Report: ARM Processors to Reach 3 GHz by 2014

By Tarun Iyer
published

According to Phys.org, GlobalFoundries and TSMC plan to release ARM processors capable of running at 3 GHz “sometime next year.”

ARM manufacturers GlobalFoundries and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have revealed that they plan to release ARM processors capable of running at 3 GHz “sometime next year.” These new processors will utilize a new 20 nm manufacturing process that claims to offer better power efficiency and result in less battery drain for users.

Phys.org has speculated that the launch of more capable ARM processors may help to “stave off the recent incursion” of Intel’s Bay Trail processors that appear to be approximately 30 percent faster according to recent testing. The site also noted that AMD is currently developing an “ARM competitor” that is expected to be introduced next year.

Tarun Iyer
Topics
Processors
12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Giovanni-L
    Its the gigahertz war all over again, as it seems. My S. G. Note 2 is plenty fast as it is. I'm very satisfied by it. The money spent on it proved to be the right choice.
    Reply
  • 06yfz450ridr
    now we need bigger batteries and a heatsink attached to it haha
    Reply
  • processordesignman849238
    and as frequency goes up, power consumption goes much even faster... this move by arm will be to intel's advantage. people forget they're both competing with the same laws of physics, only with different R&D budgets and different manufacturing technologies (with intel's being vastly superior in cost/yield, volume, performance, and now(or very soon) power efficiency. ARM's one advantage is better power efficiency (because the chip simply doesn't do as much), so for simple devices it shines. as arm chips get more complex, and faster, intel's already optimized architectural virtues begin to shine, with a 22nm (this year) and 14nm (next year) process technology as ice cream on the cake.

    Can't wait till valleyview gets here this holiday season! Valleyview is more like a Core than an Atom processor. quad core x86 valleyview tablet will mark the beginning of the shift to true hybrid devices... and I actually might replace my laptop and tablet with a single device.
    Reply
  • Kamab
    ARM doesn't manufacture chips, they license IP.

    You don't get high efficiency by "not doing much". It's measured by stuff like dMIPS/watt and MIPS/watt. ARM processor performance is still going up at a faster rate than intel, while decreasing in power. Creating processors that are capable of 3GHz doesn't hurt ARM at all, and is probably more akin to Intel's turbo boost technology than anything else (higher max performance, but not the typical operating speed or most efficient speed)
    Reply
  • the1kingbob
    Higher TDP results in higher heat, not frequencies. ARM has been increasing frequency without creating large amounts of leakage every generation. Once they start bumping frequency while consuming exponentially more energy, we will have a frequency war. Some of the ARMs clock nearly 2.5Ghz if I remember correctly, so not to surprising news here.
    Reply
  • thasan1
    im guessing these 3Ghz CPU's are gonna be single core processor, as i've heard somewhere a single core 3Ghz chip will consume alot less power than a quad or even a dual core 3Ghz chip.
    Reply
  • yhikum
    ARM is hardly a competitor for Intel. Are they both aiming to be same devices, even on mobile platform? Isn't it a question of software that runs on both systems? The versatility of ARM is topic hardly answered by Intel in terms of infrastructure. Nor Intel is able to provide different options for system-on-chip platforms. Moreover, Intel domination is limited only by x86 instruction set platform, in which AMD suffers too its own share.

    Is ARM going to expand its offerings into PC market? Stepping into high performance market it would certainly mean so. The limitations which Intel guards closely for x86 instruction set will not be able to hinder ARM in the same way. ARM is totally new chip, being cheap and having Android/Linux platform as backing.
    Same ARM platforms are currently being integrated in various Asian make TVs, which come with equal or higher performing graphics chips than found in tablets! In case of TV, which can be converted to a monitor it would mean that a whole computer can be integrated in same case. Further, it would mean ready to use Android/Linux platform similar to PC.

    Intel does not step out of its boundaries which are strictly defined by x86 instruction set: PC and server hardware. ARM does not have limitations like this. Moreover, ARM is not company that manufactures chips, however is a patent company that sells architecture information to various chip companies such as Atmel or Samsung. Which in turn make ARM chips not only for industrial use, but for hobby use as well! Hence popularity of ARM chips among younger generation of programmers! Beat that Intel!
    Reply
  • NightLight
    imho amd didn't even get a low tdp desktop processor running at decent clock speed, i hope they do a better job in the mobile world!
    Reply
  • sonofliberty08
    the time ARM get into PC world are near, they already in the server, and some minipc box, wonder how will it be if we can customize our ARM base desktop......
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    While it's nice for bragging, I believe the solution isn't to throw more hardware at the issue - rather, we need to optimize the software we have currently. I'm speaking primarily to Android but iOS and BlackBerry 10 also needs some attention in the efficiency arena.
    Reply