AMD C-50 CPU and 6250 GPU performance(Acer 522 review)

It's been a long time since i have been here LOL

I just purchased a Acer 522 with the first AMD Fusion processor

Anyway Ill just post here some games that I will try to see if a meager 1.0 Ghz Bobcat Core and a 6250 GPU can play.

Specs

The unit comes with Windows 7 starter, Currently installed Win 7 Ultimate
It has a 1280x720 16:9 resolution
2Gb DDR3 RAM
250GB Hard Drive
3 USB ports,
VGA and HDMI out

For guys that will buy this unit I suggest get at least a unit that has 2GB RAM 1GB is little for this machine.( I REALLY recommend this, trust me it will be worth it)

First Thoughts:

It was light, coming from a 14 inch laptop. The LCD is very clear the 720p resolution at a 10.1 inch is very beautiful. The Audio though was quite weak since it only outs sound from it's left side. The CPU was good enough for basic multitasking like browsing the net while copying files or extracting a file or watching a movie.
There are quite a few bloatware. I plan to reformat this but will stick with the default for now. It was quite snappy when opening IE so that i can download Firefox(Palemoon).

Browsing the net feels normal like my Desktop with some rare slowdowns which is normal. I have lots of tabs so I am quite pleased that even opening the browser it has no problems dealing with 10+ Tabs opening

Youtube:

Watching High Definition(HD) Youtube Videos is also smooth. WIth no FPS drops. Using AMD Catalyst 11.1 and Flash 10.2
Flash only officially updates you to 10.0 and not 10.2 so you better update it yourself to the latest version to fully unlock the true power of your GPU.



AFTER Reformatting: There was quite a noticeable difference in responsiveness everything felt snappier. So keep this in mind when you are stuck with the Win 7 starter.

The GPU though is AWESOME when it comes to video playing. 720p to 1080p(triied with mp4 and mkv) are completely playable with almost no FPS drops whatsoever. For the first time a .avi file was harder to play than mkv LOL. You can also browse the net or do any CPU intensive task without any hassle since it does not use the most of the CPU when playing videos.

WEI scores.

Processor 2.8
RAM 4.8
Graphics 4.0
Gaming 5.5
HD 5.5

AS you can see the 1.0 Ghz CPU is pretty weak.

Gaming Vids

TAKE NOTE: This is NOT a gaming machine. But it can still play some games. The ones I posted below are examples but I have played several other games like SC2

Left 4 Dead Vid
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Dynasty Warriors ONline Vid
style='height: 390px; width: 640px'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PSnDwTrJ-1E?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PSnDwTrJ-1E?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width='640' height="390"></object>



Killing Floor Vid
style='height: 390px; width: 640px'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yQpBaifWR5E?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yQpBaifWR5E?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width='640' height="390"></object>

 

What made you decide to opt for the C series APU over E series?

 

Price $330 compared to $400 and the fact that it is not yet available in our market.

There is still a HUGE possibility that if it can be OCed, i can get a E-350 APU

Since a C-50 is just a downclocked E-350

 

Update:

Starcraft 2 DEMO was playable Played it at 720p at low settings.

Played Skirmish and the only time I noticed FPS drop was when i was following my SCV to scan the enemy base.

Played Story mode. The CPU had a hard time with movie videos but the game was definitely playable.

Will post FPS later. Havent installed fraps yet and will play the third mission and see if a lot of units will be hard for the CPU.

Dirt 2:

800x600 and 640x480 resolution deliver the same FPS in the Benchmark at ultra low settings. It seems the CPU was holding back the FPS...

Min is 12 FPS and AVG is 15. I played the Baja track 4 times and it was playable for me. It wasnt the graphically enchanting game with HD Graphics but it was a decent game to be played in such a small PC

Trying Left 4 Dead and Trine now

 

Congratulations It's awesome to see you happy with something that you bought with hard earned money Just like me hehe! Every one says ( steam forums ) "OMG UR LAPTOP SUX ITS NOT MEANT FOR GAME IT SUX MY BUTT" lol. If it sux, why can it run Crysis at 1080p at almost maxed settings at 25-30 FPS?

