Surface RT vs New iPad - CPU talk

[rx74ray]

Surface RT uses NVIDIA Tegra 3, and New iPad uses Apple A5X chip. In a benchmark comparision that was done between Asus Transformer Prime that uses Tegra 3 chip vs. New iPad, the iPad beat the anroid tablet in almost all categories. "Almost" is the key word here. One category that the Tegra 3 came on top was the pure CPU tests:

"On Geekbench, a cross-platform benchmark that measures raw processing power rather than graphics, the quad-core Tegra 3 blew its competitor way as it achieved an overall score of 1,571 to the A5X?s 692. On the integer (1391 to 614), floating point (2408 to 825) and memory subtests (1076 to 784) , the Tegra 3 dominated, but the A5X bested it by a small margin of 324 to 266 on the stream subtest."

1. Does this mean Tegra 3 is a faster chip in nature?
2. Should we blame the poor performance of the Asus Transformer Prime against New iPad on Android OS?
3. Do you think Surface RT will blow the New iPad away using the same Tegra 3 chip?

source: Tablet Chip Showdown: Nvidia Tegra 3 vs. the New iPad?s A5X

 

[Wyn6]

Surface RT uses NVIDIA Tegra 3, and New iPad uses Apple A5X chip. In a benchmark comparision that was done between Asus Transformer Prime that uses Tegra 3 chip vs. New iPad, the iPad beat the anroid tablet in almost all categories. "Almost" is the key word here. One category that the Tegra 3 came on top was the pure CPU tests:

"On Geekbench, a cross-platform benchmark that measures raw processing power rather than graphics, the quad-core Tegra 3 blew its competitor way as it achieved an overall score of 1,571 to the A5X?s 692. On the integer (1391 to 614), floating point (2408 to 825) and memory subtests (1076 to 784) , the Tegra 3 dominated, but the A5X bested it by a small margin of 324 to 266 on the stream subtest."

1. Does this mean Tegra 3 is a faster chip in nature?
2. Should we blame the poor performance of the Asus Transformer Prime against New iPad on Android OS?
3. Do you think Surface RT will blow the New iPad away using the same Tegra 3 chip?

source: Tablet Chip Showdown: Nvidia Tegra 3 vs. the New iPad?s A5X

Good find. I'm willing to bet that with Microsoft's penchant for optimization, they'll squeeze every last ounce of performance out of this chip. I expect it to bench slightly better than the Android tab using the same chip. Alas, we shall see.

 

[rx74ray]

I really hope MS has mastered multi-core CPU game.

 

[anon(5335899)]

Yes, yes and no

1. Yes, Tegra3 is faster in 'raw' power IMO
2. Yes, Android is horrible and has virtually no multi core optimization as we'll see when Windoes RT blows it out of the water
3. No, because iOS is a glorified app and media player and Windows RT is a full on OS so it's apples and oranges. With the likely optimized code for both CPU and GPU MSFT Surface RT will fly with Windows RT

 

[jhoff80]

Keep in mind that while the CPU is faster in the Tegra 3, the GPU is much faster on the A5X.

 

[power5]

Why a Tegra 3? That is not even a chip in any WP. Wouldn't a Snapdragon have been a better choice? I thought the S4 quad had better performance than the Tegra 3. Odd they chose to go with a different chip brand in their phone and tablet. Especially when the S4 quad is significantly better.

________________________________Quadrant_____Vellamo___GLB 2.1 Egypt (720p)___AnTuTu
Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064__________7,635_______2,527_______131fps_____________13,998
Acer Iconia Tab A700 (Tegra 3)________3,574_______1,210_______60fps_____________10,480
Asus Transformer Pad (Tegra 3)________3,623_______1,358_______63fps _____________9,614
Galaxy S III (Exynos 4 Quad)___________5,283_______2,008_______101fps____________10,568
HTC One X (Tegra 3)_________________4,430_______1,614_______65fps_____________11,322
HTC One S (Snapdragon S4)___________ 5,141_______2,420_______57fps_____________7,107

No idea what any of those benchmarks test or how much they represent reality as I am not an android guy but tegra 3 does not look like a very good choice to me.

