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Samsung Galaxy S III gets benchmarked, shows plenty of promise
We're here on the floor at the Samsung Galaxy S III launch and we've just managed to get some alone time with the unit to get some benchmarks. Now, let's stress that the handset is a pre-production model, so we can't take these as gospel truth, but it's a good indication of how powerful that Quad-Core Exynos really is. The only thing that isn't working is SunSpider, since our results just didn't tally with the other tests available, so hopefully it's just a quirk. Head on past the break for a dose of nitty and a sprinkling of gritty.
Engadget Primed: Using benchmarks
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. Staring at your smartphone, you realize that there's something missing. It does everything you want it to -- very well, we might add -- but what hole is left to fill? We'll help you out with this one: you want bragging rights. There has to be a way to face your friends with confidence, right? All you need is a little nudge in the right direction, and in this edition of Engadget Primed, we'll give you that much-needed shove by explaining benchmarks. Perhaps you've seen us talk about benchmarks in our product reviews. We'll typically use them to gauge the relative performance of various devices, but discussing a Linpack score doesn't mean much without going deeper into what it actually means. What aspects of performance do these benchmarks measure, and what techniques do they use? How much can we rely on them when making purchasing decisions? Read on after the break for the full scoop.
Motorola Xoom hits 1.7GHz, teeters on the edge of oblivion
Just when we thought the Motorola Xoom had hit its stride at a blazing 1.504 billion operations cycles per second, the trusty Tiamat kernel has strapped on an veritable afterburner capable of 1.7GHz. What happens when your shaking hands flip that switch and give that Tegra 2 all the jet fuel it can take? Well, anecdotal cases from the XDA-developers forums suggest it'll probably just reboot anticlimactically. If you're lucky enough to have the magic silicon, however, you'll be treated to a benchmark-blitzing rig, reportedly capable of 70 MFLOPS in Linpack, 1480ms runs in SunSpider, and Quadrant scores approaching a smooth 5,000. See just how far that rainbow benchmark bar can stretch in a screencap after the break. Update: There's a jolly discussion in comments about whether gigahertz can be directly translated to operations per second in the case of the Tegra 2 -- we'll err on the side of caution and say cycles per second instead.
Samsung Galaxy S II overclocked to 1.5GHz, used to obliterate benchmarks (video)
What do you do after you've bought the most powerful smartphone to yet grace the Android universe? Some timid folks would urge you to just enjoy it, but if you're like us, you'll probably want to know just how high that dual-core Exynos 4210 birdie could fly. The processor inside the Galaxy S II started off life at 1GHz, then got sped up by Samsung to 1.2GHz just before release, and has now been taken all the way to 1.5GHz thanks to coolbho3000 over on the xda-developers forum. He's been nice enough to provide the source code and instructions necessary to reproduce this stable overclock on your Galaxy S II, but don't rush off just yet -- there's video of the GSII romping through Quadrant and Linpack after the break. [Thanks, Mike and Sam]
iPad 2 would have bested 1990s-era supercomputers
If you want to know which supercomputer is the fastest in the world, you check the Top 500 list. The keeper of that list is Dr. Jack Dongarra, who teaches at the University of Tennessee. Dongarra is one of the authors of the Linpack computing benchmark, introduced way back in 1979. With this benchmark, supercomputing sites can rate computers' relative performance at solving a set of linear equations. Dongarra's group has ported Linpack to the iPad 2 to see how fast it really is, according to the New York Times. Tests on the iPad 2 have so far only been run on a single core of the A5 processor, but Dongarra estimates that a dual-core Linpack run will yield performance of between 1.5 and 1.65 gigaflops -- that's up to 1.65 billion floating-point operations per second. That raw performance means that the iPad 2 would have remained on the list of the world's speediest supercomputers until about 1994. The single-processor tests of the iPad 2 matched the Linpack results of the four-processor version of the Cray 2 supercomputer (pictured). Back in 1985, the eight-processor version of the Cray 2 was the fastest computer in the world. Yeah, the iPad 2 is a 21st century device, but its comparable benchmarks to supercomputers of the past are still pretty impressive when you consider it's thinner than a notebook and is cooled by plain old air. Most of the old supercomputers it rivaled required specialized cooling, custom-built enclosures and raised flooring. Just think: in 20 years or less, the power of today's fastest supercomputer could be in an iPhone. Of course, if you want to build a supercomputer out of Apple hardware, it's easier to start with the bigger ones. Thanks to Brian for the tip.
