MSI R4350 - First Look

Test Setup -

H.264 Playback-

The NVIDIA GF8200 (AMD processor based) still offers the best CPU utilization rates, slightly better than its Intel based cousin, the NVIDIA GF9300. Those users with a GF8200/9300 based board really have no reason to upgrade to this card since 8-channel LPCM audio output is already included plus proper support for 1080p/24Hz playback. Speaking of 1080p/24Hz playback capabilities, the latest ATI driver set (8.10 Hotfix) for the card provides better support now. However, we still experienced lip-sync problems and occasional stutters. Still not perfect like the NVIDIA solutions, but AMD is far ahead of Intel in this regard. We just hope AMD can get 1080p/24Hz working correctly (100%) in the near future.

Those HTPC users with AMD based chipsets (690G, 780G, 790GX) should seriously consider upgrading to the 4350 chipset for the additional media features. A side bonus is improved casual gaming performance and Surround View (multi-monitor) support. This chipset does not offer Hybrid Crossfire support on the 780G/790GX boards.

Intel HTPC users with the G35 chipset would be advised to upgrade to the HD4350. Although not shown in today's results, CPU utilization drops from 73% to 29% and casual gaming suddenly becomes a reality on this platform. G45 users already have full hardware accelerated BD playback and 8-channel LPCM output so the decision to spend additional funds is difficult. General application and casual gaming performance will improve with the HD4350, but the biggest reason to switch would be driver and BD playback application support in our opinion.

Power Consumption-

Idle power consumption favors the AMD platforms. The HD4350 card consumes around 10W at idle on either platform. We did run into an interesting situation with the HD4350 card when attached directly to a monitor or to our Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH. On either platform, the HD4350 would set its clock speeds to 110MHz for the GPU core and 250MHz for the memory clock when attached to a monitor.

When attached to the AVR on the AMD platform, the card idled at 300MHz for core speed and 250 MHz for the memory speed. On the Intel platform, the card idled at 600MHz core speed and 500MHz memory speed. We are still investigating this problem, but it also occurred on the GF8200/9300 platforms.

The GF9300 platform comes out on top during BD playback, which surprised us considering the idle power results. Our HD4350 platforms consumer slightly more power (5.1W AMD, 6.9W Intel) than our IG based only systems. The benefits are worth it for users with the 780G chipset, although power consumption is still higher than our GF8200 based system.

Of note, every board we tested for the final article had power variations up to 5% even though the same chipset and general features was utilized in each product family. The amount of BIOS tuning for improved power management varies greatly between the motherboard suppliers.

Temperature -

We are only measuring temperature results of the HD4350 (GPU core) when installed in our G45/780G platforms for today's first look. We stabilized room temperature at 24C throughout testing. The idle temperatures were equal in each system when attached to a monitor. The AMD system had a 1C advantage when attached to the AVR, due to the increased Core/Memory clocks on the Intel platform.

We took the load temperatures with our Simpsons Movie title at the 30-minute mark. The Intel platform had a 1C (1.3C actual) advantage over the AMD platform. Of course, results will vary depending on case design and airflow, but our Intel system generally ran a degree or two cooler than the AMD system under load.

Gaming-

We will have additional gaming results in the final article but for now, we are presenting Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts scores at our standard 1024x768 resolution (High/Medium settings) we utilize in IG testing.

In this title and others, the HD4350 offers significantly improved performance at lower resolutions and settings compared to the IG solutions. In fact, at least in Company of Heroes, this card will maintain 40 fps rates at 1680x1050 with either processor at our standard quality settings.

The Intel platform (E5200/HD4350) offers slightly higher frame rates than the AMD platform (4850e/HD4350), but in this game and others, minimum frame rates were always higher with the AMD platforms. Our user experience backed up the benchmark numbers; we generally thought the AMD platform offered a smoother gaming experience, at least in our budget solutions.

Recap-

That's it for today, we will be back shortly with additional BD, general application, and casual gaming results from several different CPUs and Video cards on a variety of IG motherboards. In the meantime, we highly suggest the HD4350 for anyone on a budget looking to upgrade their HTPC systems or needing a low-cost solution for playing SPORE, Company of Heroes, and Race Driver: GRID, or other recent simulation, RTS, or RPG titles at resolutions below 1680x1050.