ECS LIVA Core Review: A Fanless Core M mini-PC
by Ganesh T S on October 7, 2015 8:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The ECS LIVA Core was evaluated using our standard test suite for low power desktops / industrial PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same.
Futuremark PCMark 8
PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU in the system. The Core M 5Y10c is no match for the Core U CPUs that operate with 3x the TDP rating. However, it manages to handily beat all the Atom-based fanless PCs that we have evaluated before. Amongst the PCs based on sub-10W TDP processors, the closest competitor actually happens to be the Haswell-Y -based Zotac ZBOX CI540 nano (which uses a i5-Y platform).
Miscellaneous Futuremark Benchmarks
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results.
The aspects noted while discussing the Futuremark benchmark results hold true here also. Basically, platforms using processors with higher TDP perform better. When compared to platforms with similar TDP, the Core M-based ECS LIVA Core manages to easily provide the best possible performance.
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Bob Todd - Wednesday, October 7, 2015 - link
Mine is running Windows 10 but I'm not a Netflix user. Are you on the fast ring for updates?Einy0 - Wednesday, October 7, 2015 - link
My personal opinion is the cost is too high for most usage scenarios. The CPU is too costly and is bring the entire package down with it. This is a huge departure from the LIVA and LIVAx2 and their minimalist / low cost platform. If this had replaceable RAM as well I think it would have a chance. I can't see paying nearly $500 for this when you can get a whole Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tiny with Windows for the same price.Kinematics - Wednesday, October 7, 2015 - link
If it won't hardware accelerate HEVC and (particularly) HEVC 10 bit, what is its performance like when playing back those (as well as 10 bit h.264)? Seems a rather notable absence in the review.Oxford Guy - Thursday, October 8, 2015 - link
Because this unit shouldn't exist. Thank Intel for releasing 14nm parts with no H.265. LOL.Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - link
I remain unconvinced. For $150 more, you can add a screen, a battery (which is a very useful built-in UPS), and a Windows license. It's called a tablet. It seems like an absolute no brainer to go that route. I would velco one of those onto the back of a monitor before buying something like this.