Intel Challenges ARM On Power Consumption... And Ties 163
GhostX9 writes "Tom's Hardware just published a detailed look at the Intel Atom Z2760 in the Acer Iconia W510 and compared it to the NVIDIA Tegra 3 in the Microsoft Surface. They break it down and demonstrate how the full Windows 8 tablet outperforms the Windows RT machine in power consumption. They break down power consumption to include the role of the CPU, GPU, memory controller and display. Anandtech is also reporting similar findings, but only reports CPU and GPU utilization."
Despite repeated claims that x86 is beating ARM here, they look neck and neck. Assuming you can make a meaningful comparison.
Neck AND Neck (Score:5, Informative)
Despite repeated claims that x86 is beating ARM here, they look neck in neck.
It's neck and neck [thefreedictionary.com].
they look neck in neck (Score:4, Informative)
It's "neck and neck" as in a pair of horses very close together at the finish line.
Sigh
'neck in neck'? (Score:4, Informative)
Oh for crying out loud: Neck and Neck.
Often used when describing two racers that are nearly even in position.
Re:Are either of these processor relevant? (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/snapdragon-s4-pro-apq8064-msm8960t,3291-4.html [tomshardware.com]
Atom isn't here, but perhaps because it is too new, but it's clear from this graph that at least Tom's Hardware seems to agree that the Snapdragon eats Tegra's lunch.
I have a Nexus 4 (Snapdragon S4) and a Nexus 7 (Tegra 3), and the 4 is WAY, WAY faster than the 7 in almost every experience.
On the Nexus 4 I can leave a movie playing in the background and keep listening to it while I check an important email that just came in or make a move in a game of Words with my wife. Attempting the exact same thing on the Nexus 7 results in the movie skipping and the user experience slowing to a crawl.
Perhaps there are some significant architecture differences between the two, but at least from a real-world user experience standpoint, I would not characterize the OP's assertion as "random conjecture" at all.
Also rather hard to hate on Intel for it (Score:5, Informative)
Why are they a node ahead all the time? Because they spend billions in R&D. When the downturn hit everyone in the fab business cut R&D, except Intel. So now they have a 22nm fab that has been running for awhile, another that just came fully online, and two 14nm fabs that'll be done soon (one on 450mm wafers).
They do precisely what geeks harp on companies to do: Invest money in R&D, invest in tech. They also don't outsource production, they own their own fabs and make their own chips. Most of them are even in the United States (8 of the 11).
The payoff is that they are ahead of people in terms of node size, and that their yields tend to be good (because the designers and fab people can work closely).
If other companies don't like it, well the only option is to throw in heavy on the R&D front. In ARM's case being not only fabless but actually chipless, just licensing cores to other companies, they can't do that. They are at the mercy of Samsung, TSMC, Global Foundries, and so on.
Re:Neck and Neck is advantage Intel (Score:3, Informative)
I for one am going to be Really happy when I can give Surface devices to our users and swing them away from getting iPads, they're good for home use, but are a Huge hassle en mass.
I've asked our corporate purchasing staff about 'droid devices, their response was: Can't get a serious warranty, platforms rollover too fast, and they're Far too easy to get root access to.