Compulab fitlet-XA10-LAN Review: A Fanless AMD UCFF PC for Networking Applications
by Ganesh T S on April 19, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Networking
- AMD
- Fanless
- Industrial PC
- Passive Cooling
- CompuLab
Performance Metrics - II
In this section, we mainly look at benchmark modes in programs used on a day-to-day basis, i.e, application performance and not synthetic workloads.
x264 Benchmark
First off, we have some video encoding benchmarks courtesy of x264 HD Benchmark v5.0. This is simply a test of CPU performance. As expected from the Futuremark results, the unlocked TDP of the AMD A10 Micro-6700T works wonders, and, thanks to being a quad-core solution, emerges as the best of the lot if the Intel Core-series based NUCs are not considered.
7-Zip
7-Zip is a very effective and efficient compression program, often beating out OpenCL accelerated commercial programs in benchmarks even while using just the CPU power. 7-Zip has a benchmarking program that provides tons of details regarding the underlying CPU's efficiency. In this subsection, we are interested in the compression and decompression MIPS ratings when utilizing all the available threads.
TrueCrypt
As businesses (and even home consumers) become more security conscious, the importance of encryption can't be overstated. The AMD A10 Micro-6700T does have acceleration for AES. TrueCrypt, a popular open-source disk encryption program can take advantage of the available cryptography acceleration. In the graph below, we can get an idea of how fast a TrueCrypt volume would behave in the CompuLab fitlet-XA10-LAN and how it would compare with other select PCs. This is a purely CPU feature / clock speed based test.
Agisoft Photoscan
Agisoft PhotoScan is a commercial program that converts 2D images into 3D point maps, meshes and textures. The program designers sent us a command line version in order to evaluate the efficiency of various systems that go under our review scanner. The command line version has two benchmark modes, one using the CPU and the other using both the CPU and GPU (via OpenCL). The benchmark takes around 50 photographs and does four stages of computation:
- Stage 1: Align Photographs
- Stage 2: Build Point Cloud (capable of OpenCL acceleration)
- Stage 3: Build Mesh
- Stage 4: Build Textures
We record the time taken for each stage. Since various elements of the software are single threaded, others multithreaded, and some use GPUs, it is interesting to record the effects of CPU generations, speeds, number of cores, DRAM parameters and the GPU using this software.
Dolphin Emulator
Wrapping up our application benchmark numbers is the Dolphin Emulator benchmark mode results. This is again a test of the CPU capabilities. It is one of the very few benchmarks where the fitlet-XA10-LAN doesn't come in the top half of the benchmarked systems. That said, it appears that the Dolphin emulator is particularly severe on AMD systems, given that the Zotac ZBOX CA320 nano (based on the AMD A6-1450) came in quite a bit behind the others.
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ingwe - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
This may be a naive question, but would this work as an HTPC? I would love a fanless solution for that and this seems to offer decent performance.monstercameron - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
h.264 8bit 1080p, it could work but dont expect super high bit rates to work.unproven - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
The ancient Zbox Nano AQ01 with an A4-5000 runs my 1080 display flawlessly - never a decoding single while streaming, including every H265 file I've tried.Old low power cores lack in ST performance so interfaces don't always "snap", but this thing should have no troubles at all with FHD TV.
BurntMyBacon - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
Performance-wise it could be used as an HTPC. That said, you'd be better off considering a different variation of the fitlet unless you have a pressing need for all the networking ports.Caveats: The fitlets I had got VERY hot. I found the same results over multiple units and more than one variation of the fitlet, so I don't believe it to be a one off issue. I put them on top of mesh shelving and ran a fan on them as they would discolor the surface of the shelve they sat on over time. They had shallow fins on the top, so I believe they were second revision. The new heatsink may fix this problem.
That all said, you'd probably be better off looking at some of the other offerings from the same company. My experience with the Intense-PC3 and Intense-PC4 have been very positive. They aren't as small as fitlets, but they are still smaller than many consumer grade routers and they don't have the heat issues.
BurntMyBacon - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
Correction - I've had positive experiences with the Fit-PC3 and Fit-PC4. Haven't had the pleasure of using an Intense-PC.ct909 - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
An Intel NUC might not be fanless, but I'm damned if I can ever hear it, and would be a much better HTPC. You could even consider an Intel compute-stick.at80eighty - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
look at the Minix NEO U1 - fanless; 4k, 60fps, 10bit, HEVCraddude9 - Thursday, April 21, 2016 - link
I would look at a different model of the Fitlet for HTPPC purposes. They have a version with just one Ethernet port for $15 less and one with the slightly slower A4 Micro-6400T chip for $69 less. Both of those probably put out less heat so would be more suitable for HTPC applications.Compulab - Thursday, April 21, 2016 - link
6400T is indeed significantly lower cost than 6700T, but for a given workload the 6700T would be lower-power since for a given frequency it can run at lower core voltage.pekpetrolhead - Friday, April 22, 2016 - link
Youy might want to consider a Giada F300. Fanless (whole chassis is a heatsink), i5 - great unit allround.