The Eee PC 1015PN is one of the first 10 inch netbooks to feature next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics. While that means the mini-laptop should have no problem handling 1080p HD video playback and HD Flash video, you should keep in mind that there are now two different types of ION chips: Those designed for desktops and larger notebooks and those designed for 10 inch and smaller netbooks… like the Eee PC 1015PN.

Eee PC.it has run a set of benchmarks on the Eee PC 1015PN, and while the computer outperforms any netbook with integrated graphics on graphics-intensive tests, it’s not as powerful as a machine like the 12 inch Eee PC 1215N, which has a more powerful version of the NVIDIA ION chip. Basically, the Eee PC 1015PN graphics chip has 8 cores instead of the 16 cores found in the more powerful version.

This helps keep down the energy requirements and the heat output — and also probably helps keep the price for 10 inch ION-powered netbooks a bit lower than the price for larger systems.

That said, you can check out the video after the break to see how the Eee PC 1015PN handles HD video from a local hard drive, YouTube, and Vimeo. You can also see how the computer handles the Street Fighter IV benchmark. It looks like the game is borderline playable — if you use some of the lowest graphics settings, but you get much better results from a nettop like the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 with the more powerful ION graphics chip. In other words, the Eee PC 1015PN may have better 3D graphics than a typical netbook, but it’s not exactly the best choice for playing bleeding edge games.

The Asus Eee PC 1015PN features a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor, ION and GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of DDR3 memory, and a 260GB hard drive. It’s available for $429 from ExcaliberPC.

You can find more benchmark results at Eee PC.it, including the 3DMark, CrystalMark and PassMark scores.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,457 other subscribers

19 replies on “Asus Eee PC 1015PN 10 inch netbook with NVIDIA graphics benchmarked”

  1. Fyi, the 10″ Acer 521 gets a 3DMark06 score of 1481. Pretty comparable and a fair bit cheaper at 330 chickens. Unfortunately the version of the 521 in the UK (not sure what the EU has) still only has the V105 processor. I think my girlfriends dildo has more powerful number crunching. The 1015PN still looks like a better netbook but not sure if it’s a $100 better.

    Any thoughts?

    1. Acer Aspire 521 usually retails for about $349, and you’ll have to watch out they don’t stick you with a smaller battery or cut something else off for the $330 price.

      The advantage of the 1015PN is with the ION shut off the battery run time becomes pretty much the same as the regular 1015PEM and goes basically double what the Acer Aspire 521 can run.

      So you’ll have to add the cost of either a extended battery or a spare to the cost of the 521 and the difference in price becomes significantly less, especially with some extended batteries costing well over $100, though a basic spare would cost you much less.

      Both the N550 and ION should also be over clock-able for those wishing to push the limits and eck out a little more performance. While this is harder to do with ATI graphics, overdrive is locked off in the mobile versions.

      The downside though is they’re presenting only giving it Windows 7 Starter, which can’t use Optimus and thus in most cases the system will have to be rebooted to switch graphics.

      Also in single core processes, the AMD chip can do better than the N550, which mainly benefits from having a second core.

      Overall fairly balanced between them but Asus tends to have a better build quality than Acer and by all reports the 1015PN is one of the better build quality models from Asus.

    2. as am I the sad part about this netbook is that its really not much lighter than the 1215N. I like the 1215N but 6 hours quoted battery probably means 4 hours real use.

      1. yes, that is why i am waiting for a N550 version of that netbook, it should be more power efficient.

  3. The ion 1 was also compatible with 10 inch notebooks. Combine that with the absent optimus that could have contributed to energy efficiency, this specific nvidia offer is one big hoax if you ask me.

    1. The 1st ION replaced both the North and South bridges, there would have been no Intel GMA to switch to for Optimus and power usage would have been significantly greater.

      Never mind Intel made sure Nvidia didn’t have access to their DMI. So Nvidia had no choice but to use the limited PCIe that the limited NM10 South Bridge provides.

  4. A 3dmark06 of 1500? That is way too low for any decent 3d game.
    In fact that is about the same score as the ion 1.
    Where is the improvement? I don’t see it.

    1. That’s because this is the version with 8 cores. It’s really not very different from first generation ION at all — except that it’s designed to go in 10 inch and smaller netbooks.

      You should get 1.5 to 2x the performance out of the version of the ION chip designed for nettops and larger notebooks.

      1. “larger notebooks”

        That seems like an oxymoron to me, haha. I’d rather pay a little extra and get a CULV based ultraportable at those sizes. Note that I don’t game so I don’t know if these CULV based ultraportables have GPUs comparable to or better than ION.

        1. Most don’t but a few do, like the Asus UL30Vt or the newer version UL30Jt. Both are 13.3″ and Asus also offers larger versions.

          The UL30Vt uses SU7300 and Nvidia G210M…

          The UL30Jt uses Core i3-330UM and Nvidia G310M, which like the NG-ION is also based on the Nvidia GT218…

          A little extra though is $200-$300, while the Dell Alienware M11x ranges from $799 up to over $2200 depending on configuration.

          Though for gaming you really should go for a CULV or better, the netbook solutions are more media centers with limited entry level gaming capability. Though compared to regular netbooks they are significantly more powerful and for the price it’s not bad, as not everyone can necessarily afford the better systems or don’t necessarily need to do all that much on the go.

  5. People should really compare this system more to a regular netbook than the 1215N, which is more of a portable nettop than a netbook.

    But there has been some success in over clocking the NG-ION and the lower res screen may alleviate some of the PCI 1x bottleneck. So it may be possible to edge those benchmarks a little higher.

    But for some perspective check out the scores posted by Netbooknews.com…

    https://www.netbooknews.com/11534/asus-eee-pc-1015pn-benchmarked-handles-hd-media-gaming-performance-halved/

    With a regular netbook like the 1005PE scoring only about 157, the 8 Core ION still blows Intel GMA away with 10x the performance and still scores better than the AMD solutions.

    Now if they can only sell a version with 2GB of RAM and Home Premium to get Optimus working then it’ll become easier to recommend this model.

      1. The 1015PN is going for $429, not $500+… even the 1215N is going for less than $500. So no worry that it’ll go over $500 unless you upgrade the HDD to a SSD or plan to mod the hell out of it…

      1. Pretty much exactly like how it sounds. Just like saying laptop using a desktop CPU is basically a portable desktop. The 1215N uses the D525, which is a nettop ATOM CPU and not a chip originally intended for mobile use.

        So it doesn’t have the same constrictions that systems intended for mobile use have. Performance is thus almost the same as you would get with a nettop ION system.

        The N550 though is a dual core intended for mobile use and supports the same power saving features as other mobile processors.

        This tends to throttle performance a bit but you get better battery run times in exchange and less generated heat that could be more of a problem in a smaller 10″ system than it would be on larger systems.

Comments are closed.