ASRock Core-100HT Intel i3-330M HTPC

Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards

Written by Olin Coles

Thursday, 01 July 2010

Article Index
ASRock Core-100HT Intel i3-330M HTPC
ASRock Core 100 Features
Core 100HT Specifications
Closer Look: Asrock Core 100HT
ASRock HM55-HT Detailed Features
Motherboard Testing Methodology
PCMark Vantage Test Results
EVEREST CPU Benchmarks
Passmark PerformanceTest
Cinebench R11.5 Benchmarks
Street Fighter IV Benchmark
Lightweight Gaming Performance
ASRock HTPC Final Thoughts
ASRock Core 100HT Conclusion

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Core 100HT Specifications

CPU	- 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330 Mobile Processor
Chipset	- Mobile Intel HM55-Express chipset * Due to Windows XP and PCH chipset (HM55) limitations, if you use Windows XP, please disable the BIOS option "USB2.0 Rate Matching Hub" to make USB devices work properly. (For example, in the process of installing Windows XP or using USB3.0 devices.)
Memory	- 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, 4GB per DIMM (Max 8GB) - Support dual channel DDR3 1066MHz Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows 32-bit OS. The Intel Core i3-330M processor has a maximum memory size of 8GB.
VGA	- Intel HD Graphics (Intel Auburndale/Arrandale Integrated Graphics Controller)
HDD	- 2.5"HDD, supports 2^nd 2.5"HDD
ODD	- BD Combo
I/O	- 1 x HDMI, 1 x D-Sub VGA, 6 x USB 2.0, 1 x S/PDIF, 1 x eSATA-II* * For eSATA function, Hot Plug function is supported in AHCI mode only. IDE mode does not support Hot Plug function.
LAN	- Gigabit LAN
Sound	- 7.1 CH HD Audio with THX TruStudio Pro
Wi-Fi	- 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN* * 300Mbps, 2T/2R
Remote Controller	- Support MCE function
Power Unit	- 90W/19V Adapter
Dimension	- 195mm/7.68" (W) x 70mm/2.76" (H) x 186mm/7.32" (L)
Volume (liters)	- 2.5L/152.56 Cubic Inches

EDITOR'S NOTE: For a more detailed inventory of all hardware included with the ASRock Core 100HT, please see our full component report.

ASRock Software Suite

ASRock AIWI Rock Your Everywhere: Keep Moving Playing Games By Holding Your iPhone. Using ASRock AIWI to connect your apple devices to the ASRock HTPC via WLAN, then you can interact with the PC games with delicate touches and body motion while getting responsive shakes and vibrations that correspond from the game stores.

CyberLink DVD Suite - OEM & Trial

CyberLink Power2Go 6.1 LE - OEM, is the All-Media Disc Burning software which offers a hassle-free approach to burn, backup videos, photos, music and data onto Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
CyberLink MediaShow 4.1 SE - OEM, is a fast and easy way to preserve and share your life's best moments. It has a string of features such as one-click fixes, face tagging.. etc and provides a convenient way for organizing and sharing your photos and videos.
CyberLink PowerDVD 8.0 DTS - Trial, world-renowned PowerDVD 8 DTS delivers outstanding DVD movie playback quality on your PC.
CyberLink PowerDirector 8.0 - Trial, is a powerful video editing tool with unlimited possibilities. It offers more, video enhancement and editing tools, enables you to edit high-definition videos including AVCHD, and allows output to PSP iPod and Blu-ray Disc.
CyberLink PowerBackup 2.5 - Trial, provides the safest way to protect your valuable data. With this, you will no need to worry about the data damage or loss anymore.

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Comments

# RE: ASRock Core-100HT Intel i3-330M HTPC — v_lestat 2010-07-01 16:57

It is a home theater pc. Not a gaming machine or anything even remotely close to it.

On the other hand AsRock needs to have their heads examined... the intel 4500hd video chip...wtf.... you cant do hd decoding with that without crushing the cpu ...

Go back and use a nvidia chipset and watch it pur like a kitten thru Ll the hd content you have.

# Cpu overhead when decoding HD ? — Stef 2010-07-02 01:22

This looks nice enough to sit under my TV , but what about HD media ? Quality , cpu overhead , etc ?

# Gaming on HTPC — Olin Coles 2010-07-02 05:51

I think that many people would like to play video games on their HTPC, which is why we test graphics performance. You don't know what a product can do until you test it.

As for HD quality and CPU overhead, they were difficult to demonstrate because each media changed the outcome. DVDs were clean and lossless, MKV and flash each performed extremely well but had different CPU usuage depending on the source. Overall I didn't have any problems with HD media playback.

Encoding was not tested, aside from the included encoding tests that PCMark and Passmark perform.

# They Can't Use Nvidia with Core i3 — Ryan 2010-07-07 11:24

Unfortunately to move to the Core i3 based processor, they cannot use an Nvidia chipset, which is how the Ion is packaged. They must use the Intel HD GPU that comes with the Core processors, or accept a separate GPU board through the PCI-e slot.

This is an Intel restriction, and a quite anti-competitive one at that.

# intel HD — mikeccuk2005 2010-07-03 08:30

GMA HD is a different story to hd4500 and other predecessor.
Just look at the score at hwbot.org 3000 3dmark06:
#hwbot.org/hardware/videocard/gma_hd?tab=rankings#/manufacturer.rankings.do?applicationId=12&manufacturer=intel&hardwareTypeId=GPU_1645&hardwareType=GPU&tabid=gpubenchmarks
compared to ion 1.9k:
#hwbot.org/hardware/videocard/nvidia_ion?tab=rankings#/manufacturer.rankings.do?applicationId=12&manufacturer=nvidia&hardwareTypeId=GPU_1530&hardwareType=GPU&tabid=gpubenchmarks

# $400.00????? — Swamp 2010-07-17 15:00

##newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856158013

hmmmm......didn't quite make that

# Thank you — Olin Coles 2010-07-17 15:28

I appreciate the pricing update... that's quite a difference from the ION-330 series. I've updated the article with all the prices.

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