3DMark06 is the worldwide standard in advanced 3D game
performance benchmarking. A fundamental tool for every company in the PC
industry as well as PC users and gamers, 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D
game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics
tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests. 3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0
graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple
cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature
tests t reliably measure next generation gaming performance today.
 Futuremark 3DMark06 1.1.0 |
| Overall: |
Points |
Ranking |
 Samsung R480 |
7329 |
   |
| CPU: |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
2521 |
|
| SM2.0 |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
3032 |
|
| HDR |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
3005 |
| |
These
scores come as no surprise, considering the Geforce GT 330M has 48 shader cores.
The Samsung R480 is capable of handling modern, non-FPS oriented games at decent framerates.
 Futuremark 3DMark Vantage
1.0.1 |
Source: FutureMark |
|
3DMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX10
performance of your graphics card. We’ve been making 3DMark for over 10 years,
with each new edition using the latest 3D technology to determine real-world
performance.
| Futuremark 3DMark Vantage 1.0.1 |
| Performance Overall: (P) |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
2653 |
|
| GPU Score: |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
2193 |
|
| CPU score: |
Points |
Ranking |
| Samsung R480 |
7176 |
| |
We see similar results from the 3DMark Vantage
test report - the Geforce GT 330M is capable of modest gaming but if you expect
to run the latest FPS shooter on this notebook you'll be in for a big let
down.
Final Thoughts on Samsung's R480 Core i5 Notebook
It's easy to feel at home working on
the Samsung R480-i5-430 noteboosk. Samsung positions this 2.3kg laptop as a
general purpose computing device that could complement your desktop system, or in
a pinch replace it altogether.
The result is a notebook which offers a good balance of features, performance, functionality and price. The 14" LCD screen
and 1368x768 resolution is wide enough to accommodate a good work
flow, a 16:9 aspect movie or pretty much any web content. At the same time
it doesn't make the overall system chassis unreasonably large or heavy.
Samsung has been wise in pushing some
hardware aspects of the R480-i5-430 up into territory usually reserved
for 'premium' laptops. Most notably its included the Intel Core i5 430M processor and an
nVidia Geforce 330M GPUm. Coupled with 4GB of memory, this notebook competes well with
most standard desktops when it comes to running everyday productivity applications.
It's similarly impressive to have a 500GB hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 memory on
a notebook. Having the extra RAM lets you really take advantage of the Core i5
430M processor in content creation programs like Adobe Photoshop, and having a big
hard drive is always a plus for media files. While the 5400RPM Seagate Momentus
5400.6 notebook hard drive used in the R480-i5-430 isn't the world's fastest
storage device, it does manage a good balance between power consumption,
capacity and speed.
All of this extra hardware and attention to balance makes you feel like
you're not compromising when using the R480-i5-430. Compared to desktop PCs the
performance of notebooks has traditionally been second rate, with gimpy hardware
that made it difficult to do heavy duty tasks like content creation and even
worse made everyday tasks like web browsing and word processing feel laggy and
slow. Out of the box the R480-i5-430 feels as snappy and responsive as a modern
desktop machine.
Samsung includes some utility software with the R480-i5-430, and thankfully
doesn't overload it with bloatware. The necessary utilities are already
installed to manage battery life, manage display output and network connections.
You can ditch this software in favor of the utilities built into the Windows 7
Home Premium install, but for the most part Samsung's software is unobtrusive.
You'll also get a trial of Microsoft Office, as well as Cyberlink's DVD Suite
and YouCam software. The only really questionable software choice is the
pre-installed McAfee Virus scan, which should be ditched at the first possible
opportunity for the free Microsoft Security Essentials
instead.
Hits and
Misses
While Samsung had done a great job picking out the
hardware and software of the R480-i5-430, there are a few misses when it comes
to the R480-i5-430's physical design. At 5 lbs the R480-i5-430 isn't exactly a
lightweight, and at 1.5" it's a little chunky.
Samsung's "Touch of Colour" and "Crystal S Pattern" design both
look attractive at first glance, but the glossy coating on the chassis
shows every fingerprint laid on it. The glossy, reflective LCD screen can also
be a little difficult to use if you have a bright window or light behind you
while you're working.
The keyboard is quite close
in size to a full size desktop keyboard, which makes it easy to transition to typing
on the R480-i5-430.
Keys are
slightly re-arranged in order to make room for some laptop function keys. It would be
nice if the keyboard was a little more pitched towards the user, as the almost
completely flat pitch of the keys made typing slightly difficult at first.
One plus side of having a thicker chassis is that the extra space gives more
space for heat dissipation, so even if you're using the R480-i5-430 in your lap
for extended period of time you won't burn off your delicate parts. The laptop
is generally inaudible when in use, with only a faint fan noise audible under
heavy load.
Samsung
has chosen hardware that is capable of both good performance and long battery
life, and packaged it in a 14" notebook frame that looks good and
hold up well to everyday handling. The R480-i5-430 notebook has a robust feature set that keeps
pace with more expensive mobile computers even though it retails for around $1050 USD ($1100
CDN, £725 GBP).
Given what PCSTATS has seen while working with Samsung's R480-i5-430,
I think we can summarize by saying it's a worthy notebook in a field
populated with cheap me-too laptops. For students in particular, the
Samsung R480 is a great primary computer for work within the
limits its hardware, it's also good for semi-mobile tasks that travel
with you to and from work or school.
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Catch all of PCSTATS latest reviews right here.
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