IFA 2016: Panasonic Press Event
We’re here with Panasonic!
Vik
IFA 2016: Panasonic Press Event
We’re here with Panasonic!
Qualcomm Details Snapdragon 821: Clocks, Efficiency, and IP
While Qualcomm already announced the Snapdragon 821, with the announcement details were rather sparse. Fortunately, today Qualcomm followed up with more details. Those that followed the announcement might recall that the only information disclosed at the time was that the CPU big cluster was now at 2.4 GHz. Today, we also get a GPU clock disclosure, with full details as seen below.
| Snapdragon 820 | Snapdragon 821 | |
| CPU Perf Cluster | 2x Kryo 2.15 GHz | 2x Kryo 2.34 GHz |
| CPU Power Cluster | 2x Kryo 1.59 GHz | 2x Kryo 2.19 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 530 624 MHz | Adreno 530 653 MHz |
Interestingly enough, Qualcomm is also claiming a 5% bump in power efficiency, which sounds like it’s actually referring to platform power but could just be overall SoC efficiency. Other marketing bullet points include support for Snapdragon VR SDK which allows for Daydream support as well as dual phase detection. I’m not sure what this is unless this is referring to support for two separate phase detect auto focus systems similar to the Sony Alpha SLT-A99, but Qualcomm is claiming that this will improve autofocus speed compared to a traditional PDAF solution. The ISP also now supports extended ranges for laser AF, so systems like those seen in the LG G5 and HTC 10 will be able to better guide contrast AF for devices where PDAF isn’t available or can’t be used.
Qualcomm is also citing some interesting statistics for user experience with the Snapdragon 821, such as 10% faster boot speed, 10% faster app loads, and some BSP changes combined with faster processing to enable smoother scrolling and improved web browsing performance. The Snapdragon 821 SoC is already shipping in devices like the ASUS ZenFone 3, so we shouldn’t be far off from seeing major launches using this SoC. It’s interesting to note here that last year we got details of Snapdragon 820 by September but we have yet to see what Qualcomm plans to launch for next year’s flagships. It’ll be interesting to see whether they stay with a custom CPU core or elect to go with an ARM Cortex big.LITTLE configuration similar to the Kirin 950.
Qualcomm Details Snapdragon 821: Clocks, Efficiency, and IP
While Qualcomm already announced the Snapdragon 821, with the announcement details were rather sparse. Fortunately, today Qualcomm followed up with more details. Those that followed the announcement might recall that the only information disclosed at the time was that the CPU big cluster was now at 2.4 GHz. Today, we also get a GPU clock disclosure, with full details as seen below.
| Snapdragon 820 | Snapdragon 821 | |
| CPU Perf Cluster | 2x Kryo 2.15 GHz | 2x Kryo 2.34 GHz |
| CPU Power Cluster | 2x Kryo 1.59 GHz | 2x Kryo 2.19 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 530 624 MHz | Adreno 530 653 MHz |
Interestingly enough, Qualcomm is also claiming a 5% bump in power efficiency, which sounds like it’s actually referring to platform power but could just be overall SoC efficiency. Other marketing bullet points include support for Snapdragon VR SDK which allows for Daydream support as well as dual phase detection. I’m not sure what this is unless this is referring to support for two separate phase detect auto focus systems similar to the Sony Alpha SLT-A99, but Qualcomm is claiming that this will improve autofocus speed compared to a traditional PDAF solution. The ISP also now supports extended ranges for laser AF, so systems like those seen in the LG G5 and HTC 10 will be able to better guide contrast AF for devices where PDAF isn’t available or can’t be used.
Qualcomm is also citing some interesting statistics for user experience with the Snapdragon 821, such as 10% faster boot speed, 10% faster app loads, and some BSP changes combined with faster processing to enable smoother scrolling and improved web browsing performance. The Snapdragon 821 SoC is already shipping in devices like the ASUS ZenFone 3, so we shouldn’t be far off from seeing major launches using this SoC. It’s interesting to note here that last year we got details of Snapdragon 820 by September but we have yet to see what Qualcomm plans to launch for next year’s flagships. It’ll be interesting to see whether they stay with a custom CPU core or elect to go with an ARM Cortex big.LITTLE configuration similar to the Kirin 950.
NVIDIA Releases 372.70 WHQL Game Ready Driver
It’s driver update time again. This time with a small list of fixes and a relatively large list of game ready titles. Though the list is a bit inflated with Deus Ex: Mankind divided sitting in a second time and Quantum break not seeing release for two more weeks, luck and users favor the prepared.
With this driver update continuing 370 driver branch, we start with a short list of fixes including issues in Windows 7 through 10 with Fallout 4 where enabling SSAO instead of HBAO+ would cause your Pipboy to go black and unreadable. Another issue resolved is high deferred Procedure Call latency in driver version 368.69 when upgrading to a GeForce GTX 1080, and the last fix listed only under Windows 10 was video corruption found when certain standard definition videos were up-scaled to full screen after a driver update.
The big reason most will be interested in this driver are the game ready updates. Key among these is World of Warcraft: Legion, the 6th and latest Expansion to what’s still the most popular MMORPG out there. Following WoW: Legion we have the Battlefield 1 open beta starting, and NVIDIA has made sure that their GPU’s are ready as part of this week’s driver update. Meanwhile, Quantum Break, which saw release earlier this year on both the Xbox One and the Windows 10 store as a DX12 title, will be released on Steam with DX11 support, allowing more people to enjoy the game. Steam currently lists the release date as September 14th, making NVIDIA ready a head of the games (re) release. Lastly, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is listed again under game ready this week. While I’m unsure of why it’s game ready again, NVIDIA does state in the release notes that Deus Ex’s 3D Vision profile has been upgraded from fair to excellent, for those still sporting the specs (read: spectacles) to play in 3D.
Anyone interested can download the updated drivers through GeForce Experience or on the NVIDIA driver download page. More information on this update and further issues can be found in the 372.70 release notes.