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Nvidia reveals Tegra 3: Quadcore chip for phones and tablets

Nvidia has confirmed its next generation of its smartphone and tablet processor will be Tegra 3 – the world’s first mobile quad-core chip.

Code-named Kal-El, Tegra 3 is 5x as fast as it’s predecessor, with 3x faster graphics and now including stereoscopic 3D support, but despite this performance boost Nvidia has managed to ensure power consumption is lower. The first device to incorporate the Tegra 4 chip is the Asus Transformer Prime tablet.

Incorporated into Tegra 3 are four main CPU cores, while the fifth core is deigned for less power-heavy tasks and active standby. Each of the cores are automatically enabled and disabled based on the workload – even inside an app. For instance for a web page with Flash and lots of elements it may use two of the four cores, but once the page is rendered those two turn off and the companion core comes back on. When a core is off, it’s off thus consuming less power.

It’s is the first mobile chip with a PC-Class CPC and boasts an impressive 12 hour video playback


Tegra 3 Gaming

Tegra 3 includes a new 12-core GeForce graphics GPU. We saw a few slides, Riptide had added motion effects, while Sprinkle is more realistic, of course it’s hard to tell, but NVIDIA has included a video demo of Glowball you can check out below.

 


Nvidia states 15+ Tegra 3 games are in development, including Big Top THD, Da Vinci, Bladeslinger, Chidori, from developers like Pitbill and Bridea – typically company’s who create games for consoles. By the end of 2011 40+ Tegra games will be available for Tegra 2 and Tegra 3.

There will be games especially for Tegra 3 chips that won’t work on Tegra 2 devices, while Tegra 2 games will have enhancements – such as improved frame rates – when they work on Tegra 3

Wireless controller support is also included with Tegra 3- so you can play Tegra games via your TV using your console controller, by hooking up your tablet using HDMI. Compatible controllers include the PS3 Bluetooth controller , Xbox 360. It also works 10 ft away  UI controller

Finally Stereoscopic 3D, uses NVIDIA’s 3D vision technology, lets you automatically convert games to 3D.

Tegra 3 launches on the Asus Transformer Prime and will be available in a selection of different devices during 2012.

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