Taipei (Taiwan) – In very simple terms, all chip manufacturers have the same business goal: To sell more chips every year. If your core market limits your growth, you will have to look for new markets. Intel has recently done this with its Atom processor, which targets low-cost computing devices and handheld computers. Nvidia’s Tegra hits expands barriers of market segments and puts the company within reach of a new market that currently has a demand of more than 1 billion processors per year. It could be a game-changing move for Nvidia - not just in terms of growth opportunity.
It is known that Nvidia organizes its product families under very few umbrella trends and new brands typically indicate the launch of a major new product. The company started out with its GeForce line of graphics cards (which also include nForce chipsets) and eventually extended its strategy with its professional Quadro products. In late 2006, the company launched the Tesla high-performance computing line and now we have a fourth major brand, Tegra. And at least from what we have seen so far, this could be a big one for Nvidia, but also change the face of the industry.
What is Tegra?
To clear out some confusion, let us first stress that Tegra is not a CPU. Neither is a GPU or a combination of both with one part dominating the other.
Instead, Tegra is a “system-on-a-chip” (SoC) or “computer-on-a-chip” (CoC). Tegra consists of an ARM11 CPU core, a GoForce (renamed into GeForce ULV) GPU, an image processor (digital camera support), a HD video processor (PureVideo for handhelds), memory (NAND Flash, Mobile DDR), a northbridge (memory controller, display output, HDMI+HDCP, security engine) and a southbridge (USB OTG, UART, external memory card SPI SDIO, etc).
In short, Tegra includes the whole shebang: CPU, graphics and what you traditionally find on a motherboard are squeezed onto a single silicon die. What is particularly impressive about this device is the fact that this chip measures just 144 mm2, which is smaller than a dime and about one quarter the size of the upcoming GeForce graphics chip, which measures 576 mm2, according to our sources.
Tegra lineup
Tegra arrives in three versions with different markets in mind. Nvidia ditched the suffix “CSX” at the last moment, and decided to name its mobile computing parts “600” and “650”. Strangely enough, Nvidia decided to keep the name "APX" for its cellphone chip, which is called “APX 2500”. So, the complete product family at launch includes the Tegra APX 2500, Tegra 600 and Tegra 650. And yes, the lowest performing part has highest number. Go figure.
The (Tegra) APX 2500 was introduced in February 2008 in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. The chip is clocked at 600 MHz, and targets applications with FWVGA display resolutions (854 x 480 pixels). This version is a sub-1 watt part and is rated at a power consumption of 0.6-1 watts. Considering the fact that this chip is capable of running HD video decoding and encoding (720p only), the power consumption rating is impressive. Not surprisingly, the APX 2500 targets cellphones and PDAs with low power envelopes. If you consider the chip’s capabilities, its size and power rating, there is no doubt in our mind that this is a potentially game changing piece of silicon that is a kick in the you-know-what of sleeping cellphone giants such as Texas Instruments (TI), Freescale, STMicro, Philips and others.
The Tegra 600 is clocked at 700 MHz and targets devices with SXGA resolution (1280 x 1024). Besides the clock speed, Nvidia expanded the storage capabilities with IDE support for Compact Flash and solid state disks (SSDs). This model aims to attract customers in the GPS segment and automotive applications such as dashboard systems or central entertainment systems. The power consumption is in the 1 Watt range, which is still a very low level. Nvidia demonstrated this chip (Tegra 600 + HDMI, USB, stereo jacks) consuming 1 watt while running 720p video decode through HDMI.
Both the Tegra APX 2500 and 600 integrate low-power DDR memory clocked at 166 MHz.
The Tegra 650 is a beast, the “GTX” of the handheld and sub-notebook world. Nvidia has clocked this part at 800 MHz, while keeping the power consumption in a 2.5 – 4 watt envelope. This investment delivers 1080p video decode at 30 fps (24 and 29.99). The Tegra 650 uses embedded LP-DDR memory clocked at 200 MHz.
Tegra on the desktop, notebook
One of interesting applications for Tegra might be add-on video and the connection of processors to GeForce, Quadro and Tesla boards. Why would Nvidia spend transistors inside a GPU when it can use Tegra instead of NVIO chips and support all video functions while decreasing the thermal design power of a board?
For GPU computing, future Tegra parts (Tegra 2 is scheduled for 2009, Tegra 3 for 2010) will inevitably include SATA support, which would allow users to put a SSD array directly onto a Tesla GPGPU card and eliminate the need for a motherboard and Intel/AMD CPUs. Indeed, applications of this "jack of all trades" chip with a ridiculously small TDP can deeply impact the already existing desktop, notebook and HPC markets.
