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Tegra 2 vs Apple A5 vs Atom N570/NM10

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Firestrider

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Location
Orlando, FL
Out of these three comparisons which is fastest in terms of CPU and GPU performance?

I'm trying to decide what to get for a netbook or tablet and I really just want the best performance/watt for battery life. I will be using this to browse the web watch videos and play games.

From what I've read Tegra 2 and Apple A5 both use a dual core Cortex A9 ARM processor at 1 Ghz, and the N570 is a dual core 4-thread 1.66 GHz x86 CPU.

As far as graphics the A5 uses a dual core SGX543MP2 which I believe is the fastest, Tegra 2 uses GeForce ULP, and Intel uses NM10 which is equivalent in graphics to the GMA 3150.

So which of these is the fastest?
 
The A5 (you sure you don't mean A4 here?)is going to be the fastest. Will it perform the fastest? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how iOS runs on it. The Atom will be the most capable, but maybe not the fastest at some tasks. The Tegra will be more adaptive due to having a special processor for each task. (The Tegra 1 had 8 different processors. Not sure how the Tegra 2 stacks up)
 
The A5 (you sure you don't mean A4 here?)is going to be the fastest. Will it perform the fastest? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how iOS runs on it. The Atom will be the most capable, but maybe not the fastest at some tasks. The Tegra will be more adaptive due to having a special processor for each task. (The Tegra 1 had 8 different processors. Not sure how the Tegra 2 stacks up)

You information is a little off. Tegra 2 and the A5 are gonna be be close in performance. Here is a good review and talks briefly about the benchmarks. GPU wise the A5 wins with the powervr compared to the nvidia.

When it comes to armv7 vs x86 (atom) it's tough to say. Intel is looking to move atom into the tablet market.

If you are trying to decide between a tablet and a netbook I think you need to look more at your use than performance/battery life. Unless you want to go with a Eee Transform then really a tablet and a netbook are different price points and form factors. They have ups and downs and it depends on what you specifically want to do? When you say game, I'm guessing your thinking angry birds and such? A tablet will be a lot better at gaming simply because there are games made for android/ios and there isn't as large a segment of making games for netbooks.
 
interesting, from what i recall a while back when nv was talking about tegra 2, it was to use the newer Arm cortex A9. though i am suprised to to see the apple a5 beat it in the linpack results. as for the graphics that isnt so suprising to me, powervr has been working on there mobile(ie phones) stuff for a while. even intels US15 phc uses a powerVR graphics and is coupled to atom cpu.

what makes this line up even harder is the fact that both tegra 2 and A5 cant run on windows. maybe they can on window CE or a mobile windows, still not sure they can. since the difference in arch of the cpu effects the os it can run on. power/watt ratio for a cpu goes to ARM/Risc based cpus.

depending on what your after, as it saddens me to say it. the Apple Ipad2 is a good device when you look at it as a whole. there is not another device in its market segment that can beat period. unless you want a atom/US15 tablet running windows but even then atom would be a bit long in the tooth(well it can be for somethings), if coupled to a dual core with HT. i dont think it would a problem at all but good luck finding one. as the newer atoms have graphics on package with the cpu, making the US15 not an option for pairing.
 
interesting, from what i recall a while back when nv was talking about tegra 2, it was to use the newer Arm cortex A9. though i am suprised to to see the apple a5 beat it in the linpack results. <snip>

Well it does use the A9 (armv7) design. Same design thats in the iPad 2, but the iPad 2's A5 is basically a Samsung Exynos, which just debuted in the Galaxy S II.

Here is a good article comparing them all, no benchmarks but good overview, http://www.phonearena.com/news/NVID...3rd-the-dual-core-chipsets-and-beyond_id16004 .
 
I think the comparison of hardware is not that useful in this case. The question should be Android vs iOS vs Windows 7. Choose the OS and app package you like best and go with it.

Windows 7 is NOT a tablet friendly OS and I would advise against buying one. I played with an Acer Iconia W500 and was not impressed. It stuttered, data entry and selection of icons was not smooth. They basically use the touch screen as a mouse, which adds a delay in everything and makes it imprecise.

What will make you happier is choosing the right OS and not picking hardware that's x%'s faster.
 
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