The World of Embedded CPUs: A Review of the ACA Aspire Desktop
When it comes to building a new PC, many users are looking for an ITX motherboard that can provide a compact and efficient solution for their computing needs. One such example is the ACA Aspire desktop, which features a processor already included in the board - not just a pre-assembled CPU bundle, but actually a grid array CPU soldered onto the motherboard, making it non-removable. This technology is not new to laptops, where it has been used for years to reduce size and increase efficiency. In recent years, low-power desktop systems have also started to adopt this technology, resulting in quieter operation and lower electricity bills.
The ACA Aspire desktop itself was purchased by the author as a cheap option for office use. The Celeron J1900 quad-core CPU, which is the processor powering this system, is non-removable, meaning it cannot be easily replaced or upgraded without significant technical expertise. However, the author found that the CPU performed adequately for basic tasks, such as web browsing and word processing. With a price tag of about £130 (approximately €50 or $160), the ACA Aspire desktop was an affordable option for those looking to build a compact PC for general use.
Building a new ITX system featuring this board would likely be feasible at a similar cost, resulting in a small PC capable of running basic applications. Other CPU options available on the market offer similar performance at a slightly higher price point, so while the J1900 is not the most powerful processor, it is sufficient for most users' needs.
However, when it comes to gaming, things become more complicated. The Cinebench multicore score of 149 and Geekbench multi result of 3170 suggest that this CPU may struggle with demanding tasks like gaming. To test this hypothesis, the author ran several popular games at different resolutions and settings on a PC featuring the ACA Aspire desktop as its main component. At 720p, the J1900 processor managed to achieve around 45 frames per second in the game CS:GO, while dropping to 18 frames per second when resolution was increased or graphics settings were lowered.
In another popular game, Team Fortress 2, similar results were obtained - with an average of about 31 frames per second at 720p and 14 frames per second after a half-hour of gameplay. While this level of performance may be acceptable for some less demanding games, it is not sufficient for more action-packed titles like Overwatch. However, to the author's surprise, OverWatch was able to achieve around 25 frames per second with 720p resolution and all settings set to their lowest values, resulting in a frame rate that did not drop significantly even at higher resolutions.
In conclusion, while the ACA Aspire desktop is suitable for basic use like web browsing and word processing, its performance falls short when it comes to gaming. To achieve smoother gameplay, users would need to add a discrete graphics card, which could be a challenge given that this particular motherboard lacks an available PCI-E slot. Nonetheless, for those who prioritize power efficiency and compactness above raw performance, the ACA Aspire desktop may still be worth considering.
In the end, the author found the concept of embedded CPUs to be quite interesting. While these processors have their limitations, they also offer significant benefits in terms of size and energy consumption. By exploring different options and configurations, users can find a balance between performance and practicality that suits their needs.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everyone and welcome to another video now if you're looking for an ITX motherboard for a new PC build or you've been checking out the available budget offerings then chances are you've run into one of these motherboards that feature the processor already included not just included like already assembled CPU bundle but bu grid array CPUs that are actually soldered onto the motherboard and therefore non removable this isn't anything new when it comes to a lot of laptops and a few new low power desktop systems feature these as for office environments they are silent and will keep electricity bills down like this ACA Aspire here my old office desktop I bought it because it was cheap and it uses the Celeron j1900 quadcore CPU which is non- removable you can also buy the j1900 as part of other motherboards for about £60 or dollars but with a lot of these boards lacking a PCI Express slot and any upgrade path due to the solded CPU is it worth it well for office purposes and home use yes I used mine for a year or so before getting into PC gaming and it did just fine I paid about £130 for this ACA brand new about €50 or $160 and they're now discontinued if you wanted to build a new ITX system featuring one of these boards yourself you could probably do so for about the same price and you'd have a small system capable of B basic usage there are a few other CPU options available as well that are sold at to different boards probably all offering similar performance at this price range so we've established that these CPUs are good enough for their intended purpose but what about gaming I mean we've got to test gaming right so with a cinebench multicore score of 149 and a geekbench multi result of 3170 things may not be looking too promising but remember we're taking this thing way outside its comfort zone and on with our 4 GB of ddr3l RAM and onboard HD graphics it was time to get gaming first up at CS goo we'll start off with the presumably easier to run titles here at 720p the j1900 hit 45 frames per second turning the resolution up or these settings for that matter saw the game struggle a little more and with csgo being a fast-paced title it's always nice to aim for as many frames as possible our minimum frame rate did drop to 18 though throughout our match which was a little worrying and it led to my death on a few occasions the solder on CPU is off to a well start Team Fortress tunal again with 720p and the low settings the performance is lacking here with around 31 frames per second on average which although would be playable in some other games can prove to be a disadvantage online especially with the frame drops and occasional hiccup 14 was the minimum over half an hour of gameplay and you guys know I'm hardly the best gamer in the world so this loss in frames did prove quite a problem but remember this