Samsung has presented a number of smartphones and tablets sporting a new more powerful system processor. We asked us how Exynos could operate at 1.5 GHz without severing the battery times. The answer is a new circuit – Exynos 4212 – that is made with more efficient 32nm technology and an updated GPU.
We have tested Samsung Galaxy S II and its Exynos 4210 processor and it was the fastest yet. Six months later Exynos is still a top performer, but will soon be placed by a middle landing before the remaining ARM makers will jump on the 28nm train.
Samsung presented the system processor Exynos 4212 yesterday. The dual-core circuit is clocked at 1.5 GHz and will be made with 32 nanometer High-K Metal Gate technology. This should be enough to cement Samsung Exynos as the fastest systemprocessor on the smartphone market and as if that wasn’t enough the company claims to have raised graphics performance. Samsung revealed that Exynos 4212 will bring 50% higher performance in 3D applications and even if it did not reveal where the boost comes from it is probably much thanks to higher clocks.
Exynos 4210 in Samsung Galaxy S II operate with a GPU clock of 267 MHz, but with some swift moves we boosted it to 400 MHz, an increase of 50% that Samsung mentioned.
Exynos 4212 will most likely operate at 400 MHz, the same as our overclock.
Our previous overclocking tests with Samsung Galaxy S II should be a good guideline for the performance of Exynos 4212, though we did have 100 MHz higher processor frequency, but it shouldn’t affect noticeablyin 3D games. The GPU also supports HDMI 1.4 and many video codecs.
The perhaps most interesting news is that Samsung makes use of its own capacity and starts mass producing a Cortex-A9 processor with 32nm technology. When we investigating the battery time of Galaxy S II and Exynos 4210 we concluded that the high frequencies and 45nm technology was an obstacle during heavy load. The battery was drained painfully fast and surface temperatures over 55 degrees.
Exynos 4212 will according to Samsung be 30 percent more efficient and be what the doctor prescribed to remedy high temperatures and short battery times. What we don’t know is what kind of functionality Samsung has baked into the circuit, maybe the 3G and 4G modems can make use of the more efficient manufacturing technology.
Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE gets 720p screen and what looks like a 32nm system processor.
Samsung has not detailed when and how the new SoC will arrive, but since it has already presented Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE and Samsung Galaxy S II LTE in Korea sporting 1.5 GHz a systemprocessor. Besides the above mentioned Samsung’s rumored Nexus Prime is a hot candidate. Samsung will start shipping samples of its new processor to selected partners in Q4.
Samsung has a firm grip of the smartphone market and if the competition doesn’t change gears to 32nm while waiting for 28nm to mature mogna – Qualcomm is expected to be out first in Q1 2012 – it can be tough to keep up in performance.
