System setup and notes
| Laptop | MSI CR610 Tigris | MSI X-Slim X600 | Acer Timeline 3810T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | AMD Athlon II M320 (2.10GHz, 1MB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Pentium U9600 (1.60GHz, 3MB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 (1.40GHz, 3MB L2 cache, dual-core) |
| Motherboard | MSI 785GX (MS-1684) | MSI GS45 (MS-1691) | Acer GS45 |
| Memory | 4GB DDR2 | 4GB DDR2 | 2GB DDR3 |
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-18-2T @ 667MHz | 5-5-5-18-2T @ 800MHz | 6-6-6-15-2T @ 800MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 IGP | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 512MB | Intel X4500MHD IGP |
| Screen size and native res | 15.6in - 1366x768 | 15.6in - 1366x768 | 13.3in - 1,366x768 |
| Wireless | 1T1R 802.11b/g/n | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11a/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11a/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 |
| Disk drive(s) | WD 320GB Scorpio Blue, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | WD 500GB BEVT, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 500GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | Optiarc DVD Re-Writer | None, external DVD ReWriter supplied | None |
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 8.670.0.0 | Catalyst | Intel 7.15.10.1666 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit (demonstration purposes) | Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit (demonstration purposes) | Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit |
| Weight, inc. battery | 2,480g | 2,135g | 1,665g |
| Current price | £450 (as tested) | £799 (as tested) | £550 (as tested) |
| Benchmarks | 7-zip (7z4.65, 32-bit) -
internal benchmark HEXUS.PiFast - calculation to 10m places CINEBENCH - multi-CPU render VLC 1.0.2 playback of Terminator Salvation 480p and 720p YouTube HD playback of Earth clip Quake 4 v1.30 - 800x600 LQ and 1,366x768 HQ Far Cry 2 v1.0.3 - 800x600 LQ and 1,366x78 HQ Battery test -Terminator Salvation 480p movie (VLC) looping |
|---|
Notes
We're comparing performance of the MSI Tigris laptop to a couple of CULV-based laptop in the form of the Acer Timeline 3810T, that uses Intel X4500MHD integrated graphics, and MSI's own X-Slim X600.In terms of benchmarks, 7-zip is a compression program that's multi-threaded for optimum performance, and we're running the built-in benchmark.
HEXUS.PiFast tests single-core performance and CINEBENCH stresses as many cores as are available.
The video-playback tests take in two resolutions of the Terminator Salvation trailer, as found here. We use VLC player to play a one-minute section - from minutes one to two - on the 480p and 720p clips. An average CPU utilisation is then derived from the Resource Monitor.
Omnipotent Flash is then tested by running the high-definition clip of the Earth trailer on YouTube.
A nod towards gaming, venerable Quake 4 and Far Cry 2 are fired up and run at 800x600, ensuring all laptops can run the test, and the machine's native resolution of 1,366x768. A script sets the game to low quality at the lower resolution and high quality at 1,366x768, with the DX10 path for Far Cry 2.
