Moto Droids Processor??

[michaelearth]

The Moto Droid has a Arm Cortex A8 processor clocked at 550MHz and I have heard people say that this processor is so much better than the Omnia II's processor at 800mhz. Also that it could even match up with a 1ghz processor.

How is the above possible and what makes Droids processor so special?

Thanks

 

[Hegemony]

The Omnia's CPU is, I believe, an ARM11 based core. The architecture is just different. You wouldn't expect a dual Pentium 4 system at 3Ghz to best a Core2 Duo at 3Ghz, right? Same deal. Clock speed isn't everything. The Droid uses an ARM Cortex A8 based core in the TI OMAP 3430 SOC (System On a Chip). It's a very fast chip with the CPU, GFX processor, and image signal processor in one package.

Don't know about Snapdragons. Not sure it there have been any benchmarks. I imagine that, as a modern mobile CPU, they're pretty fast.

 

[vincentp]

The Omnia's CPU is, I believe, an ARM11 based core. The architecture is just different. You wouldn't expect a dual Pentium 4 system at 3Ghz to best a Core2 Duo at 3Ghz, right? Same deal. Clock speed isn't everything. The Droid uses an ARM Cortex A8 based core in the TI OMAP 3430 SOC (System On a Chip). It's a very fast chip with the CPU, GFX processor, and image signal processor in one package.

Don't know about Snapdragons. Not sure it there have been any benchmarks. I imagine that, as a modern mobile CPU, they're pretty fast.

The Snapdragon's are pretty fast. From the bit that I've read, the Cortex A8 is just as fast - if not faster - at the same clock speeds, but it seems like the Snapdragon is more adaptable to higher speeds. The Nexus One supposedly has it clocked at 1Ghz, they didn't underclock it as some expected.

 

[Hegemony]

The Snapdragon's are pretty fast. From the bit that I've read, the Cortex A8 is just as fast - if not faster - at the same clock speeds, but it seems like the Snapdragon is more adaptable to higher speeds. The Nexus One supposedly has it clocked at 1Ghz, they didn't underclock it as some expected.

The Acer A1 runs a Snapdragon down-clocked to 768Mhz. They claim it was due to battery life concerns. I'll be very interested to see how the Nexus One does in that department.

 

[Fabolous]

From the early reviews, the Nexus One has comparable battery life to the iPhone 3GS (so like 12-14 hours of moderate use).

It does have an OLED screen, so maybe the increased processor power draw is offset by a more efficient screen.

Anyways, I think that clock-for-clock the Cortex beats the Snapdragon. Just hard to beat it overall when it's clocked almost twice as high

That being said, from the early videos of 2.1 on the Nexus One, while it is fast, I can say that my Droid running 2.1 is almost as fast, and with considerably more apps loaded than those videos. Just once that live wallpaper is running...well, that's something that I think needs some further optimization.

 

[vonfeldt7]

The Omnia's CPU is, I believe, an ARM11 based core. The architecture is just different. You wouldn't expect a dual Pentium 4 system at 3Ghz to best a Core2 Duo at 3Ghz, right? Same deal. Clock speed isn't everything. The Droid uses an ARM Cortex A8 based core in the TI OMAP 3430 SOC (System On a Chip). It's a very fast chip with the CPU, GFX processor, and image signal processor in one package.

Don't know about Snapdragons. Not sure it there have been any benchmarks. I imagine that, as a modern mobile CPU, they're pretty fast.

Well said. Dear OP, don't get caught up in the Mhz Myth. There's a lot more to see than what meets the eye when dealing with CPUs.

 

[michaelearth]

Thanks for all the information guys. so based on what you said is pretty safe to say the droids processor will be sufficient for some time to come, right?

thanks

 

[michaelearth]

Thanks for all the information guys. so based on what you said is pretty safe to say the droids processor will be sufficient for some time to come, right?

thanks

 

[Fabolous]

Thanks for all the information guys. so based on what you said is pretty safe to say the droids processor will be sufficient for some time to come, right?

thanks

Yeah, it'll be fine. I mean, if that antiquated Qualcomm 528MHz ARM11 processor in practically every Android device sans Droid and Nexus One can handle 2.1, the Cortex A8 should be more than capable.

 

[Bg8780]

I expect my Droid to be able to take on many new roms of Android unlike the G1 when it first came out. The entire reason I chose the Droid over the Eris was purely because of the CPU and GPU package used inside the phone. As the software grows the Droid should have no issue keeping up.

 

[GODMODE]

Snapdragon is not a processor. It is a mobile platform. It is based on the cortex a8 architecture.

