Samsung launches Exynos, a 2.0 GHz processor for tablets

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds

Samsung's next-generation Exynos processor is a dual-core, 2.0GHz System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for future mobile devices that looks like it could give Nvidia's new Tegra 3 chip a run for its money.

The Samsung Exynos 5250 sports two ARM-based Cortex-A15 cores and it delivers double the performance of 1.5GHz dual-core SoC with Cortex-A9 cores, the company said this week in a Korean-language press release that's been translated by the Sammy Hub blog.

Manufactured with Samsung's 32-nanometer process, the Exynos 5250 is intended for high-end tablets, according to the Korean tech giant. The next-generation SoC is set for volume production in the second quarter of 2012.

Samsung's new SoC gets four times the graphics performance of older Cortex-A9 based chips, plus it supports stereoscopic 3D displays and resolutions of up to 2560-by-1600, according to the company. Samsung also said it's doubled the data transfer rates of older processors to 12.8 GB/s with the new chip.

By way of comparison, Nvidia's Tegra 3 SoCs boast four cores (actually five, including the fifth low-power "companion" core) to the Exynos 5250's two, but Tegra 3 uses Cortex-A9 cores that clock at 1.3GHz in multi-core mode and 1.4GHz in single-core mode. Samsung's new SoC is likely the first SoC built for mobile devices that achieves 2.0GHz.

This article, written by Damon Poeter, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.