 

[jhoff80]

Why a Tegra 3? That is not even a chip in any WP. Wouldn't a Snapdragon have been a better choice? I thought the S4 quad had better performance than the Tegra 3. Odd they chose to go with a different chip brand in their phone and tablet. Especially when the S4 quad is significantly better.

It was rumored that many of the other chip manufacturers were having trouble getting their drivers to give them full performance, and that might be why. Nvidia has far more experience dealing with Windows drivers.

 

[darthhen]

I would think it is a very transition for Microsoft and Nvidia to partner for RT. Nvidia has some of the best programmers and driver development teams. From Microsoft's perspective, it's a no brainer to partner with Nvidia.

 

[stephen_az]

Surface RT uses NVIDIA Tegra 3, and New iPad uses Apple A5X chip. In a benchmark comparision that was done between Asus Transformer Prime that uses Tegra 3 chip vs. New iPad, the iPad beat the anroid tablet in almost all categories. "Almost" is the key word here. One category that the Tegra 3 came on top was the pure CPU tests:

"On Geekbench, a cross-platform benchmark that measures raw processing power rather than graphics, the quad-core Tegra 3 blew its competitor way as it achieved an overall score of 1,571 to the A5X?s 692. On the integer (1391 to 614), floating point (2408 to 825) and memory subtests (1076 to 784) , the Tegra 3 dominated, but the A5X bested it by a small margin of 324 to 266 on the stream subtest."

1. Does this mean Tegra 3 is a faster chip in nature?
2. Should we blame the poor performance of the Asus Transformer Prime against New iPad on Android OS?
3. Do you think Surface RT will blow the New iPad away using the same Tegra 3 chip?

source: Tablet Chip Showdown: Nvidia Tegra 3 vs. the New iPad?s A5X

At one point I owned a BlackBerry Playbook in addition to the Transformer Prime I am currently selling. Its performance was far and away better than the Prime - no lag, snappy response, no "forced closes," and browser response in an entirely different league. This is a tablet with a not vey impressive older dual core processor design. I have been told by people who still own Playbooks with the 2.1 OS that you can now run more simultaneous Android apps on it than on any Android devices. There is a very simple explanation for the difference which revolves around your second question. Android is not really a tablet OS; definitely is a resource hog; and still lacks any real optimizations to fully exploit processors or RAM. Comparing performance of any Android tablet to any other is always going to be complicated by the fact that you are obligated to deal with the Android performance penalty....

 

[camptime]

As there are many games available in the TegraZone what are the chances
These games will work on the Tegra 3 powered Windows RT?

 

[jhoff80]

As there are many games available in the TegraZone what are the chances
These games will work on the Tegra 3 powered Windows RT?

Zero. Not without some work from the developer.

 

[ljkelley]

Keep in mind that while the CPU is faster in the Tegra 3, the GPU is much faster on the A5X.

Which of course doesn't help the iPad that much since the iPad has that many more pixels to deal with.

 

[power5]

It was rumored that many of the other chip manufacturers were having trouble getting their drivers to give them full performance, and that might be why. Nvidia has far more experience dealing with Windows drivers.

I would think it is a very transition for Microsoft and Nvidia to partner for RT. Nvidia has some of the best programmers and driver development teams. From Microsoft's perspective, it's a no brainer to partner with Nvidia.

Yes but Qualcomm has no problems with wp8 concerning drivers. Don't see how they could not make working ones for RT.

Nvidia does not put out perfect top performing drivers on launch either. In fact I have seen benchmarks improve significantly after release with driver updates. Windows update could easily include driver updates to improve lacking drivers. I will not doubt that nvidia is working on followup drivers for tegra3. Well hope so at least since its already such an old chip.