VIA Nano trounces Intel Atom in HD video playback? Not quite.
By Donald Melanson 
posted August 4th 2008 3:33PM
posted August 4th 2008 3:33PM
As a recent VIA promo video would have you believe, the company's lightweight Nano processor is capable of soundly beating Intel's competing Atom CPU when it comes to playing HD video. Or is it? Not willing to take VIA's word at face value, jkkmobile decided to try out the very same 1080p video on an Eee PC with the same Atom processor that VIA used in its test and -- surprise, surprise -- they found that the video played just fine. Now, it is entirely possible that the Nano can beat the Atom in playing video under certain circumstances (and given the raw benchmark numbers, that even seems likely), but when it comes to basic HD video playback, it seems that the Atom can at least hold its own. Head on past the break to see for yourself.
HOLY JESUS CAPS LOCK BATMAN!
I think you forgot to turn off CapsLock
I think he forgot to take his blood pressure medicine...
That or hes a tweeker! Slow down on the meth there buddy...
Important articles most be written by an ON caps lock dear Vaan!
Not to spoil the party here, but let's down-convert to reality.
So they can both sort of play 1080p HD content. And the maximum display resolution on any device is not even 720p. So who gives an aeronautic penetration?
+1 for secretly disguising 'flying fuck' using clever alternatives via the thesaraus.
I would have opted for "aerobatic insertion", but that's just me...
aerial copulation FTW!
The nano could theoretically beat the atom IF it had a decent graphics chip. Unfortunately in all the via nano chipsets they're including an igp that has even worse performance than the gma 950. Hence why they are on par...
Agreed. We need to know what codecs were used, what processes were running in the background, etc in ANY comparison. And of note, jkkmobile was running WMP 10 and not 11 like VIA's demonstration.
I like all the people with tiny little minds. The point of this test is not completely apparent so I will spell it out. People may want to use similar hardware configs for other devices other than this specific f*cking netbook. Maybe the other hardware configs would have higher-res displays, maybe video output. Maybe if you people could read words and then think about what you just read, then you would not be so incredibly dim. Sorry, engadget comments have just been getting to me lately.
If the other hardware configs had different hardware, this particular test would be meaningless to those configs.
Maybe.
Maybe you aren't very bright so I'll try again. This is called a benchmark. Benchmarks are used to help determine PC components ability to perform a specific task. For intelligent people benchmarks can still be useful and interesting even if the PC you are comparing is not identical to the PC used in the benchmark. For people with no ability to think analytically like you apparently, it would be tough to use a benchmark with slightly different hardware as a point of reference.
The fact still remains though - the resolution of the display or the ability to output video does not matter at all when the comparison is between 2 computers' ability to render video.
Hate to say I told you so about the video being from VIA's marketing dept.
The video was hilarious, but not in a way flattering to VIA (unless they were trying to be ironic)
I agree .. but still maybe they're good for standard definition movies? At least the Nano should be able to do those without any dropped or frozen frames.
Others have said this already, but let me repeat for emphasis...
Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom Nano does not compete with Atom
Hopefully that's settled now.
Nano competes as a (hopefully very, for Via's sake) low cost, slightly lower power than mainstream Core 2 Duo, much lower performance than all Core derived parts. I really don't see how Via has much of a chance of succeeding. They've got one guaranteed design win in the form of HP, assuming the Nano can fit in the thermal envelope of the C7 (which is far from guaranteed). Other than that, and the couple of other C7 notebooks out there, why in the hell would anybody use Nano? Even Celeron M will be lower power and similar performance, I'm pretty sure.
you just have no clue at all ;)
How am I incorrect? The Nano is practically guaranteed to be equal or more expensive to Atom, yet it uses several times more power. The only significant design wins for it will be the couple of C7 designs out there, most notably HP's tiny notebook. Atom, on the other hand, will take the market by storm on the low end.
Nano fails. Fundamentally, and totally.
That video is flawed. The EEE PC 1000h in Super Performance Mode runs the video fluidly even in FULL screen mode. Don't trust that guy, I just tested it myself on my EEE PC 1000h
to whoever is being a fanboy of the atom, which seems like what the noob engadget writers are doing again:
the atom is a piece of crap and is trounced by via in every benchmark, INCLUDING power consumption.
now you see why amd did not want to get involved in this area of marketshare.
this video is dumb anyway, video should be offloaded to graphics card.
www.hardocp.com or www.anandtech.com
Can everybody and Engadget put an end to this?
The original video with the EEE PC 1000h must be running in Auto Power Saving mode. If you switch the Atom to full performance mode by setting the Super Hybrid utility to Super Performance Mode the video runs perfectly fine even in full screen mode, no dropped frames and Windows Media Player 11.
What would you want 1080p on a 10 inch screen that doesn't have that resolution in the first place? Ok, video output, but seriously, those small laptops aren't meant for HD stuff.
This is shit. like really guys do u really wanna watch like blu ray or HD media back on your laptop or a big ass 50inch HDLCD tv?? i take it that you would choose to play it on a laptop. my choice is the 50inch or a HD projector.
Wait, those things can play back 1080p video? My Macbook Pro can barely do that!
i use my lenovo s10 (intel atom 1.6ghz) to play 1280x720 xvid/wmv video without any problem or whatsoever. also tested on samsung 40" LCD. it plays smooth and no lagginess at all. only 35% CPU Usage
my s10 now serves as my media center for my living room.
NOW ... .the problem comes when my s10 tries to play matroska video. Pauses and lags. So i had to convert all matroska video to xvid. voila , im happy