You are right, this is Skylake, not Airmont. Check the wikipedia entry for Silvermont, and you will see the Airmont is a die shrink of Silvermont, and the list of CPUs that are Airmont are also listed (and this is not one of them).
This's happened enough times in one review or another, that there really should be a less errorprone way than starting with the last review and using it as a template.
I'd prefer a fanless system as well, but in this case, I don't think it's possible to do so inexpensively using a 35 watt processor.
I'd also prefer if ECS would reconsider shipping with a single 8GB DIMM and switch to a pair of 4GB DIMMs in order to enable dual channel. I realize there's a price point to hit, but when you're depending on a system's iGPU, the extra memory channel is helpful. I'd not like buying a new system only to have to start looking at the purchase of additional parts right away to get the most out of it.
There're plenty of 4k files available from sources that don't look like an attempt to social engineer malware installs. If any mods are paying attention, this flunks the smell test and probably should be deleted.
Not really. All they need to keep them honest is AMD catching up on perf.
Like it or not, the installed base of x86 is just too big and too useful for anyone to wish a 'death of all things x86'. I would definitely prefer if x86 CPUs' performance & perf/W & perf/$ keep their upward trajectory as time goes by.
The only thing AMD has proven proficient at is dragging ATi down with them. RTG is evidence of that.
I'm aware x86 isn't going anywhere, but it's also sensible to assume AMD isn't going to be challenging Intel anytime soon -- or ever. We need the sort of competition we're seeing in the ARM space, and expecting AMD to step up, a company that can't consistently make new products that beat their old products, is a lesson in futility.
If ARM does encroach the server space with success, we might see history repeat itself with the RISC/big iron vs the up-start CISC/cheaper x86. This time, though, it's x86 on the receiving end.
"we might see history repeat itself with the RISC/big iron vs the up-start CISC/cheaper x86." Itanium? Ok so not exactly RISC but some relevant history there.
My prediction is that the capabilities and specialties of both will just blend together eventually and we'll be using both.
You don't want really ARM anywhere close desktop or notebooks. It's mentality and ideas are not really good for anything even remotely open. By comparison system of x86 is definition of open...
I was looking up the price of liva-X a few days ago and was lead to ECS website. I saw the core and said wow based on looks, I saw the one and said wow based on specs. usb3 typec holla Now I'm going down a rabbit hole of Gigbyte BRIX configs. Thank goodness I have a new/old T420 to play with because this small size market is so obscurely speced it is hard to buy in for fun, rather than need.
Thanks Anandtech for still being great, I just cried realizing how much value being attentive to hardware has given me. I pay attention because I like it. But it has ended up with a good paid job, family, homes, boats... that is because I like it, or because of andandtech, or because of Shimpi when we used to build water cooled RAMBUS servers. Don't know, it just makes sense.
Finally a small factor that has desktop CPU and with a price just a bit more expensive than a laptop with same specs. I could not fault the whole design.
The microSD choice is a mystery though. See, devices that use the microSD standard are typically smartphones or tablets which is quite fiddly to take the card out; just use a USB cable or connect through wireless. SD cards use are typically from digital/video cameras where transfer performance is better through a card reader than USB 2.0.
I think they went with the adapter because it appears to be an existing laptop charger based on its voltage and amperage specs, which makes it cheaper to source.
Lastly, I wanted to see photos of its internals. I don't know why the article doesn't since he mentioned having access to it.
I considered this when building my Mother a new PC for her birthday. I ended up building a mini-ITX Skylake i5-6500 system with 16GB RAM and 250GB SSD for $526. Spending the couple of extra dollars effectively doubled the system performance and while a bit larger, it also has DVD drive (which is something important for her) and the option to add a graphics card if needed.