Have fun!

 

^ LOL

my first gaming laptop was a 8400m G. Yup even weaker than a HD 3200 but i was SOOOOOO HAPPY playing at 640x480 resolution GRAW 2 and some games are played at barely 30 FPS and some RTS

Universe at war and World in COnflict was played at 15 FPS.

Anyway...

 

I think we are in the dying breed named " Happyus Maximus Computerus" that means we are happy with the PC we own...

 

UPdate:

Left 4 Dead at Single player was laggy once you get zombies right ni front of you if they are standing still away from you the FPS is around 20-25.

Of Course This is with Single PLayer I'll try to LAN with it so the server will take care of the Zombies. Hope without the added strain of Zombies in it's system L4D might just be playable in LAN.

Trine was playable as well at 640x480 anything higher than that the mouse lag is going to kill you

Looks like MOH is out of the question

I think the CPU at 1 Ghz is REALLY holding back the GPU.

Anybody know any OCing software I can try?

Will check how long the battery life is and maybe see if it can play 1080p w/o lagging(This was the main purpose of the machine)

 

I think you are right about L4D. Once the AI Director is offloaded onto another computer, you will see performance improve.

I'd guess that you are being bottlenecked by the CPU most of the time, so OCing the processor looks like a good plan. I don't know what kind of software would even work on the FUSION processors. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know if ANYONE has even TRIED it before. I don't even know if there is any software available yet!

 

^ lol

I am pretty much one of the earliest ones to get their hands on fusion Maybe first in my country

i wonder what can i use....

I'll come back tomorrow.

 

What settings/resolution do you use in SC2, and what frame rates do you normally get? If possible, could you be in-depth about when the frame rates drop? (IE: Time during game, specific situations)

 

I was using the DEMO so i am stuck at 720p resolution(1280x720)

normal FPS when just viewing units are at 15-20 FPS like when I have several SCVs harvesting

WHen Fighting with a decent size army FPS drops to below 15.

The Third mission on Hard when all those Zerglings go at you near the ending FPS dropped to 6-7 FPS LOL

BUT even though FPS where that horrid I do not really notice the game to be THAT slow.

I'll try the full version when I have the time tomorrow as well, and use the lowest resolution to check for changes.

I am still waiting for any OCIng software you guys use

I want my C-50 evolve to a E-350

Update:

Playing 720p(.mkv) videos in Windows Media Player is just a walk in the park LOL. I'll try 1080p next time.

 

OCing software might not come out for awhile. The most up to date one that most people use is SetFSB, and I highly doubt it's going to be ready anytime soon since AMD APUs are so new.

 

Nice review, here's a link to the specs and some benchmarks for the AMD HD 6250: AMD Radeon HD 6250 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

On another note, your HD 6250(280MHz Core) and the HD 6310(500MHz Core) are both based on the HD 4330. So basically your HD 6250 is an underclocked HD6310. I see lots of overclocking potential

 

You also forgot that the CPU as well is just a underclocked version

UPDATE:

WOW I was VERY impressed downloaded a 1080p Music Trailer of It's time for Africa. It played flawlessly .

Using only 30% of the CPU You can still do some things in the background(like copying files) without any impact on the video
Forgot to mention that testing with the videos was NOT plugged in

Hmmm the battery life next.

 

OK playing LAN on Left 4 Dead did not increase the FPS...

WIll now reformat it to see if a clean install will speed things up

 

Are you talking about the laptop in your signature?

If so:

 

I just reformatted and was I in for quite a surprise

 

ohh so how does fresh install does for performance? Btw any picture of the laptop?

 

Well before I got my current desktop, I was playing games on a 1.6 ghz Athlon XP from 2002 with (I think) 32 mb of VRAM on the graphics card. So that's basically Halo 1 at 640x480 with minimum settings and not much else. I also had a few laptops with integrated graphics in the same time period, so no gaming there either. Back in the day, my dad built that for me for my birthday and it was the awesomest thing around. Now a single core on either my i5 or my i7 would blow it out of the water by itself.

