Performance

Before we dive into the performance benchmarks, I had to come up with a reasonable set of tests to highlight the main selling points of such a system. Due to the growing variation of ITX systems, it is interesting to see how each of them performs in regards to power consumption, CPU utilization, gaming and noise level. Since this is an Impactics case & cooling review, these numbers just illustrate that you can really use the entire system just like any other. In addition, since we have yet to take a real look at the Zotac H55 ITX board, this presents an interesting possibility to dive into those numbers a bit as well. Before you read on, I should note that while all the Atom based passive solution can be pushed as hard as you want for as long as you choose to, but the i3 530 system is not intended to run at 100% load for prolonged periods of time - nonetheless, even after doing so for this review, the system worked flawlessly.

Power Consumption

Since this is the first H55 based ITX system we are taking a look at, we wanted to check how much power it draws. This is also due to the fact, that you are pretty much forced to use the power brick and DC-DC converter combo which Impactics offers. In standby the unit draws 1.8W, which is perfectly fine, while sitting idle in Windows only requires 27.5W. This means that it can keep up as a DIY ION mini-ITX system at this state.


The picture quickly changes at load, as the i3-530 draws much more power than any ION or Atom based system. That said, even when pushing the CPU at 100% for some time, the unit stayed stable, even though the fins became quite hot. This is certainly positive, as that simply means that the heat is being transferred to the case fins nicely. Also, when watching a movie, the entire unit requires a bit more power than an ION unit.

CPU Utilizaton & Temperatures

Due to the fact that this entire system uses a Core i3, the CPU utilization is much lower when watching a 1080P clip. The processor barely breaks a sweat with 13% being used to display the movie on the display.


Now this is the interesting part. Even when pushing the system to 100% and letting it sit like that for some time, the temperatures level out at 68°C for the CPU and 60° for the IGP. Sure this is rather high for the CPU, but still completely viable and you would never push the CPU at full throttle for an extended period of time anyways. It is great to see that the entire K.I.S.S.S. system can handle this very potent setup.

3DMark06

Another benefit is the better 3D performance of the entire system. This is mainly due to the desktop CPU being used, but translates into a 20% boost when compared to Atom CPUs in combination with ION.

Noise Level

You may wonder why we would even mention this aspect when the entire system is passively cooled. There are other components which have moving parts or tend to emit other types of noise. As you would expect the entire K.I.S.S.S based system from Impactics is eerily silent. Anyone who has never used such a system before could be somewhat irritated by the lack of noise for the first few seconds, but I am sure you will love every second after that. That said our PSU brick emitted weird noises reminiscent of electrical buzzing. We will chalk this off to a faulty PSU, even though it worked flawlessly the entire time and managed to power the entire system easily without getting hot.