Qualcomm Details Next Gen Snapdragon S4 CPU

The Snapdragon S4 processor will arrive as a 28 nm chip that will integrate two Krait CPUs in its first version (MSM8960). Krait will leverage the ARMv7 instruction set, will be compatible with ARM's Cortex-A9 chip, but deliver more performance per CPU cycle, Qualcomm said. Thanks to a new pipeline architecture, Krait will exceed Scorpion's performance by more than 60 percent, the manufacturer promises. An interesting note is that Qualcomm expects the S4 series to "hold peak performance" longer than other processors under a constant workload due to the "efficient use of power" and less power lost to leakage.

Additionally, Qualcomm claims that the S4 series will reduce its power consumption 25 to 40 percent as a result of an asynchronous multi-processor system that can run the two cores at two different voltages. In standby, one core can be entirely "collapsed" and causing that unit to consume zero power.

S4 will also included an upgraded Adreno graphics unit, which has its origins in AMD's Imageon series of graphics processors. The new 225 GPU promises 50 percent more graphics performance when compared to the current 200 - and twice the memory bandwidth of its predecessor. Adreno 225 will support OpenGL ES 1.1, ES 2.0 and DX9.3.

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drapacioli

The mobile processor market is definitely heating up. Before long our smartphones will be as powerful as our low-end laptops. AMD and Intel need to start developing like this again, it'll make for even greater enhancements and increases in performance.
darkchazz

qualcomm's chips have always sucked.
nvidia and samsung will have better offers , as always...
danwat1234

X86 FTW
amk-aka-Phantom

danwat1234X86 FTW

Agreed, but not for mobile.

I wanna see this in SGS 3, unless something better comes out!
amk-aka-Phantom

darkchazzqualcomm's chips have always sucked.nvidia and samsung will have better offers , as always...

That is not true, SGS 2 with Snapdragon performed just as good as the version with Tegra 2, IIRC.
darkchazz

amk-aka-phantomThat is not true, SGS 2 with Snapdragon performed just as good as the version with Tegra 2, IIRC.

There is no tegra 2 version of the SGS2.
The T-Mobile version, which has a 1.5ghz snapdragon, is not up to par with the other versions which have the samsung exynos SoC, read the engadget review.
amk-aka-Phantom

394926 said:

There is no tegra 2 version of the SGS2. The T-Mobile version, which has a 1.5ghz snapdragon, is not up to par with the other versions which have the samsung exynos SoC, read the engadget review.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/confirmed-tegra-2-equipped-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-is-coming/

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/02/18/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-to-come-in-two-variants-one-with-tegra-2/

Not in US, apparently. I'm not sure if it got released in the end, but I think the Indian version of SGS 2 is Tegra-powered (not sure). And there were some benchmarks that said Tegra 2 was just as good as the other chip.
darkchazz

amk-aka-phantomhttp://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03 [...] is-coming/http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/ [...] h-tegra-2/Not in US, apparently. I'm not sure if it got released in the end, but I think the Indian version of SGS 2 is Tegra-powered (not sure). And there were some benchmarks that said Tegra 2 was just as good as the other chip.

There is no GS2 with a tegra 2 SoC....
However, there is the tegra 2 Galaxy R , which launched last month, only in taiwan...
amk-aka-Phantom

394926 said:

There is no GS2 with a tegra 2 SoC.... However, there is the tegra 2 Galaxy R , which launched last month, only in taiwan...

Also in Russia, IIRC.

Well, I guess they cancelled it or it never made it to the US. I'll go to Samsung store on the weekend and ask if it's Tegra 2 or Exynos.
schmich

It's a shame that software isn't exactly keeping up. Hardware has more than doubled in speed this past year yet the software is pretty much the same and there aren't any signs of this changing any time soon.

We'll be stuck with dual-core 1.5-2.0Ghz SOC phones running software that a 1Ghz phone can do with ease. If at least games had different settings so every type of phone can fully utilize their hardware.
Vladislaus

amk-aka-phantomThat is not true, SGS 2 with Snapdragon performed just as good as the version with Tegra 2, IIRC.

I was under the impression that the Galaxy S 2 only had two cpu variants, the Samsung Exynos 4210 and the Nvidia Tegra 2
amk-aka-Phantom

285779 said:

It's a shame that software isn't exactly keeping up. Hardware has more than doubled in speed this past year yet the software is pretty much the same and there aren't any signs of this changing any time soon. We'll be stuck with dual-core 1.5-2.0Ghz SOC phones running software that a 1Ghz phone can do with ease. If at least games had different settings so every type of phone can fully utilize their hardware.

I'd rather they focus on battery life. 1-3 days is a joke, my old Nokia phone does better than that.
back_by_demand

danwat1234X86 FTW

I also noticed DX9 on the list, at this rate I will be able to play PC games on a smartphone
Camikazi

darkchazzThere is no GS2 with a tegra 2 SoC....However, there is the tegra 2 Galaxy R , which launched last month, only in taiwan...

For a long time the Galaxy R was called a Galaxy S II, every site on the planet considered it a Galaxy S II with a Tegra 2. The reason for that is that the Galaxy R is a variant in the Galaxy S II family.
iam2thecrowe

it probably has more per-core performance than bulldozer.
tomfreak

Come on, give me a phone that I can plug into my HDTV and play my old counter strike 1.6/star craft 1/Quake 3/Doom3 lol.
eddieroolz

I'm still betting big on the NVidia Kal-El.
amk-aka-Phantom

502873 said:

Come on, give me a phone that I can plug into my HDTV and play my old counter strike 1.6/star craft 1/Quake 3/Doom3 lol.

Galaxy S2 can run Quake 3, IIRC, and you can plug it into HDMI TV.
g00fysmiley

danwat1234X86 FTW

maybe when they cut alot of the legacy code out of it, make it more efficient. that's what I like about arm, sure its limited but they cut where processes are no longer needed, x86/x64 do not

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