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Benchmarked and Compared: NVIDIA Tegra 3 vs. Apple A5X

Michael Kwan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:47:35 +0000

When the new iPad was revealed to the world, Apple told us that the new A5X chip spanked the Tegra 3 processor from NVIDIA. But those are just claims. How does the comparison stack up when you put them under real benchmarks and real world experiences?

That’s exactly what Laptop Mag wanted to find out, so they pit the new iPad against the Tegra 3-powered Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. First, they ran GLBenchmark 2.1. This revealed that the A5X on the iPad 3 was able to render twice as many frames per second on the Egypt test and it was able to handle more than four times as many texels (texture pixels). So, for pure graphical prowess, the A5X seems like the winner.

However, when they had a look at integer and floating point performance, the Tegra 3 blew the A5X out of the water. It also outclassed Apple’s chip for memory performance, with the exception of memory bandwidth.

But what about the real world? They played Shadowgun and Riptide GP on both tablets and, well, it’s a mixed bag. The Retina display on the iPad provided crisper text and better colors, but the Asus had some visual effects not present in the Apple-friendly version of the games. Check out the video below.

[Source]

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The Reason Why the New iPad’s Screen Is Still Made by Samsung

Michael Kwan — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:37:52 +0000

Apple and Samsung haven’t exactly been on the friendliest of terms lately, continually flinging lawsuits at one another. Even so, they have this awkward relationship where Samsung is still one of Apple’s biggest suppliers. And there’s a reason for that.

When Apple wanted to bump its way to Retina territory for the new iPad, there was really only one company that was capable of doing it: Samsung. You see, Apple has very high standards for quality and it was only Samsung that was able to meet these standards for the new iPad’s Retina display.

And it’s not for lack of competition either. When Apple started the development cycle, it looked at other suppliers. Both LG and Sharp were in the running, but neither was able to live up to the quality control standards set out by the team in Cupertino. That looks like it might change in a couple of months, but only if they can improve their standards to live up to what Apple demands.

Samsung isn’t only supplying the display panel for the new iPad. You know that new A5X chip? That’s Samsung too. Considering how integral Samsung has been to the iPad’s success, it only makes sense that Samsung is pretty much tops when it comes to Android smartphones and tablets too.

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First Look at the A5X Processor for Apple iPad 3?

Michael Kwan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:40:05 +0000

As we get closer and closer to the unveiling of the Apple iPad 3, we’re also starting to see more leaks of the components that will make up the next-generation tablet. And today, we’re getting our first look at the supposed A5X processor that will power the upcoming iTablet.

The leaked photo shown here depicts what is believed to be the logic board for the iPad 3. And the chip there is clearly labeled as A5X, rather than the A6 model name that we had expected to follow the A5 chip in the iPad 2.

From here, we can venture a pretty good guess that this new processor is likely just an upgraded version of the A5, rather than an entirely new architecture like how the A5 improved on the A4 before it. This kind of scheme is the same as what they did with the iPhone when it went from the 3G to the 3GS and later when it went from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S.

But why didn’t they add “S” like how they did with the iPhone models? Think about that for a moment. It would end up being called the A5S, which is almost a 1337 (“leet”) spelling of ASS. Yeah, that wouldn’t go over so well, now would it?

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