Qualcomm Announces 64-bit Snapdragon Processors

[widardd]

The GPU is not used to decode videos. There is a separate vidc thing for that. I've some notes about how it works on current devices:

https://github.com/freedreno/freedreno/wiki/Video-Acceleration

No idea if it is the same on your device.. which if it has an adreno 203 is I guess fairly old.

Actually my device entered the market dec 2013 (htc desire 500).

What is a "vidc thing"? I'd like to know if a can stop testing software to get 720p working, and this is a hardware limitation.
But that would surprise me seeing ugly, old Mali-400 chips being able to play 1080p.

[droidhacker]

Not that I have a problem with 64 bit ARM, but what exactly is the point for non-server purposes? The highest RAM content I've seen on a non-server ARM system was 2GB. Considering the simplicity of the architecture, I doubt there's going to be a significant performance improvement switching to 64 bit. I'd much rather see more plug'n'play features.

The point is to unify the ARM platform under 64 bits NOW, and BEFORE it becomes essential.
Also, the utility of 64 bit computing is not restricted to the server market. Many different kinds of workloads benefit from 64 bit, whether it is for memory addressing or otherwise.
Now just think about the capabilities of current ARM hardware, like phones and tablets... they aren't nearly as limited-use as they used to be. You now have hdmi outputs, and the option of plugging in USB peripherals. The only thing really in the way of them becoming complete replacements for things like desktops and laptops, is the software that is available to run on them, which is partly restricted by the operating systems available for them.

The limitations are falling away. Android now has the capability of PRINTING. Its a little bit clumsy at the moment, since the only way to interface it with a CUPS server is with a 3rd party plug-in, but it is getting better. Once you have that, a document editor, and a web browser, it can handle 99.999% of use-cases, which makes it quite practical as a replacement for laptop/desktop computers.

As far as a document editor goes.... https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...andropenoffice
Now I'm really not happy with that specific example, because the "author" basically just threw a bunch of open source libraries together with a little bit of android-glue, and is not offering source... but you can see that it is getting to the point where the common use-cases for real computer hardware is being very well fulfilled by portables.

And that, of course, means that the ARM platform is about to gain a much greater demand by people looking for PRODUCTIVITY.


Now there is one other reason for 64 bit; apple.
Apple really didn't have any legitimate reason for it. They did it because "OMG 64bitz!!!! WOOCOOL!!!!!".
And so it just has to be done for the sake of competition.

[droidhacker]

So just an ARM core repackaged by Qualcomm? Not like krait then?

Lately, qualcomm has been using a lot of actual ARM cores on their chips. Up to now, they have been limited to low-end chips though.
Thought krait was very nice, the main selling point for the snapdragon chips has and will continue to be the adreno GPUs.

[schmidtbag]

Not that I have a problem with 64 bit ARM, but what exactly is the point for non-server purposes? The highest RAM content I've seen on a non-server ARM system was 2GB. Considering the simplicity of the architecture, I doubt there's going to be a significant performance improvement switching to 64 bit. I'd much rather see more plug'n'play features.

[robclark]

Quite off-topic, but could anyone help me on this?

How exactly are drivers and gpu acceleration working in android? My device does have an Adreno 203, but there is _no_ application available that is capable to utilize this gpu to decode videos. Not even xbmc gotham.

My testfiles are the common h.264+DTS inside mkv (720 and 1080p).

Thanks in advance

The GPU is not used to decode videos. There is a separate vidc thing for that. I've some notes about how it works on current devices:

https://github.com/freedreno/freedreno/wiki/Video-Acceleration

No idea if it is the same on your device.. which if it has an adreno 203 is I guess fairly old.

[Ferdinand]

So just an ARM core repackaged by Qualcomm? Not like krait then?

[widardd]

Quite off-topic, but could anyone help me on this?

How exactly are drivers and gpu acceleration working in android? My device does have an Adreno 203, but there is _no_ application available that is capable to utilize this gpu to decode videos. Not even xbmc gotham.

My testfiles are the common h.264+DTS inside mkv (720 and 1080p).

Thanks in advance

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Qualcomm Announces 64-bit Snapdragon Processors

Qualcomm announced this morning their next-generation 64-bit processors for what they hope yields "the ultimate connected mobile computing experiences" with a ton of new features and capabilities...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTY1Nzg