The Intel Compute Stick (Core m3-6Y30) Review
by Ganesh T S on June 27, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- Core M
- Skylake
- HDMI Stick
- Compute Stick
Networking and Storage Performance
Networking and storage are two major aspects which influence our experience with any computing system. This section presents results from our evaluation of these aspects in the Intel Core m3-6Y30 Compute Stick. Despite the absence of a bonafide SSD, we had no trouble in runnng the PCMark 8 storage bench where certain common workloads such as loading games and document processing are replayed on the target drive. Results are presented in two forms, one being a benchmark number and the other, a bandwidth figure. We ran the PCMark 8 storage bench on selected PCs and the results are presented below.
The eMMC is obviously not going to be better than the bonafide SSDs in the other PCs, but, given the form factor and the price, it is good that Intel at least put in a good-quality eMMC module in the system. CrystalDiskMark provides some numbers to give further insight into the performance of the storage subsystem.
On the networking side, we restricted ourselves to the evaluation of the WLAN component. Our standard test router is the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk configured with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. The router is placed approximately 20 ft. away, separated by a drywall (as in a typical US building). A wired client (Zotac ID89-Plus) is connected to the R7000 and serves as one endpoint for iperf evaluation. The PC under test is made to connect to either the 5 GHz (preferred) or 2.4 GHz SSID and iperf tests are conducted for both TCP and UDP transfers. It is ensured that the PC under test is the only wireless client for the Netgear R7000. We evaluate total throughput for up to 32 simultaneous TCP connections using iperf and present the highest number in the graph below.
In the UDP case, we try to transfer data at the highest rate possible for which we get less than 1% packet loss.
The Intel AC8260 solution is a premium 802.11ac client solution, and it is apt that the Core M Compute Stick adopts it. The WLAN subsystem (including antenna placement) design enables the Core m3-6Y30 Compute Stick to top our Wi-Fi performance charts when compared against systems with a similar platform / form-factor.
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okenny - Sunday, July 3, 2016 - link
True.what's with all the SSD reviews? I don't understand why SSDs are so interesting, an upgrade makes little or no difference to system performance unless you move from HDD to SSD or maybe from SATA to NVMe on PCIe or m.2. Don't get it.
okenny - Sunday, July 3, 2016 - link
hmmmm....no HDMI 2.0 at this price point, I'd buy something else like an nVidia Shield.Though I'd prefer Windows.
jakoh - Thursday, December 20, 2018 - link
How does this perform with 1080p Hevc?How is the H265 performance?
jakoh - Thursday, December 27, 2018 - link
Replying here, it’s remarkable at playing hevc content 1080p tested upto 2mbps. So happy with the performance. Thank you intel. It’s my dream media player.I am running Ubuntu 18. So easy to setup.
yeeeeman - Sunday, June 28, 2020 - link
Intel needs to make a lakefield version of this.