CPU is by no means designed for this so let's try OverWatch surprisingly and although this isn't really a playable result either the game achieved 25 frames per second on average with 720p and everything at minimum except the resolution scaling which we kept at 100% the minimum frame rate wasn't significantly less either at 20 and this ran a lot better than I was expecting finally can it run crisis well yes it can at low settings at 1024x 768 resolution and it does So at around 34 FPS turning things up and the game crashed even when we tried running it at 720p which shouldn't have been an issue regardless with 26 being the minimum frame rate it didn't stray too far from the line of playable so what about adding a discrete GPU well if you have a system with an embedded processor as well as a PCI e slot adding something like a GTX 750 for example may make a nice difference but the bottleneck would be a pretty big one unfortunately like most this ACA desktop doesn't have the appropriate slot to test so what's the point well if you want a desktop PC that is low on power quiet and small then a system that features a motherboard and embedded processor may just be what you're after as for a custom build the same applies but only if you are a very basic user if you want to game or do anything remotely intensive you'll find even the more expensive solded CPUs don't offer much more power and it's essentially like opting for a laptop within a PC case but for less money so guys there we have it I hope you've enjoyed this video um I thought the whole concept of embedded CPUs was quite interesting so as always I hope you've enjoyed this if you did leave a like if you didn't leave a dislike subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already and as always I hope to see you all in the next onehello everyone and welcome to another video now if you're looking for an ITX motherboard for a new PC build or you've been checking out the available budget offerings then chances are you've run into one of these motherboards that feature the processor already included not just included like already assembled CPU bundle but bu grid array CPUs that are actually soldered onto the motherboard and therefore non removable this isn't anything new when it comes to a lot of laptops and a few new low power desktop systems feature these as for office environments they are silent and will keep electricity bills down like this ACA Aspire here my old office desktop I bought it because it was cheap and it uses the Celeron j1900 quadcore CPU which is non- removable you can also buy the j1900 as part of other motherboards for about £60 or dollars but with a lot of these boards lacking a PCI Express slot and any upgrade path due to the solded CPU is it worth it well for office purposes and home use yes I used mine for a year or so before getting into PC gaming and it did just fine I paid about £130 for this ACA brand new about €50 or $160 and they're now discontinued if you wanted to build a new ITX system featuring one of these boards yourself you could probably do so for about the same price and you'd have a small system capable of B basic usage there are a few other CPU options available as well that are sold at to different boards probably all offering similar performance at this price range so we've established that these CPUs are good enough for their intended purpose but what about gaming I mean we've got to test gaming right so with a cinebench multicore score of 149 and a geekbench multi result of 3170 things may not be looking too promising but remember we're taking this thing way outside its comfort zone and on with our 4 GB of ddr3l RAM and onboard HD graphics it was time to get gaming first up at CS goo we'll start off with the presumably easier to run titles here at 720p the j1900 hit 45 frames per second turning the resolution up or these settings for that matter saw the game struggle a little more and with csgo being a fast-paced title it's always nice to aim for as many frames as possible our minimum frame rate did drop to 18 though throughout our match which was a little worrying and it led to my death on a few occasions the solder on CPU is off to a well start Team Fortress tunal again with 720p and the low settings the performance is lacking here with around 31 frames per second on average which although would be playable in some other games can prove to be a disadvantage online especially with the frame drops and occasional hiccup 14 was the minimum over half an hour of gameplay and you guys know I'm hardly the best gamer in the world so this loss in frames did prove quite a problem but remember this CPU is by no means designed for this so let's try OverWatch surprisingly and although this isn't really a playable result either the game achieved 25 frames per second on average with 720p and everything at minimum except the resolution scaling which we kept at 100% the minimum frame rate wasn't significantly less either at 20 and this ran a lot better than I was expecting finally can it run crisis well yes it can at low settings at 1024x 768 resolution and it does So at around 34 FPS turning things up and the game crashed even when we tried running it at 720p which shouldn't have been an issue regardless with 26 being the minimum frame rate it didn't stray too far from the line of playable so what about adding a discrete GPU well if you have a system with an embedded processor as well as a PCI e slot adding something like a GTX 750 for example may make a nice difference but the bottleneck would be a pretty big one unfortunately like most this ACA desktop doesn't have the appropriate slot to test so what's the point well if you want a desktop PC that is low on power quiet and small then a system that features a motherboard and embedded processor may just be what you're after as for a custom build the same applies but only if you are a very basic user if you want to game or do anything remotely intensive you'll find even the more expensive solded CPUs don't offer much more power and it's essentially like opting for a laptop within a PC case but for less money so guys there we have it I hope you've enjoyed this video um I thought the whole concept of embedded CPUs was quite interesting so as always I hope you've enjoyed this if you did leave a like if you didn't leave a dislike subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already and as always I hope to see you all in the next one\n"
