subject: Samsung N510 Vs Hp Compaq Mini 311 [print this page] Since early 2008 until late this summer, the small world of the netbook has copiously bored: although progress had been made since the first Eee PC from Asus on ergonomics and especially autonomy, but side equipment, the EEG was completely flat. And for good reason: Intel 945G chipset and were only present in the bowels of various netbooks market.
But now that NVIDIA has put a kick in the anthill by offering its ION chipset, which will thus compete with Intel inside machines at low cost, as we have already seen with the Acer Aspire Revo. We shall see further the various strengths of older 945G chipset facing Intel, especially in terms of graphics performance. ION in netbooks, evolution or revolution? Answers in the following lines with a duel between the first two models of its kind, the Samsung N510 and HP Compaq Mini 311 signed.
In a previous article, we presented in detail the features of NVIDIA ION. So just remember in the outline. Under the name ION hides nothing more nor less than the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, ie one that equips the current Mac Book and Mac Book Air Apple. Its interest in combining on a single component of the typical functions of a chipset (memory controller, Input / output, network controller, among others), DirectX compatible graphics chip but also a solution decompression HD material. In comparison, Intel had at the time chose to separate the graphical portion of the chipset with the GMA 950 controller totally outdated.
This is also far to measure up to the GeForce 9400 and its 16 stream processors. The performance graphs are indeed the main purpose of progress between the Intel and NVIDIA ION. From the standpoint of performance in 3D, first, as we shall see later, but thanks to the presence of PureVideo HD, a HD solution decompression hardware. Earnings: while a netbook based on Intel's 945G is not capable of playing HD video, the two models running around the NVIDIA chipset is able to read a stream 1080p without putting the knee in which Atom the team.
Logo HDTV
Who says High Definition HDMI says: netbooks are equipped ION, unlike models based on the 945G which is satisfied with a VGA output. Besides a streaming video of a maximum resolution of 2 560 per 1 600 pixels (the GeForce 9400M is compatible with DVI Dual-Link), this connection is also capable of carrying 7.1 audio signal.
Other improvements are the order of the day, with the support of a gigabit network controller that does not exist on the Intel 945G. They are also 10 USB ports can handle the GeForce 9400M, while the Intel platform that can bear 8. Note also that if it was compatible with the RAM running at 667 MHz maximum, ION is in turn supports modules running at 800MHz.
Logo Intel Atom (2009)
All these developments, while important, however, should not distract us from a very important point: it is indeed still the Intel Atom N270 netbooks that our team. In fact, nothing new from the side of the processor, and if NVIDIA introduces some new features with ION, the evolution of our netbooks appears limited by the status quo at the CPU level. We will see what it's all thanks to our various tests.
