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Asus 1215N and performance – plus comparison with the 1201N

By Andrei Girbea , updated on June 4, 2014

There’s a lot of hype around my review of the Asus 1215N posted a couple of days ago. Now, as i promised (however, with quite a delay, as only now i managed to snug it again for a couple of hours), here’s another post with more details on performances and some extra tests.

Also, I’m going to try to compare benchmark results from this 1215N (with D525 1.8 GHz processor 4GB of DDR3 RAM and new ION) to the ones of the 1201N (with D330 1.6 GHz processor, 2 GB of DDR2 memory and the older ION ). See details below.

First of all, let’s see some CPU tests. I have to say that results for the 1215N are based on my tests, while those for the 1201N are based on the results from the test here.

Results for SuperPI and wPrime are available below. Due to the very little time I had with the device i was not able to run wPrime 1024 and SuperPI 32M . You can see that the processor on the 1215N is slightly faster in these tests.

Super PI 1M/2M and wPrime 32M on Atom 330 and D525

Super PI 1M/2M and wPrime 32M on Atom 330 and D525

3Dmark 2006 scores are below. First picture on default resolution of the program (1280 x 768 px) and second on the standard resolution for the device (1366 x 768 px).

3Dmark2006 default

3Dmark2006 default – 1280 x 768

3Dmark 2006 native - 1366 x 768

3Dmark 2006 native – 1366 x 768

In comparison, the 1201 scored 1583 points in this test, with only 767 for CPU, based on the results from this test (they don’t mention resolution for the test though, but I would assume is one of the two above).

Also, here are the results for PCMark 2005.

PC Mark 2005 results

PC Mark 2005 results

Based on several sources found online, the 1201N scored around 1600-1800 in this one, but I could not any source worth believing, so take this with grain and salt (if any of you guys own the 1201N and could help with some details here, that would be much appreciated)

Now, many of you guys asked me about performances in terms of playing self-stored and Flash 1080p content.

I’ve given those another and more detailed look. With self-stored content, everything runs great, including outputting content on a FULL-HD display via HDMI. That of course, after installing the $9.99 codecs packs from CoreAVC (i had problems playing HD content before).

Now, in terms of Flash. I’ve installed Flash 10.1.53.64 on the device and tried running 720p/1080p clips from Youtube. Both ran decently on the device (see processor load in the picture below).

1080p FLash playing

1080p Flash playing from Youtube

However, when trying to output content on the bigger display, the computer chocks with 1080p, although processor load still stays down (around 35%). 720p is fine. That probably means the software problems mentioned by you guys in the comments and seen on other ION2 devices tested before are still here. I’ve tried looking for new Nvidia drivers but I’m pretty sure I have the latest available. Still, I do have to point out that 1080P Flash played OK on the 12 inch display, even in Full-Screen. But not so much on a 24inch Full HD screen. The good part is that this bottleneck can be solved with better drivers, the bad point is that we don’t know when will this happen.

You can also see Windows Rating for the device below: 3.3 , lowest for graphics. The second picture is for the 1201N and is taken from here. According to it, graphics are better on the 1201N, but other tests say otherwise and I tend to believe them more than this rating. Also, I found other results in here, so not sure what to really believe. Maybe you can help in her as well.

Windows Rating

Windows Rating for 1215N

Windows rating for EEE PC 1201N

Windows rating for EEE PC 1201N

Also, you can find below some synthetic tests from Sisoftware Sandra in the pic below, could not find any results for 1201N to compare them with. Oh, and sry for the small pic, I did not have the inspiration to save it a bigger format also, but hopefully you can understand the scores 🙁

Result in Sisoftware Sandra

Scores in Sisoftware Sandra

In the end, I know there are a lot more things I could have included in this post. But having the device only for a limited time limited me only to these. Plus, the fact that I did not had the chance to test the 1201N before damaged my comparisons, having to rely on results from others tests, which is something i don’t actually like to do.

Also, don’t forget about this clip where I’ve showcased some of the performances for this 12 incher.

Still, I do hope this post was useful. Questions and feedback appreciated, as always.

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Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief at TLBHD.com. This project was born as part of my search for capable mini-laptops that I could easily lug around to work, and still provide the performance that I'd need on a daily basis. I'm primarily using such ultracompact devices and have been testing them since 2006.

12 Comments

  1. Aleš

    August 13, 2010 at 7:41 am

    When you did the Microsoft score on 1215n. Was the next gen ION on or was it of? I think that can make a big difference.

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 13, 2010 at 7:52 am

      Ales, i cannot tell. As you know, ION goes on automatically, I don’t think you can turn it on all the time, and even if you could, I didn’t know how at the moment. Theoretically, it should be on when performing such tests, but I’m not sure if it is when running Windows Rating.

  2. Aleš

    August 13, 2010 at 7:57 am

    ok, if you or anyone else here reading the comments has this chance, could please run a windows rating and see if ION was on at that particular time? 🙂 that would be helpful 🙂

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 13, 2010 at 8:52 am

      I don’t have it anymore… So +1 on the request (I will remember next time to start the ION tool when running this test).

  3. Drozdek

    August 24, 2010 at 7:06 am

    I think that it wouldn’t get 3,3 pts. without ION. If it ran tests on Intel Graphics it would be at least one point less.

  4. Aleš

    August 24, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    You make a point, but what puzzles me is that next gen ION is worse than first gen ION (performance wise)?

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 24, 2010 at 1:32 pm

      I won’t be that fast to judge. Based on the tests, it’s not. And consider drivers are a mess for the new gen right now. So no, older generation isn’t better now, and definitely won’t be in 1-2 months

  5. Dave

    September 24, 2010 at 6:51 am

    I bought one and it is very fast. I’m currently playing Half Life 2 with ALL graphics all the way up and it’s smooth and creamy at the native rez 1366×768. Sometimes when going into something 3d, there a slight pause, but thats the only thing Ive noticed so far. I love it and I love that its so small I can take it almost anywhere with me. Good job Asus!!!

  6. reloadro

    October 20, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    It’s hilarious , the first gen Ion besting the Ion 2.That’s what you get when the graphic chip is forced on the sub-par PCIE 1.1 slot. Seriously FU Intel for this!In the end the customers have to suffer for your greed.You can take the GMA chips and shove em up your asses.

  7. Jccc3

    November 6, 2010 at 9:10 am

    The Idea is that from Nvidia Control Panel, you can chose de apps to use the Ion2 and other to use the built in graphics…So i’ll try a test.. .then reply with a link! Although the standart rating gave my 1215N Sea Shell 3.4 at Graphics…

  8. James

    November 12, 2010 at 11:29 am

    I was about to buy this laptop for Office and media/web browsing etc.

    I realise this is not a gaming machine; but after reading about the bottle neck prob -I’m fed up of waiting for a netbook that is functional.

    I guess the VX6 version will have the same probs?

    I might just wait and see if Acer release the Fusion Ferrari now.

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 12, 2010 at 11:33 am

      James, i was expecting drivers to solve any problem this might have. They’ve yet to do that though…

      Perhaps you can go for a core i3/i7 device. There are some in the 11.6 inch class, but they are quite expensive… Still, this is what i’d pick right now

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