demand at full load this is extremely impressive.

Cinebench R10 has since been replaced by V11.5, but many people have a better indication of relative performance by the results from R10 – after all it has been around for years. We will however include R11.5 results on the following page. For those who don’t know Cinebench is not just a mere synthetic benchmarking application, it is based on the rendering engine from Cinema 4D.

The CPU test renders a 3D scene photo-realistically while applying performance intensive functions such as area light sources, procedural shaders, Ambient Occlusion and multi level reflections. Especially when used on faster, multi core CPU systems, MAXON CINEBENCH R10 delivers much more accurate results.

No one will be buying this system for rendering, however the D525 scores at the upper end of the ATOM scale with 0.68 points at 2.1ghz from 0.57 at 1.8ghz.

The meat and bones of this system is with media performance, and our good friends at Cyberlink kindly supplied the software today for our Bluray and conversion tests. This software fully supports the nVidia Ion platform so we can accurately measure performance when calling upon the GT218 for hardware acceleration.

Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 is one of the finest solutions for the Blu-Ray experience on Windows and we found this software to work perfectly with this chipset. We tested with the Bluray Disc of SunShine and Avatar, two of our favourite sci-fi films in recent years.

PowerDVD10 is using the nVidia graphics power to reduce the load which helps keep average loads below 30%.

Reading across a section of playback time we can see that the CPU demand varies between 15% and 35%, an excellent set of results for both Cyberlink, Intel and nVidia.

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6 is the successor to CyberLink MediaShow Espresso 5.5. With its further optimized CPU/GPU-acceleration, MediaEspresso is an even faster way to convert not only your video but also your music and image files between a wide range of popular formats.

Now you can easily playback and display your favorite movies, songs and photos not just on your on your mobile phone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, or Youtube and Facebook channels but also on the newly launched iPhone 4. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs on any of your computing devices and enhance your videos with CyberLink’s built-in TrueTheater Technology.

New and Improved Features

• Ultra Fast Media Conversion – With support from the Intel Core i-Series processor family, ATI Stream & NVIDIA CUDA, MediaEspresso’s Batch-Conversion function enables multiple files to be transcoded simultaneously.
• Smart Detect Technology – MediaEspresso 6 automatically detects the type of portable device connected to the PC and selects the best multimedia profile to begin the conversion without the need for user’s intervention.
• Direct Sync to Portable Devices – Video, audio and image files can be transferred in a few easy steps to mobile phones including those from Acer, BlackBerry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Palm, as well as Sony Walkman and PSP devices.
• Enhanced Video Quality – CyberLink TrueTheater Denoise and Lighting enables the enhancement of video quality through optical noise filters and automatic brightness adjustment.
• Video, Music and Image File Conversion – Convert not only videos to popular formats such as AVI, MPEG, MKV, H.264/AVC, and FLV at the click of a button, but also images such as JPEG and PNG and music files like WMA, MP3 and M4A.
• Online Sharing – Conversion to video formats used by popular social networking websites and a direct upload feature means posting videos to Facebook and YouTube has never been easier.

For our testing today we are converting a 746MB 720p MKV file to Apple Mp4 format for playback on a portable device. This is a common procedure for many people and will give a good indication of system power.

Well if you ever needed proof that the graphics hardware acceleration works, then this is the test to showcase. We noticed a whopping time reduction from 17 minutes and 45 seconds to 6 minutes and 29 seconds.

It would be remiss of us to omit some of the applications that ASRock are bundling and while we have no interest in the ASRock AiWi (which allows you to turn your iPhone into a Gamejoystick), we were extremely curious when reading about the ‘ASRock App Charger'.

This is a driver based software package that apparently ‘makes your iPhone charge up to 40% faster than before'. ASRock App Charger supports continuous charging when the PC enters Standby mode (S1), Suspend to RAM (S3), hibernation mode (S4) or power off (S5). The App Charger technology has been fully applied on ASRock Full series motherboards.

Those of you who have an Apple iPad will know that very few, if any, computer based USB ports send enough current to charge the iPad at the same rate as the plug adapter. The iPad will often say ‘not charging' and it is a technical issue that Apple themselves have even addressed. Even expensive motherboards I have used do not deliver the full current and it can often mean that the iPad will charge at half the speed, or not at all if you are using it at the same time.

We charged the iPad three times from a 20% reading, until it registered as fully charged.

The results speak for themselves, the ASROCK system with driver manages to perform at the same level as the offical power socket based charger, even when the ION3D is in sleep mode. I found this extremely impressive, particularly as it is one of the few systems that the iPad registers with the correct ‘charging' response when plugged in.

The front ports on the ASRock ION3D are USB 3.0 capable so we decided to test the performance with a Kingston Data Traveler Ultimate 64GB drive.