Motorola Xoom overclocked to 1.5GHz, eats Quadrant and Linpack for breakfast (video)
Hold on to your hats, gents, because things just got real -- that's a Motorola Xoom in the picture above, clocked at a blazing 1.504GHz. While we highly doubt that's a new world record of any sort, the dual-core Tegra 2 inside seriously screams at that clockspeed, scorching Quadrant to the tune of 3105 (remember this?) and delivering 47 MFLOPS in Linpack. Oh, and in case you're curious, this achievement wasn't some random hack. It was perpetrated for our collective benefit by the master of SetCPU himself, and you'll find full video proof of his accomplishment below and instructions at our source link. Got root? Then you're on your way. [Thanks, Adam B.]
LG Star preview
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/lg-star/preview/"><img border="1" hspace="4" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/12/10x1210fbfu5xbd.jpg"/></a></div> The LG Star. The dual-core beast from the east that was once a mere <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/16/exclusive-lgs-4-inch-android-phone-with-dual-core-tegra-2-and/">twinkle in our eye</a> has managed to find its way to the Engadget mansions, having been lent to us by a very generous (and very anonymous) tipster. It's clearly a test device, as evidenced by its diagnostics menus and lack of a lockscreen, but there's no disguising the power that lies within it. We put the Star through a battery of common Android benchmarks and the results were, in a word, outstanding. Basically, <a href="http://www.engadget.com/all/tegra2">Tegra 2</a> will give anything your <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/10/smartphone-buyers-guide-the-best-phones-for-atandt-verizon-spr/">current phone</a>'s running an inferiority complex. Join us after the break as we delve deeper into this upcoming powerhouse of a handset from LG. One thing's for sure: CES 2011 can't come soon enough.<br /> %Gallery-110305%
China's Tianhe-1A is world's fastest supercomputer, plans to usurp the West now complete
It happened. China just passed the US and the world with the reveal of the world's fastest supercomputer. The fully operational Tianhe-1A, located at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, scored 2.507 petaflops as measured by the LINPACK benchmark. That moves it past Cray's 2.3 petaflops Jaguar located at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. Tianhe-1A achieved the record using 7,168 NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPUs and 14,336 Intel Xeon CPUs consuming 4.04 megawatts. Knowing that 10 petaflops is within reach by 2012, we'll see if Tianhe-1A can maintain its title when the new Top500 supercomputers list is released next week.
Android 2.2 'Froyo' and Flash run like butter on Nexus One (update)
While Adobe evangelist Ryan Stewart wants us to focus on Flash 10.1 performance -- admittedly impressive -- running on his Nexus One, we can't help but be distracted by the Android 2.2 "Froyo" build apparently supporting his device. Can you blame us? It's not like we're alone with waning interest in Flash, especially for video playback. Anyway, from the looks of the homescreen in the grab above, we'll be treated to an updated launcher, Android tutorial, and global search box when the OS is revealed (presumably) at Google I/O starting May 19. And with the giant Froyo statue apparently already delivered to the GooglePlex's confectionary art show, well, the stage is set for 2.2 to be launched in time for Adobe's planned June release of Flash 10.1. Get your glimpse into the future of Flash and Android in the video after the break. Update: How much faster is a Nexus One running Froyo? 450 percent faster, according to the Android Police. They claim to have a device running the as-yet-unreleased firmware that can perform over 37 million floating-point operations per second in the Linpack benchmark... compared to about 7 megaflops without. Oh yeeaaah. [Thanks, Taylor]
Cray Jaguar leaps past IBM Roadrunner as world's fastest supercomputer and pun generator (video)
Cray has finally clawed IBM back from the lead position on the Top500 Supercomputer chip-measuring contest. After just missing out on the title to IBM's Roadrunner last year, Cray's XT5 supercomputer (aka, Jaguar) at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee received an update from quad- to six-core Opteron processors to boast a 2.3 petaflop per second performance peak (theoretical) and 1.75 petaflops as measured by the Linpack benchmark; a feat requiring almost a quarter million AMD cores. IBM's Roadrunner, the very first supercomputer to race past the petaflop per second threshold, managed just 1.042 petaflops by comparison. Remember, one petaflop per second is equivalent to one quadrillion calculations per second. Of course, chip makers put their own spins on the list by noting that 4 of the top 5 systems depend on AMD for performance while Intel can be found powering 402 of the Top500. Video of the AMD processor upgrade procedure can be found after the break.
