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Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 vs ARM Mali-T880 MP12

Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600

► remove from comparison Imagination A9 / PowerVR GT7600

The PowerVR GT7600 from Imagination Technologies is a high-end smartphone GPU as part of the Apple A9 SoC for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. At the time of announcement on September 2015, it is the fastest GPU for smartphones and even bests current tablet GPUs.

Architecture

The GT7600 is part of the Series 7XT line-up and is based on a unified shader architecture with 6 clusters that integrate 384 (FP16) and 192 (FP32) ALU cores. Compared to the Series 6XT GPU in the Apple A8 and A8x, ImgTec states that the performance and efficiency of the cores have been improved. Furthermore, the GPU features support for virtualization, hardware-based security, geometry shaders, tessellation, native 10-bit YUV and ASTC LDR/HDR. DirectX 11 and OpenCL FP64 are optional features that are likely not implemented on Apple smartphones and tablets.

Performance

The PowerVR GT7600 is clearly the fastest smartphone GPU on the market as of September 2015. In all of our benchmarks, the GPU is able to beat even the fastest tablet and smartphone GPUs like the PowerVR GXA6850 in the A8x (iPad Air 2), Tegra K1 (Nvidia Shield Tablet) and Adreno 430 (various flagship smartphones). The ARM Mali-T760 MP8 (7420 Octa) in the Galaxy S6 line-up is also no match for the PowerVR GPU. 

The Tegra X1 in the Shield TV console is able to beat the GT7600 in 3DMark 2013 Unlimited GPU (135%), but falls behind in GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan with 79% of the performance. Thanks to the efficient use of the GPU (e.g., IOS apps using Metal), we are expecting a graphical step up in 3D games.

Power Consumption

The PowerVR GT7600 in the Apple A9 should be very energy efficient due in part to the use of 3D transistors and an improved 14/16 nm fabrication process.

Note: The PowerVR GT7600 in the Apple A9 is not officially confirmed by Apple!

ARM Mali-T880 MP12

► remove from comparison ARM Mali-T880 MP12

The ARM Mali-T880 MP12 is a mobile graphics solution that can be found in ARM SoCs like the Samsung Exynos 8890. The chip is available since Q1/2016 (e.g. in some of the Galaxy S7 variants) and supports OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.2 and DirectX 11.2 (FL 11_2). The Mali-T880 can be built with 1 to 16 clusters, where the MP12 version features 12 clusters/cores.

The MP12 version that is used in the Samsung Exynos 8890 is clocked with up to 650 MHz and is a bit slower than the Adreno 530 in the Snapdragon 820 SoC. However, it still belongs to the high-end graphics cards for ARM based SoCs.

Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600ARM Mali-T880 MP12
Mali-T800 Series
A9X / PowerVR GT7xxx compare 384
A9 / PowerVR GT7600 192
Mali-T880 MP12 12 @ 0.65 GHz
Mali-T880 MP4 compare 4 @ 0.9 GHz
Mali-T880 MP2 compare 2 @ 0.9 GHz
Mali-T860 MP2 compare 2 @ 0.7 GHz
Mali-T830 MP3 compare 2 @ 0.6 GHz
Mali-T830 MP2 compare 2 @ 0.6 GHz
Mali-T830 MP1 compare 1
CodenameRogueMidgard (4th Generation)
ArchitecturePowerVR RogueMidgard (4rd-gen)
Pipelines192 - unified12 - unified
Shared Memorynono
APIDirectX 11_2, OpenGL 4.3, ES 3.xDirectX 11.2 (FL 11_2), OpenGL ES 3.1
technology14 nm14 nm
FeaturesOpenGL® ES 1.x/2.0/3.x*, AEP, OpenGL 3.3*, DirectX 10_0, OpenCL™ 1.2 EP*, (DirectX 11_2, OpenGL 4.3*, OpenCL 1.2 FP*)OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.2, DirectX 11.2 (FL 11_2)
Date of Announcement09.09.2015 24.02.2016
Link to Manufacturer Pageimgtec.comwww.arm.com
Core Speed650 (Boost) MHz
CPU in A9 / PowerVR GT7600GPU Base SpeedGPU Boost / Turbo
Apple A92 x 1800 MHz? MHz? MHz
CPU in Mali-T880 MP12GPU Base SpeedGPU Boost / Turbo
Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa8 x 2600 MHz650 MHz650 MHz

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics
min: 41615     avg: 43251     median: 43372.5 (5%)     max: 44645 Points
min: 23431     avg: 29937     median: 33031 (4%)     max: 33348 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot (ES 3.0) Unlimited
2729 Points (12%)
min: 2641     avg: 2644     median: 2644 (11%)     max: 2647 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot (ES 3.0) Unlimited Graphics
4763 Points (10%)
min: 3059     avg: 3065     median: 3065 (7%)     max: 3071 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited
2015 Points (10%)
min: 2060     avg: 2147     median: 2147 (11%)     max: 2234 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited Graphics
2651 Points (8%)
min: 2257     avg: 2326     median: 2325.5 (7%)     max: 2394 Points
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen
15 fps (2%)
GFXBench 3.1 - GFXBench Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen
min: 28     avg: 28.2     median: 28.1 (1%)     max: 28.5 fps
min: 26     avg: 27.3     median: 28 (1%)     max: 28 fps
GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen
min: 38.4     avg: 39.6     median: 39.8 (2%)     max: 40.6 fps
min: 38     avg: 39     median: 39 (2%)     max: 40 fps
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 - GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16
min: 78.9     avg: 79.9     median: 80 (1%)     max: 80.8 fps
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + ARM Mali-T880 MP12
min: 80     avg: 82     median: 82 (1%)     max: 84 fps
Basemark X 1.1 - Basemark X 1.1 High Quality
min: 19134     avg: 27168     median: 30097 (68%)     max: 32273 Points
Basemark X 1.1 - Basemark X 1.1 Medium Quality
min: 40252     avg: 40672     median: 40671.5 (90%)     max: 41091 Points
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - PerformanceTest Mobile V1 2D Graphics Tests
min: 3484     avg: 4797     median: 5130 (5%)     max: 5445 Points
min: 5864     avg: 6100     median: 6055 (6%)     max: 6382 Points
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - PerformanceTest Mobile V1 3D Graphics Tests
min: 1161     avg: 1766     median: 1957.5 (3%)     max: 1987 Points
min: 2094     avg: 2132     median: 2131 (4%)     max: 2172 Points

Average Benchmarks Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 → 100% n=10

Average Benchmarks ARM Mali-T880 MP12 → 96% n=10

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Dead Trigger 2

Dead Trigger 2

2013
high
Mali-T880 MP12:
55 56 56 ~ 56 fps
Asphalt 8: Airborne

Asphalt 8: Airborne

2013
low
Mali-T880 MP12:
30 30 ~ 30 fps
high
Mali-T880 MP12:
30 30 31 ~ 30 fps
Real Racing 3

Real Racing 3

2013
high
Mali-T880 MP12:
44  fps
Temple Run 2

Temple Run 2

2013
high
Mali-T880 MP12:
60  fps
ARM Mali-T880 MP12lowmed.highultraQHD4K
Dead Trigger 256
Asphalt 8: Airborne3030
Real Racing 344
Temple Run 260
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps

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For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)