Performance
Performance benchmarks are a touchy subject. Should a reviewer bench a product as it comes from the factory, or should a system be optimized first? Unfortunately, we didn't have much choice with the VX3. Several of the benchmarking applications we use for testing just don't work right with Vista x64, forcing us to perform a fresh 32-bit Vista SP1 install on the VX3. To this install, we added all the current Windows updates and Nvidia's ForceWare 177.92 graphics drivers (using a modified .INF). 32-bit Vista won't make the most of the VX3's 4GB of memory, but given our selection of test applications, that shouldn't have a major impact on performance.

We'll kick things off with MobileMark 2007, which tests battery life and real-life application performance (Acrobat Reader 7.0, Illustrator CS2, Photoshop CS2, QuickTime 7.1, WinDVD 8, Flash 8, Office 2003 Pro, Project 2003, WinZip 10.0). MobileMark runs a batch routine that automatically closes and disables features for you so that every PC tested with the suite will be on an even playing field. The wireless reader test was omitted because it uses a version of Acrobat Reader that does not play well with Windows Vista.

The difference in run time between the VX3's two battery options is much larger than one might expect in the DVD playback test, where the 3-cell unit barely lasts an hour but the 9-cell keeps running for more than three-and-a-half hours. The 3-cell battery didn't last long enough to complete MobileMark's productivity test, which is a little odd considering that we squeezed just over four hours of battery life from the 9-cell in that test.

WorldBench is up next, probing system performance with a full suite of application tests.

We don't have a comparative reference here, but the VX3 generates an overall WorldBench score of 103. That's similar to what we've seen from a full-sized desktop system running a Core 2 Duo E7200 processor and a GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card, which isn't too shabby at all.

Next up we have a collection of 3D performance and gaming tests, starting with 3Dmark06. We've ran these tests with the VX3 plugged into a wall socket and also on battery power to illustrate the performance impact of clock throttling with the latter.

As you can see, switching to battery power takes a big chunk out of the VX3's 3DMark score.

We'll finish things off with a couple of real games: Call of Duty 4 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Call of Duty automatically set a display resolution of 1024x768 with most in-game effects turned on. We also ran our custom timedemo with a lower detail setting, disabling all of the extra in-game effects and dropping the texture quality to low. Quake Wars automatically set an 800x600 display resolution with high in-game detail levels. That title was also tested with low in-game graphics settings. You can find screenshots detailing our in-game detail level settings in the image gallery associated with this review.

The VX3 was able to run Call of Duty 4 at reasonable frame rates, but only with much lower detail levels than what the game set automatically. Quake Wars is a little less demanding, and there isn't as big of a gap between performance with the detail levels we used for testing. However, in both games, frame rates are well below a playable threshold when running on battery power.

While battery-powered gaming doesn't look like much of an option for the VX3, it's possible to disable the power-saving features that sap the system's performance when it's unplugged from a wall socket. With those options disabled, I was able to play Quake Wars for almost 170 minutes before the VX3 shut down. Nearly three hours of gaming in an airport waiting for a late flight sounds better than reading the newspaper.

During testing, the VX3 did a great job of managing heat. Even after gaming on battery power for almost three hours, the VX3 was still a comfortable temperature for lap-top use. These days, that is rather uncommon. While plugged-in and running a combination of the rthdribl HDR lighting demo and Prime95 for two hours, the maximum temperature we recorded on the VX3 was 118°F (48°C), measured on the bottom of the system near the left-side vent where hot air is expelled. Despite moving a lot of air, the fan is barely audible; you would need to be in an absolutely silent room for the fan to become a distraction.