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Nvidia has unveiled Tegra X1 - an all-in-one mobile processor combining state-of-the-art octo-core ARM CPU architecture with the most advanced graphics hardware on the market. Based on the Nvidia Maxwell graphics tech found in the GTX 980 and GTX 970, Tegra X1 offers around 500 GFLOPs of rendering power, leaving last-gen console for dust.Tegra X1 represents a generational leap in performance over the current standard bearers in the mobile market - the Apple A8X found in the iPad Air 2, along with Nvidia's own Tegra K1, which powers Shield Tablet and the Google Nexus 9. CPU-side, the quad-core ARM Cortex A15 arrangement found in the 32-bit version of Tegra K1 is swapped out for ARM's latest A57 architecture - four cores backed up by an additional quartet of lower-power A53s. These are standard 'off the shelf' parts with minor Nvidia enhancements. The fact it is not a part of X1 at all calls into question the fate of Nvidia's own 'Denver' ARM design, so far found only in the Nexus 9.
It's in the GPU that things get more interesting, and where a revised development focus within Nvidia pays the most dividends. In creating its Maxwell GPU architecture, the firm has concentrated efforts on developing its graphics tech for mobile first and foremost. The idea is that by concentrating on efficiency - in terms of both silicon die space and power efficiency - Nvidia creates state-of-the-art mobile graphics tech that scales up beautifully for laptop and desktop applications.
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