Test Setup And Methodology
Test System Specs
Today we're comparing the Tegra Note 7 to an odd assortment of devices. As the only other Tegra 4-based Android device, we include the Shield. Because the Note is an entry-level seven-inch tablet, we also have the current Nexus 7 from Google, which retails for just $30 more. The new Nexus also introduces Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 into the discussion. We're adding last year's Nexus 7 in order to present a very clean comparison between Tegra 4 and Tegra 3.
Moving up the size ladder, the 10.1" Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 Edition is here to represent the company's Exynos Octa 5 SoC along with a Mali GPU. Moving down in size we have two smartphones: Apple's iPhone 5s with the A7 SoC and the flagship PowerVR graphics core, and the Sony Xperia Z1 with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon/Adreno combo.
| Device | SoC | CPU Core | GPU Core | Memory | Display |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia Tegra Note | Nvidia Tegra 4 | T114 ARM Cortex-A15 (quad-core) @ 1.7 GHz | GeForce ULP | 1 GB DDR3 | 7" IPS @ 1280x800 |
| Nvidia Shield | Nvidia Tegra 4 | T114 ARM Cortex-A15 (quad-core) @ 1.8 GHz | GeForce ULP | 2 GB DDR3 | 5" IPS @ 1280x800 |
| Google Nexus 7 (2012) | Nvidia Tegra 3 | T30L ARM Cortex-A9 (quad-core) @ 1.2 GHz | GeForce ULP (12-core) @ 416 MHz | 1 GB DDR3L | 7" IPS @ 1280x800 |
| Google Nexus 7 (2013) | Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 | Krait 300 (quad-core) @ 1.5 GHz | Adreno 320 (quad-core) @ 400 MHz | 2 GB DDR3L | 7" IPS @ 1920x1200 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1" (2014) | Samsung Exynos Octa 5 | Exynos 5420 (octa-core) @ 1.9 GHz | ARM Mali T628 MP6 (hexa-core) @ 600 MHz | 3 GB DDR3 | 10" TFT @ 2560x1600 |
| Sony Xperia Z1 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 | Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.2 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 450 GHz | 2 GB DDR3 | 5" TFT @ 1920x1080 |
| Apple iPhone 5s | Apple A7 | ARM v8 (dual-core) @ 1.3 GHz | PowerVR G6430 (four-cluster) @ 300 MHz | 1 GB DDR3 | 4" IPS @ 1136x640 |
Benchmark Suite
Our gadget test suite consists of five major sections: CPU, GPU, Web, Display, And Battery.
| CPU Benchmarks | AnTuTu v4 |
|---|---|
| CF-Bench Pro | |
| Primate Labs Geekbench 3 | |
| Principled Technologies MobileXPRT 2013 | |
| GPU Benchmarks | Futuremark 3DMark |
| Rightware Basemark GUI Free | |
| Rightware Basemark X | |
| Epic Citadel | |
| Kishonti GFXBench v2.7.2 | |
| Silicon Studios Mobile GPUMark v2.0 | |
| Web Benchmarks | Rightware Browsermark v2.0 |
| JSBench | |
| Futuremark Peacekeeper v2.0 | |
| Impact HTML5 Benchmark | |
| Principled Technologies WebXPRT 2013 | |
| Display Measurments | Brightness (Minimum and Maximum) |
| Calibrated Black Level | |
| Calibrated Contrast Ratio | |
| Calibrated Gamma | |
| Calibrated Color Temperature | |
| Color Gamut Volume (sRGB and AdobeRGB) | |
| Battery Tests | Gaming (Mobile GPUMark - Loop) |
Let's begin with our CPU testing and see how the Tegra Note 7, with its Tegra 4 SoC, stacks up in computational performance.
