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The ACEMAGIC S1 is a small desktop computer with a few unusual features including a small display on the front of the case that can display system information including CPU power consumption and temperature, fan speed, or memory usage. There’s also an RGB light strip on the front of the case for some reason.
When the ACEMAGIC S1 first launched last fall, it was powered by an Intel Processor N95 chip. But shortly after launch the company added an Intel Processor N97 option. And now you can also pick up a model with an Intel N100 chip. So what’s the difference between those processors?
In some ways… not much. They’re all 4-core, 4-thread processors based on Intel’s Alder Lake-N architecture, which means they have the same Efficiency cores as other 12th-gen chips based on Intel’s Alder Lake-U architecture, but lack any Performance processors.
But the Intel N100 processor is a more energy-efficient chip with a 6 watt processor base power, while the N97 chip is a 12 watt processor and the N95 is a 15-watt chip.
In synthetic benchmark tests, the Intel N100 tends to come out a few percentage points ahead of the others in most CPU performance tests. But things get more complicated if you look at graphics performance.
That’s because all four chips feature Intel UHD integrated graphics, but the Intel N95 and N97 graphics processors support speeds up to 1.2 GHz, while the Intel N100 tops out at 750 MHz. But things are a little more complicated because the N97 and N100 have 24 GPU execution units, while the N95 has just 16.
Long story short? The Intel N100 is the best of the three when it comes to CPU performance… but the worst when it comes to graphics. The N97 is probably your best bet for graphics, but keep in mind that none of these processors is really designed for gaming. They’re low-cost, low-power chips designed for inexpensive computers.
Fortunately, the ACEMAGIC S1 fits the bill. Prices at Amazon start below $200 for models with Intel N95 processors, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Versions with N97 chips don’t cost much more. And the new N100 variant is available from the ACEMAGIC website for $299.
An identical computer called the Chatreey S1 is available from AliExpress for even less, with prices starting as low as $169 for an Intel N95/8GB/128GB configuration or $173 for an N100/8GB/128GB version and topping out at $241 for a model with an N100 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
Aside from the low-power processor, the ACEMAGIC and Chatreey S1 feature two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two HDMI ports, four USB ports (two USB 3.0 Type-A and two USB 2.0 Type-A), support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, a fan for active cooling, and easy upgrades thanks to a magnetic side panel that can be removed to access the computer’s single DDR4 SODIMM slot and dual M.2 2280 slots.
via AndroidPC.es