As this is our first formal evaluation of a mini-PC, we have no baseline or reference point to which we can compare Iwill's unit. We have, however, compared the XP4 to a standard desktop system both with respect to computing performance and thermal performance.
Both systems were loaded with a 3.06 GHz Pentium 4 processor with HyperThreading enabled. We used an 845GV motherboard similar to Iwill's proprietary solution in the XP4 in our desktop system to remain as consistent as possible. A Western Digital WD400BB 7,200 rpm hard disk was used, and in each case a SoundBlasterAudigy was installed in an available PCI slot. Both systems were outfitted with 256 MB of DDR400 DDR SDRAM provided to us by
http://www.twinmos.com/">TwinMOS Technologies.
Both systems were powered by Windows XP. We ran through just a couple quick tests; first, to give an idea of the performance of the XP4 relative to a similarly-equipped desktop system, we ran both through a SysMark 2002 loop.
| | Desktop | Iwill XP4 |
| Content Creation | 271 | 268 |
| Office Productivity | 169 | 163 |
As you can see, there's virtually no performance difference. The Iwill XP4 performs just as well as a similar desktop system, remembering of course that both use Intel's integrated graphics solution. In a situation where an integrated motherboard would ordinarily be used, the XP4 can keep pace nicely, something that cannot be said for VIA's mini-ITX platform.
Lastly, to give an idea of the thermal limitations of such a small unit, we compared the operating temperatures of both systems. Measurements were taken at idle, after 10 minutes of Prime95 processing, and after 45 minutes of Prime95 processing.
| | Desktop | Iwill XP4 |
| Idle | 34/29 | 38/31 |
| 10 Min. Prime95 | 48/31 | 54/33 |
| 45 Min. Prime95 | 54/33 | 61/38 |
In each case, the first number is the CPU temperature as measured by the Pentium 4's on-die diode. The second is the case temperature reported by the motherboard. These numbers are certainly not perfectly accurate, however they do illustrate the difficulties encountered by high-performance components in small spaces.
