Despite Nvidia's CEO thinking that VR's problems will take another 20 years to resolve, the industry is still racing forward to accommodate VR applications. Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1080 will greatly assist VR applications on the desktop in 2016 and so will the new chip from ARM that's due to arrive in time for the 2017 iPhone. According to Trusted Reviews, ARM has laid its cards down for a mobile gaming future fuelled by VR. The chip architecture design company, which is behind the architecture for processors seen in phones including the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the iPhone 6S, has launched its new processor and graphics architecture at Computex, with particular focus on VR content consumption.
The new ARM Mali-G71 is of particular interest; mostly because
the company reckons it's faster than an Nvidia GeForce GTX 740M. Considering this is a low-end graphics card for laptops from 2013, you may scoff, but this is on a piece of kit the smaller than the size of your fingernail. It's also more powerful than Intel HD Graphics 5500, found on last-generation Intel laptop processors. The Mali-G71 is the first GPU based on ARM's new 'Bifrost' architecture and has double the number of shader cores (the bits that do the bulk of the work) compared to the previous high-end Mali-T880 GPU, for a total performance increase of 50%. Despite this, it's still 20% more power-efficient than the previous model, and the size of the GPU is only slightly larger.
the company reckons it's faster than an Nvidia GeForce GTX 740M. Considering this is a low-end graphics card for laptops from 2013, you may scoff, but this is on a piece of kit the smaller than the size of your fingernail. It's also more powerful than Intel HD Graphics 5500, found on last-generation Intel laptop processors. The Mali-G71 is the first GPU based on ARM's new 'Bifrost' architecture and has double the number of shader cores (the bits that do the bulk of the work) compared to the previous high-end Mali-T880 GPU, for a total performance increase of 50%. Despite this, it's still 20% more power-efficient than the previous model, and the size of the GPU is only slightly larger.
With all of this, ARM is expecting to be able to deliver smoother performance with augmented reality, virtual reality and 120Hz 4K video, as well as an increase in the number of cameras and sensors on handheld devices. It makes you wonder if Apple's VR headset could debut in concert with the new 2017 iPhone. For more on this see the full Trusted Reviews report here. According to ARM, the 2017 ARM premium IP will redefine virtual reality and augmented reality on flagship devices. The new processor is based on 10nm FinFET process technology.
"The smartphone is the world's most ubiquitous compute device, offering experiences that improve with each new product generation," said Pete Hutton, executive vice president and president, product groups, ARM. "In 2017, we will see devices with the Cortex-A73 and Mali-G71 processors that stand out thanks to their impressive and sustained performance, and even more stunning visuals. This technology can make engaging with 4K video, virtual reality and augmented reality an everyday experience on a mobile device." "VR is one of the most important technological breakthroughs for the gaming industry in a generation," said Niklas Smedberg, technical director, platform partnerships, Epic Games. "The ability to deliver a compelling VR experience on all platforms, but especially mobile, is critical for the industry's continued growth and advancement. To enable a great mobile VR experience, devices need to be the highest performing and most energy efficient available." For more about the technicals, see ARM's full press release here.
