Qualcomm caves in with eight-core Snapdragon 615

Posted on Monday, February 24 2014 @ 11:36 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
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Qualcomm previously said it would focus on faster cores instead of more cores, but this year the company reveals the 64-bit Snapdragon 615 with eight Cortex A53 cores. The company explained the move by pointing to market research studies that show Chinese consumers prefer more cores, even if they don't make a big difference. The new series also includes the Snapdragon 610, a quad-core Cortex A53 chip.
The Snapdragon 610 will be equipped with four ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores running at an unspecified clock speed, rather than one of Qualcomm's custom ARM architectures. Snapdragon 615 takes a classic more-is-better approach, adding four more Cortex A53 CPU cores to the 610 for a total of eight. (Update: According to AnandTech, each group of four cores in the Snapdragon 615 will be optimized for a different performance level. One group will offer faster performance and one will offer lower power consumption, but both groups can theoretically be active at the same time.) For reference, the original Snapdragon 600 included four 32-bit Krait 300 CPU cores running at 1.7 or 1.9GHz, depending on the specific model.
Further details can be read ARS Technica.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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