Raspberry Pi's GPU double the performance of iPhone 4S

[andyzaharia]

Not really embarrassing, no one is comparing the power consumption. Apple could easily go to a more powerful GPU if their battery power allowed them. But I think the current 4S GPU is the one that fits for the current battery technology.

[jules]

I wonder when mobile devices are going to contain FPGAs. They are often a factor of 100x power/performance better than CPUs/GPUs.

[omgtehlion]

A sentence «and should double iPhone 4S performance across a range of content» is a really authoritative benchmark I suppose...

[modeless]

Wow, that makes this thing a lot more interesting to me, if true. So many designs these days pair monster CPUs with underpowered GPUs it's almost embarrassing (especially as Apple continues to show that powerful GPUs are important for a good user experience). The 256 MB of RAM will be very constraining for any app trying to use all that power, though.

[NickPollard]

The PlayStation 3 has 256 MB of RAM and seems to do ok, as games like Uncharted and God of War show.

It does mean you'll need to be more careful and considerate of how you use that memory though (and admittedly, on a console like a PS3 the OS takes up much, much less space).

[pbhjpbhj]

>"The 256 MB of RAM will be very constraining for any app trying to use all that power, though."

My Archos 101 has 256MB RAM and runs Android suprisingly well. It only does 720p video playback though; full specs http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it/specs.html?co.... I'm not going to lie, it does tend to lag a bit; wonder how easy upgrading the RAM will be on the RPi.

[timdot]

Personally I think the fairly low amount of memory is good and works well with their motive - to promote computer science education. If it had more, you could easily chuck massive frameworks and whatnot at it, but as there's not as much RAM then hopefully people learning with it will have to work a little closer to the bare metal. I'm sure things to make Raspberry Pi work 'easier' will arrive - and that's not necessarily a bad thing - but at least they'll be more constrained.

[st3fan]

But does the Raspberry Pi run on a battery?

The iPhone is highly optimized for mobile use. Both in hardware and software. Can the same be said about this chipset that the Raspberry Pi uses?

If not then the comparison is not very fair.

[OhArgh]

yea according to their site you can run it on 4 AA cells. Can you buy an IPhone for $25? http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

[robot]

The ARM11 cpu is too old, I wish they used at least a Cortex-A8. ARM11 has a virtually addressed cache with aliasing issues that requires all sorts of hacks in linux kernel, it will require old compiler flags and lacks other ARMv7 features. It's the cpu from 2005. I wonder what the price difference would be if they used an A8.

[voodoomagicman]

There are some similar cool open hardware projects sponsored by TI. They have better specs, although their prices are quite a bit higher. I don't know if it is because they do lower volumes, the chips cost more, or price just wasn't as much a concern when they were designed.

The beagleboard-xm has an A8, 4 usb ports, and 512 ram for $150, the related beaglebone has arduino like pins and an A8 for $80, and the pandaboard has an A9, 1gb ram, and wifi for $180.

[tuxguy]

#education

I am interested to know what other folks think of the potential to build low cost PCs using Raspberry Pi (RPi) for education in India & the developing world.

I am curious to know what other people think of OLPC XO3 vs RPi vs Aakash (the Indian govt.'s low cost tablet)

OLPC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8428147.stm http://asia.cnet.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-olpc-xo-3-0-...

Aakash Ubislate7 http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/01/08/the-inside-story-o...

1. Raspberry Pi(RPi) requires monitor + mouse +k/b while XO3 is self-contained. 2. RPi is more geared to be a lab machine or a home pc while XO3 is more of a personal device.

3. From a pedagogical viewpoint, IMHO, i think younger kids should not have a digital device 24x7 as they could possibly get "addicted" to it . It is more important to impart a sense of curiosity(scientific temper) & hunger for learning, & having an XO3 might hamper kids' social activities - going outdoors & playing with other kids, being fit, taking part in sports.

So i feel younger kids could be exposed to low-cost computers( made of a RPi) in school, which are low cost & encourage tinkering (open source, simple inexpensive hw) while older (say high school kids can get their own personal XO3.

#4. From an Indian perspective, i wish the Indian govt scraps the crappy Aakash tablet in favour of the XO3.

http://phonemantra.com/2012/01/olpc-india-head-rips-into-aak...

