Droid x TI omap vs Hummingbird processor

[jamie8377]

Im new here and just wanted an opinion on some info i just received about these 2 processors. I was originally under the impression that the hummingbird processor is faster but have been informed that infact the ti omap is actually a faster processor but lacks the better gpu. also was informed that the memory the droid x uses is faster than the samsung galaxy s phones. Is this info correct and is this why froyo 2.2 is not giving me any kind of performance boost. the droid x my family has seems to of benefited greatly from the 2.2 update and is making my fascinate look like a out dated piece of equipment. ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

 

[Frisco]

Welcome to Android Forums, jamie.

I've moved your question out of the News area and into the Android Lounge for you.

 

[jamie8377]

Did some searching through the threads here and cant get a straight foward answer on my question. does anybody have any answers? Thanks to all responders.

 

[Medion]

This is going to be a bit technical, but I'll try to keep it somewhat simple. Basically, anyone who told you that the OMAP CPU is faster than the Hummingbird CPU fed you some misinformation.

The SOC basically comes down to the three things you mentioned; CPU, GPU, and memory.

CPU: Both use a Cortex A8 MP Core and the ARMv7 instruction set, clocked at 1ghz, and use the 45nm process. The only confirmed differences are some changes to the Hummingbird CPU allowing for 10-20% (claimed by Samsung) speed boost during multi-threading. Don't confuse that with multi-tasking (which when done at times, can be multi-threaded). Overall, they should be about the same, with the Hummingbird being slightly faster.

GPU: OMAP uses the PowerVR SGX 530, and the Hummingbird uses the 540. While we're heard some strange numbers (like 90 million polys), the actual numbers from NEC are that the 540 puts out double the polys and double the fill rate. Hummingbird wins easily.

Memory: The droid X uses 512MB of unified LPDDR2 memory at 200mhz. This means that both the CPU and GPU have full shared access to the 512MB, and the memory is twice as fast as that used in older OMAP and current Snapdragon SOCs (although real world performance is rarely impacted by this memory speed difference due to other system limitations). The Galaxy S uses 2 blocks of memory, one is 384MB, the other is 128MB (total 512MB). In their spec sheets, Verizon lists the Fascinate as having 384MB of RAM. It is largely speculated that the 2 blocks are for system/CPU (384) and the GPU (128). The 384 is DDR (not sure if LPDDR1 or 2), while the 128 is a faster type of memory, which makes sense if dedicated to the GPU.

So overall, what does this mean? System performance should be similar unless you run into a situation that requires more than 384MB of system RAM. If gaming ever really takes off on Android, the Fascinate will be the undisputed champ (between these two). None of these conditions are really expected to happen within the next 12 months to a degree that might cause either phone to really stand out, so you really can just base your purchase off the superficial decisions (UI, form factor, screen quality, etc.).

 

[jamie8377]

So am i doing something wrong because the droid x with 2.2 seems to be kicking my butt in browsing and regular tasks the only time i see my fascinate being faster is when i play games.

 

[Medion]

So am i doing something wrong because the droid x with 2.2 seems to be kicking my butt in browsing and regular tasks the only time i see my fascinate being faster is when i play games.

Are you running 2.2 on your Fascinate?

 

[jamie8377]

yes i am running 2.2 on my fascinate. i also noticed when the droid got its 2.2 update its benchmark scores went up to the 1500s im still stuck in the 1000 area.

 

[Medion]

yes i am running 2.2 on my fascinate. i also noticed when the droid got its 2.2 update its benchmark scores went up to the 1500s im still stuck in the 1000 area.

Which 2.2 are you running, because I know the official 2.2 hasn't been released.

 

[jamie8377]

dont know exactly which version it was downloaded for me. should i just go back to 2.1 and wait for the official. this one doesnt seem to be any help at all on performance.

 

[Medion]

dont know exactly which version it was downloaded for me. should i just go back to 2.1 and wait for the official. this one doesnt seem to be any help at all on performance.

Sounds to me you're not likely running 2.2, but then, I don't follow the Fascinate's custom ROM scene. I do know, however, that any difference you're seeing in those benchmarks is due to something other than actual hardware.

 

[jamie8377]

So the info that was given to me about the omap processor being faster has nothing to do with these problems. just trying to find out what is going on. was told that the hummingbird was originally thought to be faster but is not. i was told that the hummingbirds gpu is faster but not the actual cpu. so can i just blow this info off or is there something to consider here.

 

[Medion]

So the info that was given to me about the omap processor being faster has nothing to do with these problems. just trying to find out what is going on. was told that the hummingbird was originally thought to be faster but is not. i was told that the hummingbirds gpu is faster but not the actual cpu. so can i just blow this info off or is there something to consider here.

