Intel Atom or i5 CPU

[venom1988]

Dear all,
I am planning to buy an Eye Tribe tracker but, in order to correctly use it, I have to resolve a little doubt.
In the specifications of the system is written that Eye Tribe require i5 or i7 CPU, like Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (for example).
My question is: Can I use a Microsoft Surface 3 (with Intel Atom CPU) with Eye Tribe tracker? Or Must I use Surface Pro 3 with i5 or i7 CPU?

Thank you all
Gianluca

[Martin]

Hi Gianluca,

Haven't tried it so don't know for sure. We state Core i5/i7 to be on the safe side, we've tried with some low-end Atom laptops 2-3 years ago and it wasn't working that well (mainly USB3.0 issues).

On Surface Pro 3 with an Intel Core i5-4300U @ 2.5Ghz the current release (v0.9.56) consumes 4-7% while tracking. Since the processor frequency is dynamic on the Surface Pro 3 it throttles down to ~750Mhz and ~25% load (nothing but the tracker running).

Given that the Surface 3 has 1/3 performance it should translate to 12-21% CPU load on the Atom. Since it runs Windows 10, supports desktop apps and has USB3.0 I believe it should work ok.

[venom1988]

Hi Gianluca,

Haven't tried it so don't know for sure. We state Core i5/i7 to be on the safe side, we've tried with some low-end Atom laptops 2-3 years ago and it wasn't working that well (mainly USB3.0 issues).

On Surface Pro 3 with an Intel Core i5-4300U @ 2.5Ghz the current release (v0.9.56) consumes 4-7% while tracking. Since the processor frequency is dynamic on the Surface Pro 3 it throttles down to ~750Mhz and ~25% load (nothing but the tracker running).

Given that the Surface 3 has 1/3 performance it should translate to 12-21% CPU load on the Atom. Since it runs Windows 10, supports desktop apps and has USB3.0 I believe it should work ok.

Hi Martin,
So not all USB 3.0 are "Ok" for the Eye Tribe system? Need I to know some additional specifications for the USB?
Thank you

[Martin]

So not all USB 3.0 are "Ok" for the Eye Tribe system? Need I to know some additional specifications for the USB?

Short story:
Some early USB3.0 implementations were sub-par but have improved over time. With new systems we see very few issues.

Long story:
It is a common issue affecting all high-speed computer vision systems (like eye tracking). Older systems designed for Windows XP or Windows 7 (no native USB3.0) are particularly bad. Same goes for PCI-X add-in cards that uses the old controllers. Some vendors offer firmware/driver updates which sometimes helps. Other systems are limited by design, sharing power over several ports or use a single PCI lane which cannot sustain specified bandwidth. Most of the support request we see relates to these issues and affect approximately 5% of the install base. In some cases it's been resolved by update to Windows 8/10. We've developed a additional firmware functionality to be handle these issues with approximately 50% resolve rate. In addition, some controllers seems more sensitive to cable quality than others so using a shorter or high quality cable can help.

At the end of the day, if the system is less than two years old it will most often work fine. We've used Surface Pro 3 as our primary demo devices with great results.

[venom1988]

So not all USB 3.0 are "Ok" for the Eye Tribe system? Need I to know some additional specifications for the USB?

Short story:
Some early USB3.0 implementations were sub-par but have improved over time. With new systems we see very few issues.

Long story:
It is a common issue affecting all high-speed computer vision systems (like eye tracking). Older systems designed for Windows XP or Windows 7 (no native USB3.0) are particularly bad. Same goes for PCI-X add-in cards that uses the old controllers. Some vendors offer firmware/driver updates which sometimes helps. Other systems are limited by design, sharing power over several ports or use a single PCI lane which cannot sustain specified bandwidth. Most of the support request we see relates to these issues and affect approximately 5% of the install base. In some cases it's been resolved by update to Windows 8/10. We've developed a additional firmware functionality to be handle these issues with approximately 50% resolve rate. In addition, some controllers seems more sensitive to cable quality than others so using a shorter or high quality cable can help.

At the end of the day, if the system is less than two years old it will most often work fine. We've used Surface Pro 3 as our primary demo devices with great results.

Very interesting Martin,
So is very important know "how old" is a device!
Now I am planning to buy this Tablet Olipad W811, it has i5 CPU and USB 3.0 and it is "born" with Windows 8 Pro. It is cheaper than Surface Pro and I think it's a good device for using Eye Tribe that I bought today.
If you are interested you can read the specifications at the following link: http://www.olivetti.com/Tool/Product/Specs/view_html?idp=348&id_item=1600&t=2