3D Performance: Tegra 4 is subject to the GPU in the iPad 4

Shortly after the performance of Nvidia's upcoming mobile processor (System-on-Chip/SoC) Tegra 4 already the first graphics benchmarks came into the net. Those GLBenchmark results may explain why Nvidia boss Jen-Hsun Huang at the Tegra-4-presentation waived entirely on benchmarks for graphics performance.

The GLBenchmark values ​​have been deleted from the website, there is however still in Google's web cache. As a user "Build Brain" is entered - the name of an automated test system for Nvidia's developer . Accordingly, Nvidia's Tegra reached 4 in Egypt HD throughput 32.6 fps. By comparison, a managed iPad 4 in our tests, around 52 fps, a Google Nexus 10 with Mali-T604 GPU, 36 fps and 27 fps an iPhone 5.

Declined to comment on Nvidia's marketing director Nick Stam, the results are not, but had the conversation with our gadget blog TechStage out that the software stacks are not sufficiently optimized and the products are not yet delivered. This, he pointed out that the iPad 4 put many graphics cores that take up chip area. Moreover, the software stack in the iPad and the games were "not so amazing". Nvidia's strength is the software and drivers, the ability to optimize and work with game developers. No competition in this regard could compete with Nvidia. In the end, one would beat the iPad with better and fuller effect games.

Published by the Nvidia Tegra-shot of the 4 shows all cores, but also Nvidia's artistic creativity.  
picture: Nvidia Nick Stam settled elicit further details on Tegra-4-GPU. Therefore retains Nvidia the ratio of pixel-to vertex shaders of Tegra 3 at. Stam confirmed that Tegra has 4 48 pixel shaders and vertex shaders 24. So Nvidia has increased six-fold the number of core GeForce ULP compared to Tegra 3 simple. There are still some tweaks to the render pipeline flowed, also there are more and larger caches. How many texture units has Tegra 4, Stam was however not reveal, but at least that the ULP GeForce per clock outputs full-color pixels. Nvidia also stressed that all Tegra 4 versions for smartphones and tablets will have 72 shader cores.

When asked why they still offer no unified shader architecture, said Nick Stam, that such an architecture from Nvidia's point of view simply does not make sense yet. Unified shaders are much more complex, making it larger and lead to a higher power. So be it for Nvidia to date still more efficient to use separate pixel shader and vertex shader cores. However, it maintains the SoC thus compute calculations via OpenCL and OpenGL ES 3.0 denied. New PowerVR SGX GPU, as they stick around in the iPad 4 have already unified shaders, as well as many other competing chips. Graphics specialist Nvidia is so far back just at the GPU architecture of SoC cores.

Nvidia's Project Shield game console will be released in the second quarter of 2013 and will probably not a bargain.
picture: Nvidia How the high TDP of Tegra 4 exactly is Nick Stam did not betray. However, he explained that the chip under full load "4, 5 or 6 watts" consumes - provided that all cores work. This confirms the value of Shield-console with a 38-Wh battery between 5 and 10 hours to hold the games. Other high-end SoCs are likely to be in a similar range. Except when playing a mobile SoC in smartphones and tablets, however, is rarely at full load.

The first announced the device with Tegra 4 is expected for the second quarter 2013 Nvidia Game Project Shield. Nick Stam explained that they had not yet lashed price. He recalled that Shield, unlike other expensive games consoles not subsidized and will thereby also squanders not cheap. "It's not a model subsidize're playing free android games on this, it's not like we are selling the hardware dirt cheap. "

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