Testing and Benchmarks
The Test Rig
To keep the benchmarks comparable to my previous C3 933MHz review the
test rig will once again be as follows:
| Via C3 933MHz | Via C3 1GHz | |
| FSB |
133MHz
|
|
| Motherboard |
Shuttle
FV24
|
|
| Chipset |
VIA
PL133
|
|
| Memory |
256MB
Mushkin PC133
|
|
| Graphics |
Integrated
S3 Savage 4 (32MB Shared system memory)
|
|
| HDD |
Maxtor
541DX 5400rpm ATA100 20GB
|
|
| Other |
LG
Combi Drive 8xDVD 12x CDRW
|
|
| OS |
Dual
Boot: Windows 98 SE + Windows XP Pro
|
|
(I am aware that some of the pictures show 320MB memory (288 + 32 = 320MB)
this is how I normally run the machine. The extra 64MB was only replaced
after all benchmarks had been done to keep the spec exactly as it was
in my previous review)
The C3 1GHz in the Shuttle
SV24
Benchmarks
We already know that the C3 is a cool processor but that was before VIA
changed the layout. Let's see how the new layout affects things with some
SiSoft Sandra action…
|
Idle
Temp
|
Load
Temp
|
|
| 933MHz C3 Active |
24
|
38
|
| 933MHz C3 Passive |
30
|
48
|
| 1GHz C3 Active |
26
|
41
|
| 1GHz C3 Passive |
33
|
50
|
The C3's still got it
!
Another brilliant showing from the C3 with passive cooling it barely hits
50°C !
AMD's equivalents would be expected to reach 50°C with active cooling
let alone passive cooling.
These temperatures may seem high to some of you but you must remember that this is in a very cramped case with zero airflow so in reality it is quite an achievement.
Now all this talk of amazingly
low temperatures is all well and good but is the 1GHz milestone sufficient
for the C3 to perform well enough to even be considered as a gaming \
HTPC ? The 933MHz came close but didn't quite have the guts when it really
needed it……
There's only one way to find out!
|
3D
Mark 2000
|
3D
Mark 2001
|
|
| 933MHz C3 Active |
1066
|
329
|
| 933MHz C3 Passive |
1059
|
325
|
| 1GHz C3 Active |
1105
|
346
|
| 1GHz C3 Passive |
1102
|
338
|
Once again the onboard graphics of the shuttle really lets the C3 down, I suspect that if an additional graphics card was included in the shuttle the C3 would provide a much more respectable score. Unfortunately the Shuttle only has a single PCI slot so finding a suitable graphics card is very difficult.
However 3D performance isn't really an issue with a HTPC, 2D is much more of an issue so on to the DVD testing …
