It’s time for quad core mobile processes and it’s becoming a standard configuration in high end mobile devices. Samsung always take a leap ahead and they did it here as well. In CES 2013 they introduced Exynos 5 Octa, yes, a 8 core mobile computing platform. Let’s go and take a closer look.
Technical Specification
CPU
It uses 28 mm semiconductor architecture which is a major improvement compared to previous 32 mm architecture. CPU array is a heterogeneous system that utilizes 4 Cortex A15 cores (up to 1.8 GHz) and another 4 Cortex A9 cores (Up to 1.2 GHz). The idea is to process background tasks in the slower and less power consuming cortex A9 cores and let A15 cores to handle the hard work.
This architecture will definitely be much more energy efficient and according to the spec it’s going to dwarf Nvidia’s 4-PLUS-1 technology.
GPU
The GPU is IT PowerVR SGX544MP3 which has 3 cores and clocked at 533 MHz. This is the same type of GPU used in iPhone and iPad. So you can get an idea of its capabilities.
Memory
Samsung used blazing fast LPDDR3 12.8 GB/s memory access technology in Exynos 5 Dual and same continues here as well.
Application and Possibilities
So far there is no device utilizing the power of Samsung Exynos 5 Octa. But soon we will be able to witness its power with Samsung Galaxy S IV which is expected to be introduced around April 2013.
Samsung is famous for huge phones such as Galaxy Note II. They have huge batteries inside and have great battery life. With Exynos 5 Octa I’m pretty sure they will go to the next level of performance as well as battery life.
In real life applications Samsung has to pay attention to heating problems and radiation issues. It’s not only about hardware. One mistake in an application could cause a battery to completely drain out in no time. So there has to be a tight controlling in software platform as well. I hope Samsung developers take these things in to consideration when they are developing next version of TouchWiz.
Wrapping Up
Samsung Exynos 5 Octa based in latest semiconductor architecture, has a heterogeneous CPU array to give maximum power and energy efficiency with one of the best GPUs and blazing fast memory access. It made all the other mobile commuter platforms look like antique. If Samsung engineers manage to solve practical issues in applications such as heating, radiation limits and highly optimized software this could be THE mobile computing platform in year 2013. Competition is going to be tight for Nvidia Tegra 4 and Snapdragon 800.
Tags: #Samsung #Smartphone #Tablet