It's important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because it allows us to test the 3D performance. FRAPS and in-house benchmarking tools were used to capture average FPS.
NOTE: When playing demanding 3D games we recommend utilising a more aggressive fan profile to prevent overheating and hence CPU throttling.
Yet again, we have to say that for an APU a 20fps average is impressive, but doesn't really tell the whole story. At no point was the MC101-A10 able to push the 30FPS barrier, only reaching a maximum of 28FPS over the course of a run. Rather than replicate a similar test with another game, we thought it more useful to analyse the performance at lower resolutions and quality levels.
At the lesser resolution of 720p (1280x720) 8xAA, 8xAF - with High Detail presets - the MC101-A10 was able to attain a playable 23.8 FPS. Further tweaking of image quality settings down to 4xAA and 2xAF, but retaining High detail settings, sees a relatively smooth 27.8 FPS. We're confident with some tinkering Skyrim would be playable at up to 1680*1050 with Medium-High detail settings and a touch of Anti-Aliasing.
Games which stress graphics capability to a lesser degree, including DiRT3 and World of Warcraft, should also benefit commensurately. Whilst we're not recommending the MC101-A10 for gaming at 1080p, turning down particularly demanding features such as Shadow rendering in modern game software makes this HTPC a surprisingly versatile device for gaming.
