Handbrake H.264 Encoding

Website: HandBrake
Our test uses HandBrake - an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows - to encode a high resolution MPEG-2 video using the H.264 codec. This primarily tests multi-threaded CPU and memory subsystem performance.

GIMP Image Editing

Website: GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

File Compression & Encryption:

Website: WinRAR

MP3 Encoding

We used LAME MT for our audio encoding test - it's the multi-threaded version of the popular LAME MP3 encoder. We ran tests with both Intel's and Microsoft's compilers - naturally, the Intel compiler resulted in some performance increases on Intel's processors. We converted all 18 tracks from Moby's popular Play album to a 192kbps variable bit-rate MP3.



The NC20's Nano processor is an interesting one because, in some scenarios, it's actually slower than the 1.6GHz Atom N270 at the heart of the Samsung NC10. What the performance data we have here doesn't tell you though is that the overall computing experience is much more responsive and snappy - this is thanks to the Nano's Out of Order execution engine.

Applications open much faster and if there was a test that was most representative of the NC20's general desktop performance, we feel it's the GIMP test, where multiple images are being opened one after another. However, while you'll get a much better experience than you will on an Atom-based machine, it's not anywhere near as snappy as the Intel Core 2 Solo in the MSI X-Slim X340 or the Athlon Neo in the HP dv2-1030ea.

Video playback is also improved over the NC10, as some 720p video clips remain smooth and playable, although higher bitrates will trip the Nano up - TV shows are generally fine, but QuickTime movie trailers weren't quite as fluid and you'll experience a certain amount of stuttering. YouTube HD, though, is still a major sticking point for machines in this class - none of them have the grunt to play YouTube HD clips back without stuttering.