MP3, DVD, Kribi, Raytracing, XviD
The Pentium 4's pretty good at media work. The test here was to crunch 607MB of WAV files into 192kb/s MP3 format. The 2-second gap is difficult to explain away. The EPoX Mini Me runs the 3.2GHz CPU 7MHz slower than the Shuttle XPC, which isn't enough, as mentioned, to cause the deviation. It must be noted that the test calculates the completed time to the nearest second.
KribiBench is another close affair between the two XPC systems. It's becoming increasingly clear that performance is a non issue. As a buyer, you need to choose the SFF PC that is best suited for your needs. We reckon that the EPoX, with its snazzy LCD screen, has the edge.
Can you say close?.
The encoding test uses the free XviD CODEC to encode the first vob of Sleepy Hollow using a bitrate of 1433kbit/s. The EPoX Mini Me benefits from the Pentium 4's prowess in media encoding. I suppose that remark needs better clarification after the Pentium 4 Prescott's lukewarm introduction. It's not exactly set the world on fire, has it?. About the only aspect that's burning hot is the CPU itself.