 

Just got back will post pics later and an update on my fresh install

Looks like I'll do this after several hours....

 

where did you get the amd drivers for the fresh installation? I'm getting random stutters when playing videos.

 

The only driver that I needed was AMD GPU Drivers. Version 11.1a. The others are already automatic.

Checking it now it seems my LAN is not working LOL.

You also have a 522?

What type of videos are you playing?

 

What are you running and why do I not believe you?

 

Hmmm looks like the drivers for LAN are still missing. So if you just brought this but need LAN. Dont do it for now. WiFi is working right away though

I played HD .wmv fiiles . 720p and 1080p .mkv files no FPS drops.

I also installed CCCP codec.

 

Any kind of video, sd or hd. CPU load is 40-60 most of the time when playing. using mpc-hc and windows media player.

 

You are still using the Windows 7 starter right?

That's weird. out of the box i already played HD movies well. Have you tried playing the video in the public videos folder?

Is your CPU doing anything else? Like maybe copying files?

 

Lap @ sig. Pardon me, but that post is wrong. I was confusing with my 1366x768 setup shame on me... Anyways, if in that res, i get steady 30s with almost all maxed. In 1080p right column is med except water and volumetric effect @ high and post processing in low. Left column all high.
I get 20-25 FPS.

 

Currently uploading pics....

Hmmm does anyone know of a software to see if I am getting dropped frames?

 

I've removed most of the bloatware. It doesn't seem to matter whether I have only 1 app running or 10+ apps with 100% cpu load + plus files being copied. the videos play very stable but stutters every few mins.

 

Here are the pics





Comparison between a 14.1 Inch Compaq CQ40

 

Try playing it in Windows Media Player. There are some videos that have dropped frames when playing in MPC HC.

You installed CCCP right?

I am currently watching SD videos while SC2 is Installing and I now have Stuttering issues. Probably becuase .avi containers do not use the GPU.

PLaying a 720p .mkv file flawlessly though still with SC2 installing. Since it only uses the GPU

 

still the same with cccp. Gonna try the 11.1 drivers next.

edit: installed 11.1 and still the same.

 

Even if you restarted and played the video at once?

Something may be running in the background and is using your CPU..

 

I just disabled both lan and wifi adapters and no dropped frames for 7+ mins playing sd video.

update: lan disabled / wifi on - playing 10gb 1080p mkv file = no dropped frames.

 

Maybe Windows update or McAfee is updating or scanning something.

ONce i reformatted everything felt snappier.
I can definitely say that since it now feels like my desktop when I am opening folders and such.

 

windows update service is already disabled and mcafee removed.

It's definitely the LAN adapter. As soon as I enable it, the problem starts again.

 

When i find a driver for LAN I'll try it.

 

driver from the recovery folder
Atheros Lan AR8152L.rar

found this online but it seems to install the same 1.0.0.36 driver.
you want the "AR813x-AR815x_v1.0.0.46_WHQL.rar" file.
Atheros Communications

 

WOW thanks!!!

can you see if you can find a motherboard driver

the sd card reader is not working

 

don't think there's a mobo driver. here's the reader driver.
ENE Card Reader Chip UB6252NF.rar

is 720p youtube smooth for you? I get 15-25fps but mostly stays at 20.

 

just downloaded the LAN driver so mediafire is making me wait....

 

Tried the LAN driver and I am not getting any dropped frames.

Will try to watch a whole episode of family guy to test it. I'll be testing it using MPC HC and viewing the statistics.

And ill try to watch a 720p youtube video. Pls post a linki so that we could watch the same video

 

if your still waiting.
Free File Hosting, Online Storage &amp File Upload with FileServe Card Reader Chip UB6252NF.rar

try watching this video.
YouTube - Beyond Black Mesa

 

How do you know your FPS??

 

right click show video info

 

Ok just stopped at 5 minutes

My FPS are at 24-25 FPS(mostly 25). There was a time when it dropped to 22 and some 23 but it reported 6 dropped frames.

BTW I loaded the video first before watching since I dont have a high speed connection

 

is that in full screen?

 

No

Ill try Full screen