Interesting to see this format in a consumer machine. It's been around for a little while now (since Ivy Bridge for Lenovo, and Haswell for everyone else, AFAIK) in business desktops (the Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny Desktops, the Dell OptiPlex Micros, and the HP ProDesk/EliteDesk Desktop Minis), and I think it's a better design than 5x5, because it makes more efficient use of the space available to it - 5x5 ends up requiring a much thicker chassis to fit a 2.5" HDD/SSD in there (because it doesn't fit beside the heatsink), increasing volume. (That said, I wonder how bad the noise is on the 65 watt TDP EliteDesks - Lenovo and Dell only offer 35 watt CPUs in that size chassis.)
(Disclaimer: I work for Dell, but these opinions are my own, and I've never actually handled Dell's products in this space, only one of Lenovo's (and that because my local Goodwill had an M73 Tiny for $4, and I couldn't pass it up).)
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watzupken - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
I thought Airmont is Intel Cherry Trail?watzupken - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Asking because this is the specifications you've mentioned.Intel Core i3-6100T
(2C/4T Airmont x86 @ 3.2 GHz, 14nm, 3 MB L2, 35W TDP)
alpha64 - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
You are right, this is Skylake, not Airmont. Check the wikipedia entry for Silvermont, and you will see the Airmont is a die shrink of Silvermont, and the list of CPUs that are Airmont are also listed (and this is not one of them).DanNeely - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
If it's Monday, it's a copy/paste fail from reusing the table from an old article as a template. *sigh*ganeshts - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Apologies for the massive FAIL :| Fixed it now. Yes, the tables are templated, and this particular line skipped past the update.DanNeely - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
This's happened enough times in one review or another, that there really should be a less errorprone way than starting with the last review and using it as a template.DJMiggy - Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - link
Stop being human ganeshts! ;)ToTTenTranz - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
First table shows the Core i3 having Airmont cores. It's a Skylake CPU, as shown everywhere else in the article.nirolf - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
It has a fan. Move along, nothing to see here.BrokenCrayons - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
I'd prefer a fanless system as well, but in this case, I don't think it's possible to do so inexpensively using a 35 watt processor.I'd also prefer if ECS would reconsider shipping with a single 8GB DIMM and switch to a pair of 4GB DIMMs in order to enable dual channel. I realize there's a price point to hit, but when you're depending on a system's iGPU, the extra memory channel is helpful. I'd not like buying a new system only to have to start looking at the purchase of additional parts right away to get the most out of it.
ddriver - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
"nothing to see here" - except how fugly this isnathanddrews - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Try playing this video to see if your PC is ready for the 4K era.Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia_4K-x265.mp4 (HEVC 4K Main10 60fps video / DD 5.1 audio)
https://mega.nz/#!5FNDybgY!u0IARmwnTJXGeSVoTEECrPP...
imaheadcase - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
How about no to downloading .exe files..nathanddrews - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Suit yourself...DanNeely - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
There're plenty of 4k files available from sources that don't look like an attempt to social engineer malware installs. If any mods are paying attention, this flunks the smell test and probably should be deleted.wavetrex - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
It's the downloader from MEGA.NZ... why so much fuss about it ?As for the video. MEH. A game... seen better 4K
wolfemane - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
And only DD5.1?? Cant enjoy kick and chase crowds with only 5.1.Klimax - Monday, February 8, 2016 - link
There are two links. Second one should give file directly, no exe anywhere...mrdude - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Nice to see Intel is shipping processors still in beta to consumers.Anyone else wishing for a quick death of all things x86? :)
ganeshts - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Not really. All they need to keep them honest is AMD catching up on perf.Like it or not, the installed base of x86 is just too big and too useful for anyone to wish a 'death of all things x86'. I would definitely prefer if x86 CPUs' performance & perf/W & perf/$ keep their upward trajectory as time goes by.
mrdude - Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - link
The only thing AMD has proven proficient at is dragging ATi down with them. RTG is evidence of that.I'm aware x86 isn't going anywhere, but it's also sensible to assume AMD isn't going to be challenging Intel anytime soon -- or ever. We need the sort of competition we're seeing in the ARM space, and expecting AMD to step up, a company that can't consistently make new products that beat their old products, is a lesson in futility.