The vast majority of schools in India are run by the govt & most govt. schools dont have a computer lab or the computers:students ratio is abysmal. The RPi could be an excellent, low-cost way to create computer labs in all govt schools, colleges & vocational institutions.

#5. Internet connectivity

http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs http://www.akashtablet.com/

The XO3 comes with 802.11b/g & most importantly 802.11s(mesh networking) & the concept of school servers, so kids can download learning content even if access to the larger public Internet is not available.

Aakash has GPRS( much slower) & RPi supports wired ethernet & USB WiFi dongles.

Exciting times ahead for sure & would love to hear what other folks think

cheers

p.s. Detailed interview with Eben Upton, RPi's executive director (free registration required)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/digitalfoundry-inside-...

[jrockway]

This is just a linkbait title. "XXX compared to YYY Apple product" is a guaranteed click. Too bad they don't actually compare XXX to YYY...

[felixfurtak]

shame the BCM2835 won't be open sourced anytime soon...

[thristian]

So far as I can tell, this significantly limits the hack value of the Raspberry Pi. Sure, it runs Linux... whatever version was current when it first shipped. Considering Ubuntu and Fedora both ship new releases every six months, a year and a half or two years into the future and what you can do with the Raspberry Pi will be limited to what outdated binary packages you can find, or what software you're prepared to compile yourself on a tiny embedded processor.

I guess $25 isn't exactly a high price to pay for six months to a year of messing about, but it seems a sad fate for an otherwise remarkable piece of hardware.

[justincormack]

Looks like Mali will be the first ARM graphics core to get a free driver http://www.fosdem.org/2012/schedule/event/mali

[fierarul]

I don't care about the GPU, but I'm glad to see XBMC running on the thing.

Next up, I want to see some Ubuntu Pi edition, and perhaps even some ChromeOS fork.

My hope is to be able to attach that to the back of a monitor/TV and get a usable browsing and movie watching machine.

[lbotos]

Does anyone know if Raspberry Pi has an education / grant program? I'd like to present this to my high school (Small alternative Technical School) and I'm sure they'd love a curriculum that they could review.

[joezydeco]

Little confused here. Has the Pi project changed from "low-cost education computer for the masses" into "iOS-killing mobile game platform"?

[Ecio78]

I suspect this[x] is just a way to bring attention to the Broadcom chip that powers the RPi

[x] i mean the article, not the Pi project itself

[kevingadd]

Does the iPhone 4S actually use a Tegra 2? Everything I've read indicated it used a PowerVR GPU, just like every other iPhone, not a Tegra 2. The article seems fundamentally misguided and incorrect if this is the case.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4951/iphone-4s-preliminary-ben... says SGX543MP2.

[dan1234]

I think the author is saying that the Broadcom GPU outperforms both the Tegra 2 (used in Android devices & netbooks) and the iPhone4S's GPU.

(edit: fixed typo)

[nextparadigms]

Why do you think the author says iPhone 4S uses a Tegra 2? He doesn't say that.

I'm curious, though, is it really a fully open source computer? How does that work when it uses an ARM chip? Or does the open source part refer only to the OS? As soon as ARM replaces ARM11 with Cortex A7 or whatever, we should ask them to open source ARM11.

[spobo]

It can decode and output a 1080p signal. What more do you need from a GPU? :)

[falling]

Did anybody read the article? There is no demo or measurement, the manufacturer is promising, in an interview, that the SoC should perform like that.

Also, it's pretty confusing, mixing statements about Tegra 2 and iPhone 4S, which are quite different beasts.

It would certainly be impressive, but I'd rather wait for at least a demo, if not proper benchmarks, before throwing the party.

[nirvana]

It seems to me that they're comparing a USB powered device to a battery powered device.

The iPhone runs its GPU in a particular way, and its GPU was chosen based on the fact that the iPhone needs to have its battery last all day.

However the Raspberry can draw a continuous 1A without rest, because it effectively has an infinite battery.

So, sure, you can put a larger GPU in a device like that.

[EvilLook]

* yawn * Let me know when I can freaking buy one! I'm sick of having to use their VM to develop my software, damn it!

[muyuu]

Why would a phone need a GPU comparable to that of a device that's supposed to work connected to a desktop monitor?

[rsynnott]

Embarrassing? Remember that they're working without power constraints; it's a rather different problem.