ARM announces next-generation Cortex-A72 CPU and Mali-T880 graphics

[Shawn Knight]

The recipe for success as a mobile chip maker reminds me of a formula that one of my journalism teachers often recited. He would implore us to provide more information in less time and less space. How does that relate to mobile processors, you ask?

Each new generation needs to be faster (provide more information) than its predecessor while consuming less energy (less time) on a smaller manufacturing process (less space).

That’s exactly what ARM’s new Cortex-A72 processor and Mali-T880 GPU promise to accomplish.

The reference design, due to arrive in smartphones sometime next year, supports the 64-bit ARMv8-A instruction set, incorporates FinFETs (3D transistors) and will support big.LITTLE multi-architecture configurations. The package is said to be 50 times faster than chips that shipped just five years ago and 3.5 times faster than the Cortex-A15 – all while consuming 75 percent less power.

The Mali-T880 GPU, meanwhile, is said to be 1.8 times faster than last year’s mobile devices and can offer a 40 percent reduction in energy for the same workload.

All said and done, the additional power and energy savings will be put to good use. For example, A72-equipped devices will be able to capture 4K video at 120 frames per second. Today’s handsets can only do that at up to 1080p.

ARM says it already has more than 10 licensees for the Cortex-A72. More information on the matter will be revealed later this year, we're told.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/59631-arm-announces-next-generation-cortex-a72-cpu-integrated.html

 

[Guest]

16x faster?

 

[GeforcerFX]

It really is mind blowing how fast mobile processing is growing and how powerful it truly is. I could see myself moving mainly mobile by 2016-2017, especially if a phone comes out that can run full windows or maybe even moving to a new OS.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Well I hope Samsung is taking note. Last I heard they were less than impressed with the latest Snapdragon 810, rather opting for their homegrown chips for the upcoming S6.

 

[SeiveD]

It really is mind blowing how fast mobile processing is growing and how powerful it truly is. I could see myself moving mainly mobile by 2016-2017, especially if a phone comes out that can run full windows or maybe even moving to a new OS.

I don't think I could say the same. Of course, most of the games I enjoy run on the x86 or x64 architectures. But aside from that, the biggest problem is the user interface. Mobile devices for me are incredibly clunky. I need a mouse and keyboard to accomplish any kind of real work. Other than that, it's nice to see mobile devices becoming much more powerful. I suppose if you got a keyboard and mouse to plug into a tablet or something with windows and the desktop option, it wouldn't be so bad.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Well I hope Samsung is taking note. Last I heard they were less than impressed with the latest Snapdragon 810, rather opting for their homegrown chips for the upcoming S6.

I thought I saw a headline that Qualcomm was customizing a 810 for the S6 to meet the heat dissipation design of the smartphone, guess Samsung will test both and release the better performing system as the flagship.

I don't think I could say the same. Of course, most of the games I enjoy run on the x86 or x64 architectures. But aside from that, the biggest problem is the user interface. Mobile devices for me are incredibly clunky. I need a mouse and keyboard to accomplish any kind of real work. Other than that, it's nice to see mobile devices becoming much more powerful. I suppose if you got a keyboard and mouse to plug into a tablet or something with windows and the desktop option, it wouldn't be so bad.

That's where windows 10 on a phone has potential, it has the windows phone UI which is much more finger friendly on 5" screen when its on the go and being used as my phone. But say you could come home and throw it in a dock that has video out and usb inputs, walla throw a nice monitor on there KB & M and maybe external storage and you have the access to the desktop mode then. Some android device was going to do something similar with Ubuntu if I remember correctly. Just gotta get that hardware to a point I could call powerful enough for me, and they are close to it already A15 was already a big step for my needs, so if something is running 4 cores that are 3.5x as powerful the potential is there.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I thought I saw a headline that Qualcomm was customizing a 810 for the S6 to meet the heat dissipation design of the smartphone, guess Samsung will test both and release the better performing system as the flagship.



That's where windows 10 on a phone has potential, it has the windows phone UI which is much more finger friendly on 5" screen when its on the go and being used as my phone. But say you could come home and throw it in a dock that has video out and usb inputs, walla throw a nice monitor on there KB & M and maybe external storage and you have the access to the desktop mode then. Some android device was going to do something similar with Ubuntu if I remember correctly. Just gotta get that hardware to a point I could call powerful enough for me, and they are close to it already A15 was already a big step for my needs, so if something is running 4 cores that are 3.5x as powerful the potential is there.

Yeah I also saw that. Qualcomm has to do something, do you know how much money they'd lose if Samsung didn't buy their chips? They'd lose so much money that a lot of the big wigs heads would roll.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Yeah I also saw that. Qualcomm has to do something, do you know how much money they'd lose if Samsung didn't buy their chips? They'd lose so much money that a lot of the big wigs heads would roll.

I wouldn't mind seeing a flagship Samsung phone with a Samsung chips in it, I mean why even build your own CPUs then not use them in your high end products? Qualcomm is big enough now adays they could handle the loss of a few million Samsung handsets and not fall down to bad, they really need to be pushing for apple though imo.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I wouldn't mind seeing a flagship Samsung phone with a Samsung chips in it, I mean why even build your own CPUs then not use them in your high end products? Qualcomm is big enough now adays they could handle the loss of a few million Samsung handsets and not fall down to bad, they really need to be pushing for apple though imo.

They do. If you live in America or Europe you'll be saddled with the Snapdragon while the rest of the world gets their Exynos stuff, depending on the region, some places you get a choice of both. My S4 runs the Exynos and I'm sure all S6's sold here will as well, they've always done it.
There's practically no difference in performance between the two.
P.S. It's plain to see you're not on the board of directors or a shareholder at Qualcomm, Saying things like they could afford to loose a few million bucks would immediately get you lynched from the nearest tree then fired as an afterthought. They all have fancy cars, sumptuous condo's on the beachfront and an expensive coke addiction to afford you know.