ARM Reveals 8-Core GPU For Superphones
ARM has developed a new GPU for the mobile sector capable of rendering DirectX 11 graphics.
Thursday ARM revealed a new GPU built for high performance devices like superphones, tablets and smart-TVs. Called the ARM Mali-T658, this latest edition to the Midgard architecture-based GPU family promises to deliver up to ten times the graphics performance of the Mali-400 MP GPU which is found in a wide range of today's mainstream consumer products. It also promises four times the GPU Compute performance of the Mali-T604 GPU.
"Next generation consumer devices based on the Mali-T658 GPU will address the growing user expectation for slick user interfaces and desktop-class graphics," said Pete Hutton, general manager, Media Processing Division, ARM. "Intuitive user interfaces will mean that consumers can access the full functionality of their connected devices, for richer user experiences. This includes HD gaming and new compute-intensive applications, such as augmented reality."
Did you catch that key description desktop-class graphics? According to ARM, the GPU supports a wide range of graphics and compute APIs including Microsoft DirectX 11, Khronos OpenGL ES, OpenVG, Khronos OpenCL, Google Renderscript and Microsoft DirectCompute. That's right: a "superphone" GPU capable of rendering DirectX 11 graphics!
Thursday in a press release ARM said the new GPU has been designed to work with the Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A15 processors either in standalone modes, or when they're combined in big.LITTLE processing mode.
"The autonomous nature of the Mali Job Manager, and its ability to carry on graphics processing with a reduced load on the CPU, means it is very well suited to work alongside a big.LITTLE CPU system," the company said. "By using the right processor for the right task the Mali-T658 is able to handle GPU compute tasks in parallel with the CPU handling the always-on always-connected tasks. The ability of the Mali-T658 GPU to scale up to eight cores provides unprecedented energy-efficiency, flexibility and scalability to match the CPU and GPU performance points through one coherent interface."
For more information on the new Mali-T658 GPU, head here.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
-
nebun this is very good news...:) how is it that mobile cpus are able to support dx11 yet consoles aren't?...this really boggles my mindReply -
eklipz330 nebunthis is very good news... how is it that mobile cpus are able to support dx11 yet consoles aren't?...this really boggles my mindum what? really? i cant tell if your being serious...you realize consoles have been out since 2005 right? that was before dx10 came outReply -
ltdementhial danwat1234Can I run folding@home on it?Reply
yes you can...even maybe Crysis.
on topic this is very good news a new competitor is emergin in both cpu and gpu market...altough this competitor has been around for a while they don't compete like VIA for example...ARM is doing what AMD took 30 years in just 4 if you start counting on the Smartphone era begining.
Now the serious of this is that in a couple years event months we may be seeing ARM on both Best Graphic Card & Best CPU for the money benchmark's competing with AMD CPU's, AMD GPU's, Intel and Nvidia. ill just wait to when i got my son his Superphone and tell him how we have to run Frostbite-Like graphics on $3k PC's when he will using an $200 phone. -
saturnus Looking at the specification over at ARM, it does look like they take the term "desktop class" performance seriously. And this is still only meant for a mobile GPU being part of a SoC spec'ed to sub-2W average power consumption and 5W max.Reply
-
saturnus Zingam20 minutes standby, 10 talk time, 3 minutes web surfing, 1 minute video playbackReply
This is not Intel. It is ARM. Regardless of the ever increasing CPU and GPU capability, it is still today and will be in the future the screen that will take up the vast majority of the power consumption. -
Yes it will run crysis. Incredible.. Though it might need wine through Linux support ? Dx 11 emulation on Android? man imagine the possibilities....Reply
-
lordstormdragon What's annoying is that there are NO benchmarks here in this article, and no other data comparing these weak little toy GPUs to the big dogs. Modern GPUs in laptops, tablets, and desktops already have hundreds of cores... Literally, hundreds.Reply
And this article doesn't even mention clock speeds or memory bandwidths...
ARM bringing an 8-core GPU to the market is just like Nvidia or AMD producing a new one marketed as "The Penny" or "One Single Cent". 1/100th the graphics power of existing tech? Pathetic.