 

[sooper_droid12]

To clarify, Snapdragon is the name for the platform. The processor core is called Scorpion which is based off the A8 architecture. This processor is paired up with an Imageon GPU along with an ISP and DSP. The OMAP3 found in the DROID is paired up with an SGX GPU. While the OMAP3 isn't as stout as the Snap's Scorpion, the GPU tends to be the weak point of the that combo where as the SGX GPU is very good, though also clocked slower. At the end of the day, it comes down to integration. Which combination and integration of SoC design works best. Benchmark tests for the N1 aren't out yet, but the HD2 which has the same hardware was bested by the iPhone running an OMAP3/SGX combo in virtually every graphics test except for a few integer-based tests where the Snap shines.

The short answer after a long one is: You're fine. The DROID's SoC is potent and will run and continue to run in many mobile platforms even after the N1's release. Snap is just the latest fad for marketing purposes. Don't get me wrong, it's very, very capable, but it won't render what you have obsolete.

 

[shadowdude777]

Wow, reading this thread makes me feel so much better. I was paranoid about my Droid becoming obsolete with the release of Snapdragon-based phones, but now I feel better. Especially because I don't see any other Android phones on the horizon with hardware keyboards! I guess now the only thing I have to worry about my phone becoming obsolete within the next two years is the release of 4G.

I'm also eager to see our overclocking options on the Cortex CPU. Though my phone already feels REALLY hot near the camera area (above the battery) when running PdaNet through USB tether. I can't imagine an overclock is going to help with that at all.

 

[CRPercodani]

No worries about 4G/LTE, by the time it is in NYC your 2yr's from the DROID will most likely be up. It MIGHT be ready in some areas like NYC by the end of 2010, BUT devices that have the hardware for it probably won't see the light until 2011, except for data cards and such. Take Sprint's 4G/WiMax for example, it has been out for like what almost a year now? They haven't even released ANY phones that can use it, and only 1 or 2 data cards.

And overclocking might not have much benefit as we will only gain a extra 50mhz, while that is more then we have now it won't make much if any difference for 90% of the tasks. The added heat and battery drain would pretty much make it pointless, besides the "it can be done" factor.

 

[Psychokitty]

Just because it can doesn't mean it should.

 

[jmccarthy14]

someone on here said 9% real world performance increase, which to me isn't worth the 75% decrease in performance the n1 will have in 60% of locations due to network. when I thought about how much of these phones rely on the internet and how there arrest any real 3d games, that a verizon droid will perform better for me than atmobile anything


and I really thought about it since im not under contract with verizon

 

[shadowdude777]

No worries about 4G/LTE, by the time it is in NYC your 2yr's from the DROID will most likely be up. It MIGHT be ready in some areas like NYC by the end of 2010, BUT devices that have the hardware for it probably won't see the light until 2011, except for data cards and such. Take Sprint's 4G/WiMax for example, it has been out for like what almost a year now? They haven't even released ANY phones that can use it, and only 1 or 2 data cards.

And overclocking might not have much benefit as we will only gain a extra 50mhz, while that is more then we have now it won't make much if any difference for 90% of the tasks. The added heat and battery drain would pretty much make it pointless, besides the "it can be done" factor.

Haha, alright, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. And after my two years are up, maybe I can get a device running Android 4.0 with a 4G data plan!

And yeah, I guess overclocking won't help much in reality. I've always overclocked my desktops so I guess power consumption was never a big deal for me... except once a month when Con Ed likes to remind me just how much I owe them.

Does underclocking help save battery significantly? Cause I heard there was a way to underclock the Droid while it's in standby if the phone is rooted and in most cases, I really don't care how much processing power my phone is using while it's in my pocket. If it can significantly extend my battery life, maybe I'll consider rooting, and installing 2.1 while I'm at it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[alostpacket]

To clarify, Snapdragon is the name for the platform. The processor core is called Scorpion which is based off the A8 architecture. This processor is paired up with an Imageon GPU along with an ISP and DSP. The OMAP3 found in the DROID is paired up with an SGX GPU. While the OMAP3 isn't as stout as the Snap's Scorpion, the GPU tends to be the weak point of the that combo where as the SGX GPU is very good, though also clocked slower. At the end of the day, it comes down to integration. Which combination and integration of SoC design works best. Benchmark tests for the N1 aren't out yet, but the HD2 which has the same hardware was bested by the iPhone running an OMAP3/SGX combo in virtually every graphics test except for a few integer-based tests where the Snap shines.

The short answer after a long one is: You're fine. The DROID's SoC is potent and will run and continue to run in many mobile platforms even after the N1's release. Snap is just the latest fad for marketing purposes. Don't get me wrong, it's very, very capable, but it won't render what you have obsolete.

Wow great info thanks.

The other thing I think it's important to remember is that when all these dumb tech blogs (engadget, gizmodo, et al.) say that the N1 "smokes" the Droid, they are always comparing a Droid running 2.0.1 to a N1 running 2.1

It's comparing apples to oranges. If someone really wanted to do a fair test they would compare the N1 to a rooted Droid running 2.1. By most accounts the Droid runs much faster under 2.1 than it does under 2.0.1.