Bundled Software and Performance

Our system shipped running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, the standard operating system found on most desktops and notebooks today. As a manufactured PC, the system does come with some pre-installed software that you'll probably want to scrap.

The add/remove programs list reveals the following additions: Google Chrome Toolbar, Lenovo Screensaver, a trial version of McAfee AntiVirus Plus, Microsoft Office 2010 (including Starter) and ThemeWallpaper. Unlike other systems I have recently worked with that include antivirus offerings, Lenovo has bundled McAfee on the system. Most recent systems simply include installation files for the trial version of said software and leave it up to the end users to decide if they want to install it.

In addition to the programs mentioned above, Lenovo also includes some of their own branded software on the K330. Lenovo Vantage Technology is a toolbar that docks at the top of your desktop. Under the Application Experience Center tab are four programs: Eye Distance System, Dynamic Brightness System, Power Dial and Power2Go.

Eye Distance System can automatically detect the distance between you and the display and it will alert you when you're sitting too close. You can also set viewing distance as well as the time interval beyond which some warning will pop up. Dynamic Brightness System can automatically detect the ambient brightness around and will adjust display brightness accordingly. You can set the screen brightness in different environments to a comfortable level. When you are away, the software can automatically turn off your display. Both of these programs require a compatible Lenovo monitor so I wasn't able to test them.

Power Dial works in conjunction with the performance switch found on the front bezel of the system, serving as an on-screen visual representation of the currently selected mode.

The last piece of software under the Application tab is Power2Go, an optical disc burning suite by CyberLink that lets you create audio, video or data discs as well as rip music and convert audio types.

The second tab is called System Maintenance Center and features two submenus: OneKey Recovery and Driver & Application Installation. OneKey Recovery restores your computer to the system default or to a previously backed up state. I'm not sure why Lenovo included a link to it here as it actually doesn't do anything in Windows and it's not something your average user would need "one key" away. When you select this option, it simply prompts you to press F2 during system boot to activate OneKey Recovery.

In the event that you use OneKey Recovery, the Drive & Application Installation function provides a way to conveniently reinstall all of the Lenovo applications and drivers that were shipped with the computer. There are automatic and manual installation procedures to choose from when running this program.

Below we've included some reference benchmark results from the several tests we ran on the K330 to give you an idea of how its processor, graphics card, and hard drive perform under load. The system was tested in Turbo (performance) mode.

Lenovo IdeaCentre K330 System Specs
  • Intel Core i7-2600 (3.4GHz - 3.8GHz, quad-core)
  • 12GB Samsung DDR3-1333 RAM
  • OEM microATX motherboard
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 460
  • 2TB Hitachi 7200 RPM hard drive
  • Blu-ray /DVD Combo
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Maingear Titan 17 System Specs
  • 17.3" LED display at 1920 x 1080
  • Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition (3.46GHz - 3.73GHz, 6-cores)
  • 6GB Kingston DDR3-1333 RAM
  • 2 x Nvidia GeForce GTX 485M
  • 120GB Intel 510 solid state drive
  • 750GB Western Digital 7200 RPM hard drive
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Maingear F131 System Specs
  • Intel Core i5 655K (4.5GHz overclock, quad-core)
  • 4GB Crucial DDR3-1333
  • Asus P7P55D-E Pro motherboard
  • 2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 in SLI (1536MB GDDR5 Total)
  • 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 7200RPM
  • SilverStone Strider Plus 750W modular power supply
  • 24x dual layer DVD RW drive /li>
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Synthetic Tests IdeaCentre K330 Titan 17 Maingear F131
       
3DMark 06      
3DMark Score 21840 3DMarks 23543 3DMarks 23592 3DMarks
       
PCMark Vantage      
PCMark Suite 10904 PCMarks 19195 PCMarks 10353 PCMarks
       
Application Tests IdeaCentre K330 Titan 17 Maingear F131
       
iTunes Encoding Test 01 min 2 sec 01 min 7 sec 01 min 00 sec
       
File Transfer Test      
Small files 1 min 4 sec 24 sec 56 sec
Large file 38 sec 22 sec 55 sec
       

The iTunes encoding tests consist of converting 14 MP3s (119MB) to 128Kbps ACC files and measuring the operation's duration in seconds. For the file transfer test, we measure how long it takes to copy two sets of files from one location to another on the same hard drive. On the small files test we transfer 557 MP3s, totaling 2.56GB. For the large file, these same MP3s were zipped into a single file measuring 2.52GB.

Gaming Performance IdeaCentre K330 Titan 17 Maingear F131
       
Far Cry 2      
1920 x 1080, High Quality 58.9 fps 156.4 fps 88.9 fps
       
StarCraft 2      
1920 x 1080, High Quality 60.8 fps 59.9 fps --
       
Crysis      
1920x1080, Very High 16x AA 19.8 fps 37.6 fps 38.5 fps
       
Mafia 2      
1920x1080 Max Quality, 8x AA 56.7 fps 101.0 fps 64.0 fps
       
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