ASRock's High-End Vision 3D HTPC Reviewed
by Ganesh T S on October 3, 2010 10:20 AM ESTThe ASRock Vision 3D HTPC package is similar in size to the Core 100 package.
Apart from the main unit, the package also bundles the following:
- 90W AC / DC Adapter
- SATA and power cables, as well as mounting screws for a 2.5" hard disk
- DVI to VGA adapter
- MCE remote and a couple of CR232 batteries.
- Manual with instructions for disassembling and replacing the MXM card
- CDs with drivers and ASRock utilities, as well as PowerDVD 3D BD Player (OEM version)
While the Core 100 and ION 330 shared a similar industrial design, ASRock realized that a high end HTPC needed a shift in appearance. It now brings a Mac Mini look, though the dimensions are still the same as that of the Core 100 and ION 330. The edges are no longer abrupt, and the slimline BD drive has been replaced by a slot loading one. These are exactly the points with which we found issues in the Core 100 review. Of course, people who are concerned with the aesthetics may object to the large number of ports and imprints on the front side of the unit. In a future design, ASRock may probably shift the imprints to the top panel and hide the front ports with a full width hinged door of sorts.
Like the Core 100, the front panel has two audio jacks and two USB ports. In addition, there is also a SD card reader. However, unlike the Core 100, there are no ventilation slots in the front panel. The IR receiver is also visible. Also, the sides of the chassis are not used as antennae for the Wi-Fi (there are two metal plates inside the chassis at the rear end for this purpose).
Moving to the rear of the unit, we have a power adapter input, GbE port, eSATA port and audio jacks similar to the Core 100. However, the VGA port in the Core 100 is replaced by a dual link DVI port in the Vision 3D. The HDMI port is also HDMI 1.4a. There are 5 USB 2.0 ports and 1 USB 3.0 port to wrap up the ports in the rear. Instead of a fan slot, we have air ventilation slots, which are of the type found on the sides of a notebook. There is also a provision for a Kensington lock and a push-button mechanism to lift off the top panel.
An interesting deviation from the Core 100 exterior design is the underside of the unit. While the Core 100 was plain and needed an anti-slip pad for stability, the Vision 3D is raised with rubber bushes, and also has ventilation slots three sides, as can be seen in the picture below.
Just like a notebook, this unit also supports simultaneous display on two monitors. Testing was done mostly with the HDMI output connected to a Toshiba REGZA 37" 1080p TV through an Onkyo TX-SR 606, and the DVI port connected to a old Dell monitor running at 1280x1024. The Vision 3D ships with no OS installed. For the purpose of this review, we loaded up a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate x64. It is also possible to install Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution and still be able to take advantage of most of the HTPC functions of the system. Our analysis in the rest of the article, however, is completely from the Windows 7 standpoint.
We will conclude this section with a table to summarize the data and A/V connectivity options for the Vision 3D HTPC.
| Option | Status |
|---|---|
| HDMI | Yes [v1.4a] |
| Component | No |
| Composite | No |
| VGA | Yes [with DVI-VGA adapter] |
| SPDIF | Yes [Optical] |
| Stereo | Yes |
| Option | Status |
|---|---|
| Optical Disk Drive | Yes [Blu-Ray] |
| USB | Yes [5 x v2.0, 3 x v3.0] |
| eSATA | Yes |
| LAN | Yes [ 1000 Mbps GbE ] |
| Internal HDD | Yes [ 500 GB ] |
| WiFi | Yes [ 300 Mbps 802.11n ] |
| Card Reader | Yes |
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ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Momentus XT is a hybrid and not a pure hard drive. In any case, I have already linked to a StorageReview.com comparison of the 500 GB WD Scorpio Black and the Momentus XT. There are benchmarks in which the Scorpio Black turns out better.http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_scorp...
troystarr - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I'm curious how fast it can load blu-ray discs, such as the time from blu-ray disc insertion to the BD-Java main menu, speed of interacting with BD-Java menus, etc. I have a Blu-ray Profile 2.0 player that's about 2 years old now, and while it plays blu-ray discs great, it's pretty slow to load them and navigate their menus. If I try to use any Internet-based content via BD Live, it's downright painful. I would love to see comparisons in load time between this device, a typical consumer Blu-ray player, and a Sony PS3.Thanks for the review!
michael.gulde - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Was there a cable card for cable tv hd encrypted channels?ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
The ASRock Vision 3D is high end from the viewpoint of supporting the latest standards such as 3D which are yet to go mainstream.Also, the system has been designed taking the world market into consideration, and people outside the US just don't use CableCard.
You can always use the upcoming SiliconDust HD Tuners with CableCard functionality if this is something essential :)
cknobman - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
this is just too expensive to justify for most consumers.I dont do alot of actual computing from my media room so therefore when I think HTPC I want something that can access my network and stream content and play games.
Those things can be done by already existing equipment in my house or even other new equipment for much cheaper.
PS3 - $299
Xbox 360 - $299
Blu Ray player - > $200
Media Streamer - $50 - $150
True this impressive little unit is also a full blown computer but as someone with 4 other pc's in the house already I dont really need a full blown computer as part of my media room.
I think this would be perfect for someone who dosnt really own a gaming system and/or blue ray player already and would like an all-in-one solution.
Otherwise I think that is really is priced too high to be of any real value to most consumers.
vlado08 - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Hi Ganesh, thanks for the good article. I have several questions.1 What was the HDD tems when the GPU was under load? Because the HDD is sitting above the GPU I have some concerns.
2 What does the DPC Latency Checker shows? Are there any latency problems? In the sreen shot of the MPC-HT there are some spikes in the green line?
3 Do we need to disable Intel speed step for latensy free playback?
4 Is it possible to put a HDD vertically mounted to the side wall of the Vision 3D? This way you can have 3 HDD inside - two on the side and one under the DVD/Blu-ray.
ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
1. I never received warnings about HDD temperature when running Furmark. The only time there was a warning was when I was copying around 100 GB of data from the USB 3 port (so much higher write rate than even through GbE network) into internal hard disk, at which point the temperature reached 52 C towards the very end. As long as you are doing normal HTPC activities, I don't think this will be an issue.2/3. I did DPC latency checks for the Core 100, but found no issues with playback even though the checker reported issues. I have come to the conclusion (with help of other editors here at AnandTech), that there is no necessity that there is an issue even if the checker reports it. In all, even though I saw the spikes in MPC-HC, I didn't notice any issues in the playback of Blu-Rays or any of our other test streams, even with SpeedStep enabled.
4. No, there is no space for any more components within the Vision 3D chassis :(
vlado08 - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Thanks again for the quick reply and for your enthusiasm.junkles - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
Hi, Ganesh.So which HTPC functions have you found to be lacking with a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu?
Thanks
ganeshts - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
For starters, Blu-Ray disc playback and HD audio bitstreaming (even for stand alone files)I just wish we had a Linux program capable of playing back Blu-Rays (particularly considering the fact that all standalone BR players run some version of Linux at the core).