By 
There is no denying that quad-core processors are the next big thing in mobile, but new benchmark tests suggest we shouldn’t be sleeping on the next generation of dual-core CPUs. AnandTech got their hands on a developer device sporting Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 platform and the results simply blew away the competition. I the Linpack multi-threaded benchmark the MSM8960 torched every device on the market. Its next closest competitor was the Samsung Galaxy S II, which didn’t even match half of the new S4’s score. Closer was last year’s Snapdragon S3 developer device, but barely.
The MSM8960’s GLBenchmark GPU scores weren’t as impressive as the pure processing scores, but it’s Adreno 225 still managed to lead the pack. The score is expected, as the 225 offers only incremental improvements to its predecessor, the Adreno 220. The Adreno 300 series is where the real GPU power is expected.
Perhaps even better than the MSM8960’s impressive benchmark scores is the fact that it is manufactured on a 28nm process, which not only equals a more compact chip but also improved battery life over previous dual-core platforms. In short: dual-core is far from dead. One device said to utilize the new chip is the upcoming HTC Ville, which should make its debut at Mobile World Congress. It won’t be as impressive as the HTC Endeavor’s quad-core design on paper, but we are willing to bet it will hold its own when it comes to pitting power against power.
[via Anandtech]
oohhhh
I wonder if its gonna be this snapdragon or the tegra 3 in the upcoming asus padfone.
Wow and here I thought the Galaxy Nexus was a pretty fast phone. Now I see that its processing is slower than not only this crazy new Snapdragon but also slower than the older Galaxy SII, the ugly Droid 4 and a host of other devices. I wonder if my two year old Droid Incredible is faster too? So not cool.
Nexus devices are always more about software than hardware
Not true, the first nexus lead the pack in both.
need I remind you the processor in the nexus is underclocked
and?…it led the pack in hardware and software at the time.
I wonder what the clock speed is going to be? My Sensation doesn’t even quite get those scores even clocked at 1.728 Ghz across both cores!
1.5Ghz i believe is the standard for that chip, though phone manufacturers are known to clock them down. Even at 28nm we could find this chip in multiple phones running at 1.2-1.5ghz probably. I also think there’s a 1.7ghz chip as well.
A previous report said they can run between 1.5 and 2.5GHz
I’m guessing it’ll be around 2.0 Ghz, then two months later T-Mobile will release a 2.5 Ghz new-ish phone lolol
28nm dual core over 40nm quad anyday!
What cortex is this chip? I doubt its A-15
Qualcomm, doesnt follow the A-guidelines. It would probably be impossible to tell.
Good to see that Qualcomm is back in the game looked like Samsung and nVidia were going to run ahead of Qualcomm.
I love run away bar graphs.
This is probably a stupid question, but as we rush headlong into quad cores, how much software is even taking advantage of the dual cores we already have out there now? It is wonderful it is so fast, but is seems like the software side is very slow….
Besides Qualcomm always flaunting higher benchmark scores than the competition, its the real worlds. performance that matters. The galaxy s2 is the king in my opinion right now. Don’t forget, this chip that Qualcomm is using to bash the competition isn’t even out yet, whereas the competition has been out for over a year now. Wait until Samsung releases the scores for their next chip, it’ll make Qualcomm look slow and underpowered.
Qualcomm does a tick tock type of cadence with their releases. They lead everyone else for a solid 6 months when they released the original snapdragon and trailed everyone else with last years SOCs (especially Samsung’s exynos).
With the S4 they will be in the lead for at least the next 6 months since it’s the first A15 based design. When TI and Samsung release their A15 chips in 6 months they might outpace the qualcomm chip but if they do it will probably be modest at best.
I’m guessing this will be qualcomm’s year the way last year was Samsung’s.