NVIDIA Tegra K1 Compared To AMD AM1 APUs

[tuke81]

How many games does steam have that have an ARM version?

Zero I think, but it could be used as streamingbox in living room. That would need a steam-on-linux to support arm itself though.

[deppman]

Zero I think, but it could be used as streamingbox in living room. That would need a steam-on-linux to support arm itself though.

Yes, 0. But that could change. With unreal engine on android arm (as well as a number of other engines), recompiling could be a comparatively small investment that could pay off big. A number of free games compile quite well - the tool chain is there including OGL 4.4. So Nvidia has built it; will they come?

Also, remember this is a Dev board, so it will stay Linux. But a commercial variant might not be so flexible. SteamOS seems like the best choice, but nvidia have definitely shown excellent android support and even (shudder) windows rt. They might even hedge their bets and release multiple flavors, or maybe all 3 (although I think that unlikely). Obviously this is all speculation, except for the commercial variant part. There I got a pretty good tip . And the implication was that a Linux variant would ship.

I do think they've done a bang up job with Ubuntu, and would definitely prefer that for a consumer box. But SteamOS certainly has buzz in the right community.

[jacobgood1]

need gpu benchmarks...

I am dying to see the opengl/cl/cuda benchmarks!

[Adarion]

Yes, 0. But that could change. With unreal engine on android arm (as well as a number of other engines), recompiling could be a comparatively small investment

I think this is a bit too optimistic. It will be more than just recompiling.
Also I looked at the pictures: That thing does have a fan? Wow. Okay, yes, rel. high clock, 4 cores or something, but somehow ARM chips were always "passive" to me.

And working I/O is of course nice (but also expected), but I was referring to the sheer number of it. E.g. SATA ports and so on.

But good to see that e.g. LibO works there, my last experience with ARM was a beagleboard base AI Touchbook which had Open Office 2 extra ported but that was never really updated software wise.

Also gaming: Well, there are games for this Pandora which is iirc. also some beagle...something board based thingy, but "big" games will probably require good GPU drivers and ask for a lot of GPU and CPU power as well as hard disk / SDD space. Currently ARM isn't grown so far.


On the other SW / drivers:
> Oracle Java
OMG! You poor soul.
Drivers in the kernel are quite expected to work. Though I admit some things can't be chosen in config on amd64 because they only make sense on x86 (UMC cpus, ISA cards and stuff). Still, 90% should just work. Hplip is userspace so nice to see it was ported. What GPU driver is in use for that board?

[deppman]

[QUOTE=Adarion;415709]I think this is a bit too optimistic. It will be more than just recompiling ...[QUOTE]

Remember I am referring to a commercial variant that would have the requisite I/O. Let me ask you this:

If NVidia and Steam were to partner to provide a $150-$200 box to the living room that plays the top Steam titles (with "more growing all the time"), do you think this would be a compelling alternative to Xbone/PS4? I don't know the answer. What if Steam subsidized the cost and got it down to $99?

Also gaming: Well, there are games for this Pandora which is iirc. also some beagle...something board based thingy, but "big" games will probably require good GPU drivers and ask for a lot of GPU and CPU power as well as hard disk / SDD space. Currently ARM isn't grown so far.

My initial impression is that the performance is comparable to Intel HD4400 graphics as found in my i7 laptop. This I think is one of the most popular graphic drivers per Steams hardware survey. So Steam at 720p or even 1080p for some games would seem likely. Also, IIRC this chip can be clocked up to 3GHz, so with some work, performance could even be better since we don't need to worry about using say, 10w on a set-top box.

What GPU driver is in use for that board?

It's an NVidia 310.x custom beta driver. Hopefully it will get aligned with the other x86 architectures. It freezes or restarts occasionally. I guess that's why the call it "Beta". But performance, again, is quite nice.

[deppman]

More reasons for Optimism

I think this is a bit too optimistic...

A couple of reasons to be optimistic.

1. K1 beats HD4400 graphics. Probably beats HD5500 graphics too if allowed to reach 10W.
2. Steam's source engine has been ported to Android ARM Linux. It works well on a Tegra 4. Expect it to work really well on a K1.

[kwahoo]

2. Steam's source engine has been ported to Android ARM Linux. It works well on a Tegra 4. Expect it to work really well on a K1.

More: Serious Sam 3 works on medium details on K1, Trine 2 works on K1.

[Ferdinand]

A couple of reasons to be optimistic.

1. K1 beats HD4400 graphics. Probably beats HD5500 graphics too if allowed to reach 10W.
2. Steam's source engine has been ported to Android ARM Linux. It works well on a Tegra 4. Expect it to work really well on a K1.

Nice! I hope Steam will become almost cpu architecture independent.

If NVidia and Steam were to partner to provide a $150-$200 box to the living room that plays the top Steam titles (with "more growing all the time"), do you think this would be a compelling alternative to Xbone/PS4? I don't know the answer. What if Steam subsidized the cost and got it down to $99?

Why would a K1 box cost more than $99? You don't need a battery, screen, speakers, touch, LTE etc. Which I thought were the main things that make a smartphone expensive.

[fteoOpty64]

A couple of reasons to be optimistic.

1. K1 beats HD4400 graphics. Probably beats HD5500 graphics too if allowed to reach 10W.
2. Steam's source engine has been ported to Android ARM Linux. It works well on a Tegra 4. Expect it to work really well on a K1.

Great point!.

NV could make a K1 mini console with this K1 soc priced at probably $129, again optional wireless controller for $39 each. Almost like Fire TV prices but more gaming focussed. It needs a SATA port for SSD or HDD. A couple of mSata ports would be great!. If a K1 rev2 with 384 cuda cores comes into the picture, that could pull $199 pricing.

[deppman]

A couple of reasons to be optimistic.

1. K1 beats HD4400 graphics. Probably beats HD5500 graphics too if allowed to reach 10W.
2. Steam's source engine has been ported to Android ARM Linux. It works well on a Tegra 4. Expect it to work really well on a K1.

And now more good news. Looks like that Source engine is going to be used to run Half Life 2 on Android. How long before the entire Source library makes the jump? Portal 2 would be awesome!

I am almost convinced that the commercial device will be a steam box. It plays into NVs strengths so well. Also, I expect NV to become the "Apple of Android." They already provide the best Android support outside of Google (or better, in some respects). The also have experience in the entire supply chain - from designing chips to supplier relationships. Therefore, I expect more NV devices like the Tegra Note and Shield. And the brand name has a lot of power associated with "top-notch graphics and gaming".

Oh, FYI, the dev board does have a SATA connector.