Like I said, the Hummingbird and OMAP are both Cortex A8 cores using the ARMv7 instruction set and clocked at 1ghz. They're practically the same CPU. Any differences in speed you'll see is due to software issues.

Without knowing what ROM you're using, I can't tell, but your benchmarks is pretty much on par with what I've seen for other Fascinates running 2.1. If that's the case, that's the issue. 2.2 uses the JIT compiler, which gives a 2-5x performance boost in most tasks, and a sizable boost in benchmarks as well. Let's see how you do after the 2.2 official update comes out. Galaxy series starts rolling out this month, not sure when Verizon will give the go-ahead for the Fascinate though.

 

[jamie8377]

thanks for the info.

I guess it does not matter if you have the fastest processor. but the most effective. I do believe TI HAS DONE THAT AND I WILL BE CHANGING TO THE DROID X SOON. The samsung has been nothing but problems and the performance sucks! Maybe that is why there prices are Dropping.

THE DROID X IS MY NEW PHONE! With all the Bullshit coming out for the samsung galaxy s phones. Im pretty pissed off that my fascinate cant hang with the droid x.

 

[MonmouthDroid]

Not that it matters anymore, but I don't believe there are any 2.2 roms for the fascinate out yet because there are no 2.2 kernels for it to run on yet. You were most likely on 2.1, not 2.2. 2.2 has JIT enabled which tremendously increases performance. This is likely the reason the DX was faster than your SF. When they were both at 2.1, the Fascinate was quicker. I think that once updated to 2.2, the Fascinate will be quicker again.

 

[Medion]

Not that it matters anymore, but I don't believe there are any 2.2 roms for the fascinate out yet because there are no 2.2 kernels for it to run on yet. You were most likely on 2.1, not 2.2. 2.2 has JIT enabled which tremendously increases performance. This is likely the reason the DX was faster than your SF. When they were both at 2.1, the Fascinate was quicker. I think that once updated to 2.2, the Fascinate will be quicker again.

Don't bother. I've tried, he just doesn't get it. He's made up his mind, let him live with it. When the Fascinate gets 2.2, we'll finally see the speed boost it gets from 2.2.

 

[jamie8377]

The fascinate is in fact slower as far as cpu and memory. How come you are arguing with both a hummingbird/samsung rep who says its basicaly over for the hummingbird phones. My fascinate was never faster than the x reguardless of 2.1 or 2.2 the only thing I got was faster and more unstable gpu scores.

 

[Eazail70x7]

In quadrant standard Pro (paid version), the Galaxy S (hummingbird) scores higher in the CPU portion (it has more blue)

http://www.androidcentral.com/sites...leimage/684/2010/10/htc-merge-benchmark-2.JPG

The real difference of score comes from the i/o portion of this test. Look at how muc more green the DX has than the Galaxy S.

 

[Guamguy]

I don't see how the general CPU to be faster in both, since its all a Cortex A8 anyway. The GPU however, is more important than most would think. The GPU also handles all the redraws and fills of the UI, and in fact, a faster GPU will give the impression of a faster and smoother interface. It actually matters a lot if the OS are hard coding against GPU specifics, this optimizations makes it look and run fast.

In paper, the Hummingbird has the faster GPU, and regardless of the benchmarks, I always felt that the Galaxy S animated with more smoothness than even my HTC phones with Froyo. Even if the Quadrant scores comes in, with the HTCs ahead, the UI impression still seems the Samsung is smoother.

On the other hand, Samsung put some kind of secure file system on their Galaxy S that creates a lot of drag in file i/o read and writes. Like really slow, followed by quick bursts. That's why people complain about some "lag" on these phones. Its really funny because Samsung actually puts faster NAND as internal memory on their phones vs. HTC or Motorola. Yet file I/O on the Motos and HTCs were a lot faster. So overall, because of the software, the Motorola and the HTCs come out ahead, while questionable software decisions locked down the full potential of the Samsung Galaxy S hardware.

Hopefully with Froyo it changes all that. Looking at various ROMs indeed, they do a much better job in releasing the Galaxy S hardware potential.

 

[Eazail70x7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-lqAqmU6LM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Speed comparison between the 2 processors.

 

[jamie8377]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lqaqmu6lm&feature=youtube_gdata_player

speed comparison between the 2 processors.

you also need to stop whining. Did you really think motorolla would let a fake win!

Its funny because the samsung has a fake capturing process. Meaning the Droid x captures real color. Not man made overwrites! Which of course the gpu likes because it is programed and not reality. The Samsungs failed in this aspect in the early stages of testing because of a week processor. so they made the amoled screen with colors that pop! HaHA.