If ARM does encroach the server space with success, we might see history repeat itself with the RISC/big iron vs the up-start CISC/cheaper x86. This time, though, it's x86 on the receiving end.
mikato - Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - link
"we might see history repeat itself with the RISC/big iron vs the up-start CISC/cheaper x86."Itanium? Ok so not exactly RISC but some relevant history there.
My prediction is that the capabilities and specialties of both will just blend together eventually and we'll be using both.
Klimax - Monday, February 8, 2016 - link
You don't want really ARM anywhere close desktop or notebooks. It's mentality and ideas are not really good for anything even remotely open. By comparison system of x86 is definition of open...atcronin - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Is Kodi using 'DXVA' Scaling and 'DXVA Best' de-interlacing? Because with those settings enabled the quality is more than just sufficient.ganeshts - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Kodi was evaluated with default settings. I only confirmed that the default settings made use of DXVA for video decoding.Anonymous Blowhard - Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - link
Hey, Intel. Are you listening?PUT IRIS PRO IN THIS.
Even if it's the "not-really-Pro" Iris 540/550, that's still enough gaming chops for a tiny little HTPC.
sitka - Wednesday, February 3, 2016 - link
I was looking up the price of liva-X a few days ago and was lead to ECS website.I saw the core and said wow based on looks,
I saw the one and said wow based on specs. usb3 typec holla
Now I'm going down a rabbit hole of Gigbyte BRIX configs.
Thank goodness I have a new/old T420 to play with because this small size market is so obscurely speced it is hard to buy in for fun, rather than need.
Thanks Anandtech for still being great, I just cried realizing how much value being attentive to hardware has given me. I pay attention because I like it. But it has ended up with a good paid job, family, homes, boats... that is because I like it, or because of andandtech, or because of Shimpi when we used to build water cooled RAMBUS servers. Don't know, it just makes sense.
zodiacfml - Friday, February 5, 2016 - link
Finally a small factor that has desktop CPU and with a price just a bit more expensive than a laptop with same specs. I could not fault the whole design.The microSD choice is a mystery though. See, devices that use the microSD standard are typically smartphones or tablets which is quite fiddly to take the card out; just use a USB cable or connect through wireless. SD cards use are typically from digital/video cameras where transfer performance is better through a card reader than USB 2.0.
I think they went with the adapter because it appears to be an existing laptop charger based on its voltage and amperage specs, which makes it cheaper to source.
Lastly, I wanted to see photos of its internals. I don't know why the article doesn't since he mentioned having access to it.
echtogammut - Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - link
I considered this when building my Mother a new PC for her birthday. I ended up building a mini-ITX Skylake i5-6500 system with 16GB RAM and 250GB SSD for $526. Spending the couple of extra dollars effectively doubled the system performance and while a bit larger, it also has DVD drive (which is something important for her) and the option to add a graphics card if needed.bhtooefr - Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - link
Interesting to see this format in a consumer machine. It's been around for a little while now (since Ivy Bridge for Lenovo, and Haswell for everyone else, AFAIK) in business desktops (the Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny Desktops, the Dell OptiPlex Micros, and the HP ProDesk/EliteDesk Desktop Minis), and I think it's a better design than 5x5, because it makes more efficient use of the space available to it - 5x5 ends up requiring a much thicker chassis to fit a 2.5" HDD/SSD in there (because it doesn't fit beside the heatsink), increasing volume. (That said, I wonder how bad the noise is on the 65 watt TDP EliteDesks - Lenovo and Dell only offer 35 watt CPUs in that size chassis.)(Disclaimer: I work for Dell, but these opinions are my own, and I've never actually handled Dell's products in this space, only one of Lenovo's (and that because my local Goodwill had an M73 Tiny for $4, and I couldn't pass it up).)