NVIDIA - The Benefits of Multiple CPU Cores in Mobile Devices

[Stefan]

The Need for Multiprocessing

Mobile devices perform a wide variety of tasks such as Web browsing, video playback, mobile
gaming, SMS text messaging, and location-based services. Due to the growth in the availability
of high speed mobile and Wi-Fi networks, mobile devices will also be used for various
performance-intensive tasks that were previously handled by traditional PCs.
...
NVIDIA Tegra is the only mobile processer that not only has a dual core SMP capable CPU but
also a console class Ultra Low Power (ULP) GeForce™ GPU. The architecture of the GPU in
the Tegra processor is similar to that of desktop GeForce GPUs and therefore games that were
originally developed for SMP-capable desktop CPUs and desktop GPU architectures can be
easily ported to run on NVIDIA Tegra and will deliver the best gameplay experience on Tegra
based mobile devices. Table 1 shows some of the popular game engines and the number of
threads used by each engine.   

Game/Engine         Number of Threads
Unreal Engine 3     4+
Id Tech 5           6+
Frostbite           14
Civilization 5      2
Mafia 2             4
Crysis              8
Uncharted 2         8
Killzone 2          8+

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