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Zotac ZBOX Sphere OI520 barebones vs Sphere Plus review

by on02 December 2014

Index

 

Zotac Sphere OI520 Plus vs. barebones GPU performance


We did not have enough time to run comprehensive gaming tests – after all this is not a gaming rig, but based on external sources and tests, HD 4400 performance can be boosted by 20-30% percent simply by adding another stick of RAM.

The gains depend on the memory speed, latency, screen resolution and of course the choice of game engine. As far as synthetic tests go, in 3DMark Fire Strike the stock Plus version with single-channel 4GB 1600MHz RAM scores 538, but with two sticks of 1866MHz memory we got 633, which translates into a 17.5% gain. In proper games you are likely to get even more.

sphere-3dmark

Still nowhere near discrete GPUs, but on a par with office rigs and most notebooks

It may not sound like much, after all this is still an integrated GPU, but it’s a big gain that can make the difference between playable and unplayable framerates. In case you plan to use the Sphere for some casual gaming – go for a dual-channel setup.

As far as real games go, we found a dusty copy of Call of Duty: MW2 and got playable framerates at 720p, with 2xAA and relatively high detail settings.

codvideo

The Sphere should have no problem dealing with many older titles at 720p, or even 1080p depending on the genre.

codgameplay

Playable, but not very smooth depending on the level of action

There are a couple of things to consider. Intel's IGPs are no longer the dreary affairs they used to be and the HD 4400 (GT2) is not even close to being the fastest Intel IGP out there, as it sports just 20 execution units. AMD's latest IGPs are of course better and we prefer them over Intel solutions, but there is a catch – most reviewers tend to run the latest games even on underpowered IGPs, so AMD's VLIW4 and GCN cores fare much better, due to superior architecture and driver support. The gap closes in older titles, the ones you are more likely to be able to run on IGPs, hence AMD's seemingly big 'benchmarketing' advantage melts away in many real life situations.

oi520futuremark

The HD 4400 is no slouch and the Sphere is 4K/UHD capable, making it quite a bit more future-proof. Prices of 4K TVs are tumbling and any serious media PC in 2015 simply has to support 4K. Remember that dual-band radio? It should come in handy for video streaming and could even be used for in-home game streaming. Launch a game on your big rig and enjoy it on your big screen, courtesy of Steam

Streaming offers another use case for living room PCs. If only more vendors supported hardware-agnostic streaming (yes, we're looking at you Nvidia).


Last modified on 10 December 2014
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