A great performance figure when using a USB 3.0 drive cutting the time down from 6 mins 17 seconds to 2 minutes 42 seconds.

HQV Benchmark 2.0 is an updated version of the original tool and it consists of various video clips and test patterns which are designed to evalute motion correction, de-interlacing, decoding, noise reduction, detail enhancement and film cadence detection.

There are two versions of the program, standard definition on DVD and high definition on Bluray. As our audience will be concentrating on HD content so will we.

This has a total of 39 video tests which is increased from 23 in the original and the scoring is also up from a total of 130 to 210. As hardware and software gets more complicated, the software has been tuned to make sure we can thoroughly maximise our analysis.

For an integrated solution, the ION3d delivers great results, scoring 177 points. It doesn't quite deliver the same IQ levels as the mid range or high end Fermi boards, but it is still very good.

Many people using this system will be enjoying Flash related content so on this page we wanted to see how the ASROCK ION3D would handle Flash and HD content. Both AMD and nVidia offer hardware acceleration with their recent drivers so we can offload some of the processing to the GT218.

By simply enabling hardware acceleration, our average CPU time is reduced from 48 percent to 23 percent, a reduction of 108.6%. While this might not seem that dramatic, in real world terms when hardware acceleration is enabled the system feels much more responsive.

While this system will not be a first choice for gaming there is a good possibility that many users may be casual gamers, wanting to play some less intensive games on their 720p or 1080p HD television. Today we decided to use the Source engine powered Left 4 Dead 2 which is a relatively old engine now, but still looks great.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation’s award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States; it launched November 20 in Europe. It builds upon the cooperatively-focused gameplay of the original and uses Valve’s proprietary Source engine, the same game engine used in Left 4 Dead. The game made its world premiere at E3 2009 with a trailer during the Microsoft press event.

In a similar fashion to the original, Left 4 Dead 2 is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, and focuses on four survivors fighting against hordes of the infected. The survivors must fight their way through levels, interspersed with safe houses that act as checkpoints, with the goal of reaching a rescue vehicle at the campaign’s finale.

We settled on the following configurations below for two resolutions. These settings were ‘playable' at each resolution, without dipping into the sub 25fps zone.

At both resolutions the game looked great and was smooth throughout. This isn't a gaming powerhouse, but less intensive game engines will be playable if you don't mind lowering settings.

To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. The best way to get maximum load results is by using Furmark, and even though it is not indicative of a real world situation it shows the limits the card can theoretically demand.

Fantastic results for this platform, we measured around 8 watts at idle, and 17 watts when watching a movie. Under full load when gaming it was around 26 watts total.

Recently we have changed our method of measuring noise levels. Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

The system is generally inaudible, even in a quiet room. Under full load it becomes audible, but never intrusive. Exceptional results for such a small chassis.

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by running Furmark and Cinebench together.

The temperature results are impressive, generally the CPU hovers around 50-55c when watching a Bluray movie and peaks around 64c when running Cinebench. The nVidia graphics generally hover between 55-65c when dealing with hardware acceleration – peaking at 70c under Furmark conditions.

A really solid set of results for the ASRock Ion3D.

If I was being honest, I didn't have high hopes for the ASRock ION3D. I have never really been an active advocate of the ATOM processor as previous experiences have always ended with me pulling out my hair in frustration, waiting for things to happen. The Intel D525 is still no powerhouse, but the real world experience is much improved, especially when we clock it to 2.1ghz. The build quality is excellent.

This little machine can handle it all – 1080p MKV's, Bluray discs, encoding and general day to day tasks such as surfing, email and office work. I even played a little with Adobe Photoshop and if you keep the file sizes sensible then it is snappy enough.

The only issue I had was with the 5,400 rpm hard drive – maybe I am just spoilt with SSD systems, but I immediately noticed how slow it was when installing Windows 7. People can compromise a little when using a system like this, but I wanted to swap the drive out with something sensible, such as the 40GB entry level value model from Intel. I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say that it was almost like purchasing a new machine, the differences were that noticeable. Windows booted up in less than half the time, applications were much more responsive and the end user experience shifted up a gear. While this obviously adds another £80 to the overall cost, it is the first (and only) thing I would change with the ASRock ION3D. The 320gb drive could then be used in an external chassis for file storage.

The nVidia GT218 is an ideal partner for the Intel processor as it consumes a miniscule amount of power yet can assist the D525 Atom in delivering a much better experience, especially with High Definition media. I never thought I would be able to responsively answer email while a 1080p bluray disc was playing in the background. In the past a similar system would have locked out for quite some time while it tried to free up enough cycles to keep going.

KitGuru says: The ASrock ION3D looks great and consumes less power than a light bulb, even when fully loaded. An exceptional product and a great media choice for a living or bedroom environment. For £399 this would be at the top of our shortlist.

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