14 DAY TRIAL // The new ARM-based design from Samsung is called Exynos 5 and it is a true A15 Core solution on 32nm. Unlike Qualcomm’s SnapDragon S4 that can be characterized as being “A15-like,” the Exynos 5 is a Direct A15 Core.
The Korean company did not want to experiment with 28nm manufacturing process just yet, fearing difficulty with low yields and low scalability. Instead it went for their tried and true 32nm process and managed a 2GHz clock speed that’s even faster than what Qualcomm managed to get out of TSMC’s 28nm process for their SnapDragon S4 chips that rage between 1.5GHz and 1.7 GHz.
The Dual Core 32nm chip is based on Samsung’s High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process and, despite being bigger, it’s stable enough to reach such high working frequencies.
The GPU inside Exynos 5 is a T-604 MP4 “Mali” design that’s also designed by ARM Holdings and is capable of offering around 60 fps or 3D gaming and support 8MP cameras at 30 fps. Samsung’s chip will support WQXGA resolution of 2560x1600 and will be competing with PowerVR SGX543 from Imagination Technologies.
So the GPU will play in the same league as the iPAD3 GPU while the CPU will show much better performance in single or dual threaded mobile applications that are, basically, most of them.
The Exynos 5 ARM CPU is expected to appear in tablets and low-end PCs rather than smartphones although some lower clocked variants might end up in some bigger phones like the next Galaxy Note.
While we are eager to see what kind of PC will use Samsung’s Exynos 5 CPU, we wonder what kind of performance Qualcomm’s recently demoed 2.5 GHz Krait based SnapDragon S4 will offer.
