Benchmarks: CPU
The latest crop of ultra-mini PCs make use of low-power Intel Core i5/i7 processors, but such parts are no match for a desktop Core i3. Able to hit speeds of up to 3.4GHz, the Vanquish Mini 130 delivers solid mainstream performance.
Here's the full spectrum of multi-core CPU performance in today's Intel-based machines. The bigger systems utilise i5/i7 chips to top the chart, at the opposite end are micro machines that use low-power chips, and in the middle is the PC Specialist Vanquish Mini 130 with a Core i3 processor.
PCMark 7 paints a more interesting overall picture by taking the performance characteristics of various components into consideration. Our feeling is that the Core i3 processor is more than sufficient for most tasks, yet the system is prevented from feeling nippy at all times due to the hard-disk-based storage.
A sub-4,000 score in this benchmark isn't particularly impressive and it reinforces our belief that a hybrid drive would have been a better fit. Conjecturing somewhat, we reckon the use of a Seagate SSHD would have raised the PCMark result to somewhere around the 5,000 mark.
