ARM Cortex-A15 vs. NVIDIA Tegra 3 vs. Intel x86

[Raven3x7]

I don't think we'll really see a dual core 2.5 Ghz A15 in the market, especially in phones. It's not really possible to do that at 28nm, and by the time you go with 20nm, it's already time to switch to Cortex A57, so you're better off using that. I think we'll even see dual core 3 Ghz Cortex A57 in 2015 or so, at 14nm. 3 Ghz ARM processors should be possible at 14nm, while maintaining the same low power level.

Actually Nvidia is planning 3GHz desktop parts for 20nm with Project Denver. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Denver I wouldn't be surprised if more ARM partners tried their hand at desktop/server AA64 parts(AMD has already announced they'll be working on ARM Opteron parts).

[artivision]

I don't think we'll really see a dual core 2.5 Ghz A15 in the market, especially in phones. It's not really possible to do that at 28nm, and by the time you go with 20nm, it's already time to switch to Cortex A57, so you're better off using that. I think we'll even see dual core 3 Ghz Cortex A57 in 2015 or so, at 14nm. 3 Ghz ARM processors should be possible at 14nm, while maintaining the same low power level.

28nm LP extra, can give a 2.5Ghz dual core ARM A15 @2.5ghz. And even a quad core (2*A15 + 2*A7 @2.5Ghz), in a smartphone.

[artivision]

This is really interesting. I wonder how the Apple A6 would do since it's after all the most powerfull ARM soc today. But I guess that would be difficult to test unless PTS is ported to iOS.

If I remember correctly the Exynos 5 has a TDP of 4 W compared to the Atom D525's 13 Watt, and yet the Exynos 5 is mostly faster. And again, it's not even the fastest ARM soc available. This is after Intel has spent several years developing the atom. I can't help to think that perhaps the x86 is too complex to ever be really power efficient.

It's only 2.5Wp.

[Krysto]

Very good test!

I prefer dual core 2.5Ghz A15 to quad core 1.6Ghz A15.

I don't think we'll really see a dual core 2.5 Ghz A15 in the market, especially in phones. It's not really possible to do that at 28nm, and by the time you go with 20nm, it's already time to switch to Cortex A57, so you're better off using that. I think we'll even see dual core 3 Ghz Cortex A57 in 2015 or so, at 14nm. 3 Ghz ARM processors should be possible at 14nm, while maintaining the same low power level.

[Tempestglen]

Very good test!

I prefer dual core 2.5Ghz A15 to quad core 1.6Ghz A15.

[uid313]

Exynos 5 is beast

Wow, Samsung Exynos 5 is beast!

[Krysto]

I believe most of the support for Cortex A15 is going to arrive in Ubuntu 13.04, so it can probably do significantly better with Ubuntu 13.04 in benchmarks. I hope you'll do another series of benchmarks then, either with this or with whatever quad core A15 is in the market by then. I suspect the next ARM Chromebook will have that, too.

[schmidtbag]

Michael, to test the PPW, try using a CLI tool like dpms or xset to turn off the displays and calculate the power difference. I know there are other pieces of hardware like the motherboard that will increase wattage but overall that might be a 5W difference, which you can just inform readers.

Anyways, so much for Otellini's dismissive behavior of ARM. I knew his attitude was naiive.

[nej_simon]

This is really interesting. I wonder how the Apple A6 would do since it's after all the most powerfull ARM soc today. But I guess that would be difficult to test unless PTS is ported to iOS.

If I remember correctly the Exynos 5 has a TDP of 4 W compared to the Atom D525's 13 Watt, and yet the Exynos 5 is mostly faster. And again, it's not even the fastest ARM soc available. This is after Intel has spent several years developing the atom. I can't help to think that perhaps the x86 is too complex to ever be really power efficient.

[Michael]

A suggestion: I know that you need some clicks to make enough funds to keep up your very good work (and I am grateful), but I really think you need to expand your reviews to be more through like Anandtech. One have to read a lot of your articles to grasp the idea of what is going on "in a single matter". In that case your site will be more worthy of citations! This way it is more of a go to phoronix and try to find the thing that you are looking for. Which most people won't.

That simply won't happen. Aside from needing the extra clicks due to ads to keep going, AnAndTech also has a much larger staff where they can devote more time to each article... Meanwhile, I single-handedly bang out every article on Phoronix.