Atrix 4G low performance

[Red Storm]

So I've been looking at the Atrix 4G, and I can't help but notice all the lag while using it. I know Motoblur is fail, so I tried throwing Launcher pro onto the phone in the store but it was still very laggy on use. I figured it might just be the one phone in that store, but I've at two other locations and all the Atrix phones are just really bad performers. Is the 2nd core even being used?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Have you tried rebooting the phone? How many widgets are on each screen when you're browsing?

I would tend to chalk it up to a crappy setup in the stores. Don't you have 30 days to return it if you don't like it?

Also, from what I've read, no - the dual cores really aren't being utilized much. Perhaps if you're gaming, the rest of your system's services wouldn't be impacted.

 

[alent1234]

yeah, i've read that only some parts of motoblur are made for dual core. it's mostly just hype now

 

[Muyoso]

Well it does have a tegra2 in it so performance isn't going to be stellar.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Tegra2 is still faster than the previous generation of chips. In the end I'd wager it's just Motorola engineering fail.

 

[fbrdphreak]

yeah, i've read that only some parts of motoblur are made for dual core. it's mostly just hype now

Nothing in Android is natively built to take advantage of dual cores. The technology is ahead of the software

Well it does have a tegra2 in it so performance isn't going to be stellar.

The Tegra 2 is plenty fast under all current use cases. Stop talking out your ass.

 

[alent1234]

if you compare tegra2 to the A5 it's about the same. ipad has a slightly lower resolution which is why the FPS rates are so much higher. i think in other tests when the resolution is about the same the PowerVR GPU that apple uses is the same or slightly faster than the tegra 2.

i don't know how it's going to turn out, but this was what happened 15 years ago. I had the Riva TNT 2 and the Voodoo2. the Voodoo2 was faster but nvidia worked out a better engineering/sales system and beat 3dfx in the end.

nvidia needs to buy or partner with a radio chip maker to integrate the product. as it is Qualcomm is getting a lot of sales because they sell the CPU/GPU and the radio to a lot of customers making engineering a lot cheaper.

i bet nvidia will sell itself off to someone soon. wouldn't be surprised if apple buys them due to the lawsuits with samsung. or apple will just use qualcomm as the base for their A6 CPU. and the way google runs android there is always a new hype story of the week.

 

[Muyoso]

if you compare tegra2 to the A5 it's about the same. ipad has a slightly lower resolution which is why the FPS rates are so much higher. i think in other tests when the resolution is about the same the PowerVR GPU that apple uses is the same or slightly faster than the tegra 2.

i don't know how it's going to turn out, but this was what happened 15 years ago. I had the Riva TNT 2 and the Voodoo2. the Voodoo2 was faster but nvidia worked out a better engineering/sales system and beat 3dfx in the end.

nvidia needs to buy or partner with a radio chip maker to integrate the product. as it is Qualcomm is getting a lot of sales because they sell the CPU/GPU and the radio to a lot of customers making engineering a lot cheaper.

i bet nvidia will sell itself off to someone soon. wouldn't be surprised if apple buys them due to the lawsuits with samsung. or apple will just use qualcomm as the base for their A6 CPU. and the way google runs android there is always a new hype story of the week.

Um, no, they aren't even close. Tegra 2 can't even decode high profile 720p video which my year old hummingbird SoC in my Galaxy S phone can do. Tegra 2 would have been awesome if it was released it a year ago when it was introduced. Instead they waited 9 months and now its mediocre at best.

Also, if you compare the architectures, the Tegra 2 is no where near the power of the A5.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Um, no, they aren't even close. Tegra 2 can't even decode high profile 720p video which my year old hummingbird SoC in my Galaxy S phone can do. Tegra 2 would have been awesome if it was released it a year ago when it was introduced. Instead they waited 9 months and now its mediocre at best.

The Tegra2 can decode High Profile 720p. What it can't do is High Profile 1080p.

Nonetheless, overall it's still a higher performance SoC that the previous generation. Even the original Snapdragon with an anemic GPU on the Nexus One was quite smooth indicating the problem is simply Motorola's incompetence.

 

[Muyoso]

The Tegra2 can decode High Profile 720p. What it can't do is High Profile 1080p.

Nonetheless, overall it's still a higher performance SoC that the previous generation. Even the original Snapdragon with an anemic GPU on the Nexus One was quite smooth indicating the problem is simply Motorola's incompetence.

I misspoke. Tegra 2 cannot decode high profile 720p @ L4.1 or greater. It technically can decode below L4.1, yet I have not seen a single implementation do it to date.

True, it is a higher performance SoC than single core SoC's, but in the dual core world it seems to be outclassed by just about every other SoC there is. As for why the Atrix is lagging, that is most likely Motorola at work. One of the reasons I thoughtit may be the Tegra2 is that the Xoom does the same thing and Motorola has done basically nothing to the Honeycomb code on that tablet. There are other implementations of Tegra 2 devices that do not lag however, which indicates that it may be Motorola, but to my knowledge these devices all have lower resolution screens than the Atrix.

 

[fbrdphreak]

And while you guys are jerking off to specifications within specifications, the Tegra 2 does just fine in nearly all use cases.

Moving on...

 

[BenSkywalker]

So I've been looking at the Atrix 4G, and I can't help but notice all the lag while using it.

I have multiple Atrix here, along with most major smartphones on every carrier, the default Atrix running MotoBlur is considerably faster overall then every other phone I have.

I know Motoblur is fail, so I tried throwing Launcher pro onto the phone in the store but it was still very laggy on use.

LP is actually slower then Blur on the Atrix, ADW worked better, but still not great. SPB is incredibly smooth on the Atrix.

I figured it might just be the one phone in that store, but I've at two other locations and all the Atrix phones are just really bad performers.

I've never seen a demo unit running, but I've heard that about several of them. Do you know anyone who owns one? I would reccomend trying it out to get a better idea.

Is the 2nd core even being used?

Yes, it is. It is most noticeable when multi tasking, where single core phones like the GalaxyS/ThunderBolt/Inspire slow down a lot, the Atrix doesn't have any issues remaining at full speed.

True, it is a higher performance SoC than single core SoC's, but in the dual core world it seems to be outclassed by just about every other SoC there is.

Can you link me up a phone with one of those SoCs in it for sale please? I try to keep up to date, and for months now I've been asking people where I can buy one of these superior processors in a phone and so far noone has been able to tell me. So for the last couple of months I've been stuck with this 'inferior' device being my daily useage phone.

 

[Muyoso]

Can you link me up a phone with one of those SoCs in it for sale please? I try to keep up to date, and for months now I've been asking people where I can buy one of these superior processors in a phone and so far noone has been able to tell me. So for the last couple of months I've been stuck with this 'inferior' device being my daily useage phone.

Galaxy S II

http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_contract_details.asp?ItemKey=519740

Also, there are other dual core processors that are in tablets that are coming to phones. The A5 in the iPad2 will be coming to the iPhone 5. The TI OMAP 4430 in the Blackberry Playbook will be coming to the Optimus 3d. These are processors that are currently being sold in devices that are significantly better than the Tegra 2 in many ways. There is also the dual core Qualcomm Snapdragons that Anand tested in the developers phone and which will be coming to the Evo3d.

There is no reason to get snotty. The Tegra 2 simply IS inferior to other dual core SoC's. That doesn't make it an awful SoC necessarily. The limitation on high profile decoding is what makes it an awful SoC, as year old single core SoC's including the original iPad's A4 and the Galaxy S's Hummingbird SoC can crank out 720p high profile h.264@L5.1 while I have not seen a single Tegra 2 device even manage ANY high profile h.264.