Pollux Or Omap3530

[Orange Pumpkin]

What in Your opinion is better the Pandora CPU or the Wiz CPU ,, not looking on the consoles and the pandora graphics chip becous it would make unfair becous the Wiz doesn't have it :

So let's start :

Polux :
-3D accelration

OMAP3530:
-less power drain

some other ideas of +/- of this CPU



By the way can the Beagle Board run the Pandora soft ??


Edit: Am I wrong or is it similar to sth :http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl/wiki/CSPFL_Hardware

 

[Squidge]

Erm, the Pandora doesn't have a graphics chip, everything is included in the OMAP. Same as the 3D is included in the Pollux.

The Pollux is much better than the MMSP2 used in the GP2X, but the OMAP is much better than the Pollux used in the Wiz.

 

[Chip]

I've not seen the actual name of the 3D hardware in the Wiz mentioned, but we know it is capable of OpenGL ES 1.1. The SGX hardware in the OMAP3530 will do OpenGL ES 2.0 as well as 1.1.

More importantly, the A8 core in the OMAP is two full generations ahead of the ARM9 core in the Wiz. Not only does the A8 clock higher, but it does considerably more work clock-for-clock. For example, the PSX emulator on the Wiz only gets up to 10-20fps without sound at 533MHz. The PSX emulator on the Pandora gets anywhere from 50 to over 100fps (depending on the game) with sound at 600MHz.

 

[jbrodack]

yeah the pandora just plain has a better cpu than wiz. its not really a matter of opinion. its more a matter of how much power you need and what emulators and games you would want to use.

 

[sam fisher]

but it does considerably more work clock-for-clock.

In best case circumstances.

 

[Orange Pumpkin]

Well I thoungt the Pandora has an external chip .. Do all the A8 have the graphics chips in it ??

QUOTE
Wiz only gets up to 10-20fps without sound at 533MHz


It is so slow ?? And without sound

Well why didn't the Wiz have the Omap ?? ( was it to expensive ?? )

What is diferen betwen the ARMv9 and cortex A8 ,, more instructions ?? ,, graphic chip ,, any thing else ??

What gives it so big advantage ??

If it really run PSX emluator with that diffrenc with almost the same clock speed it is awsome

Thanks for the replays

This info about the speed makes me think about buying a device with graphic accellerator .. ( mb Itouch ,, Pandora ,, Beagle board or sth else )

 

[Jan-Nik]

This info about the speed makes me think about buying a device with graphic accellerator .. ( mb Itouch ,, Pandora ,, Beagle board or sth else )

The Wiz has a 3d graphics accelerator, too.

 

[Squidge]

Well I thoungt the Pandora has an external chip .. Do all the A8 have the graphics chips in it ??

No, the A8 'chip' is just an ARMv7 processor. Nothing else.

A OMAP3530 is a ARM Cortex-A8, ARM9, SGX, DSP, and a few other bits and bobs all thrown into one chip (hence the name System On Chip - it's almost everything you need for a system).

The Pollux is an ARMv5 ARM9 & an unknown 3D graphics accelerator and some other bits and bobs.

Also, ARMv9 doesn't exist. Wiz uses ARMv5, OMAP3530 is Cortex, which is ARMv7 (+NEON).

http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/architecture.html

 

[Orange Pumpkin]

Sory was learning about the familier of ARM for wiki and I messet it all

 

[Chip]

Sory was learning about the familier of ARM for wiki and I messet it all
ARM does not make it easy. Their naming schemes are a bit hard to decipher. The CPU in the Pollux SoC is an ARM926EJ-S. It is an ARM9 core, based on the ARMv5 architecture. It's a solid step above the GP2X, and a couple steps behind what is in the Pandora.

That's not to say it's bad. It is very well suited for the task at hand - playing homebrew games, watching video and running older emulators. It's not meant to be a full notebook replacement processor, which is fine because the Wiz isn't meant to be a notebook replacement.

 

[Exophase]

but it does considerably more work clock-for-clock.

In best case circumstances.


In average case circumstances.

 

[sam fisher]

but it does considerably more work clock-for-clock.

In best case circumstances.


In average case circumstances.

I have no doubt it achieves more clock for clock but I have yet to see, from performance figures, that it does as much more clock for clock as it should.

 

[Chip]

I have no doubt it achieves more clock for clock but I have yet to see, from performance figures, that it does as much more clock for clock as it should.
As of today we do have one very solid benchmark to observe - Quake 2.

Quake 2 has been very quickly ported (no special optimizations for either platform) and tested on both the Wiz and Pandora. The Pandora tests were even run at 320x240, so the game should place exactly the same demands on both systems.

At 600MHz on the Pandora, the game ran anywhere from 30 to over 200fps, with the average being about 50fps.

At 533MHz the Wiz, it ran at about 11fps.

Switching to hardware accelerated OpenGL would certainly improve the numbers for both systems, but this purely software-rendered test shows the pretty obvious difference in capabilities between the ARM9 core in the Pollux and the A8 in the OMAP3530.

 

[sam fisher]

Is it the exact same code (or even the same Quake port!?) on both consoles though? Furthermore the Wiz port has hacks to get it to work right now.

 

[craigix]

It's the same code (is there any other version?).

The Pandora is doubling up the res so it's not running at its best either.

For a more direct comparison, if we run the exact same time demo with sound on the Pandora at 500mhz (Wiz is at 533mhz) it returns just over 30fps average.

Next step is of course to get them running with the 3D hardware.

 

[mali]

It's the same code (is there any other version?).

The Pandora is doubling up the res so it's not running at its best either.

For a more direct comparison, if we run the exact same time demo with sound on the Pandora at 500mhz (Wiz is at 533mhz) it returns just over 30fps average.

Next step is of course to get them running with the 3D hardware.

Is that really confirmed?! That would be tremendous!! That would mean, that Quake2 is much less FP dependent than I thought! I've posted the benchmark command in an other thread, but Notaz didn't post results. N8x0(ARM11, pipelined VFP unit) achieves 17,4fps in demo2(more demanding than demo1).

Craig, could you please please post the exact results of the timedemo? I've nearly had sleepless nights thinking about the effects of the non-pipelined VFP unit of Cortex A8.

 

[craigix]

689 frames, 21.7 seconds, 31.7 fps 500MHz
689 frames, 18.4 seconds, 37.5 fps 600MHz
689 frames, 14.3 seconds, 48.2 fps 800MHz

 

[mali]

*speechless*

Edit:
Thanks, Craig

 

[Bosbeetle]

Looks like the pandora is going to be better than the last computer I played quake on. B)

(says a lot about the last computer I played quake on off course)

 

[mali]

Looks like the pandora is going to be better than the last computer I played quake on. B)

I still remember the good old days, when Quake(I) ran at around 6fps on my Casio E115 But you know what? I enjoyed it :lol: