Mediatek MT8752 vs Intel Atom Z2580 vs Mediatek MT6735M

Mediatek MT8752

The MediaTek MT8752 is a ARM based SoC for mostly Android based tablets and smartphones. It integrates 8 small ARM Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.7 GHz. The integrated graphics card is an ARM Mali-T760MP2 with up to 700 MHz clock speed. Furthermore, an LTE modem and a video de- and encoder are integrated in the chip.

Intel Atom Z2580

The Intel Atom Z2580 is a SoC (System on a Chip) with the Codename Cloverview and part of the Clover Trail+ platform. The Z2580 is a one chip SoC and integrates a dual core Atom processor (Saltwell) clocked at 1.3 - 2 GHz. Due to Hyper-Threading, 4 threads can be executed on the two cores (for improved efficiency).

The Saltwell CPU core is still very similar to the first Intel Atom. Therefore, the performance per clock should be very similar (only very small enhancements). However, the CPU now features additional 256 KB low-power-cache (on a separate voltage plane) to allow the CPU and L2 cache to enter a lower power state. Furthermore, the Atom now supports some sort of Turbo Boost and can reach up to 2 GHz shortly (1.3 GHz base frequency). Furthermore, the CPU core can be downclocked to 100 MHz (in 100 MHz steps) to save power.

The processor performance should be on a level with a previous generation Atom processor clocked at 1.3 - 2.0 GHz (e.g., the Atom N550 clocked at 1.5 GHz). Therefore, the Z2580 should be one of the fastest smartphone/tablet SoCs available.

The integrated graphics card is based on a PowerVR SGX 544MP2 design and clocked at 400 MHz. The video decoder (MPEG4.2, H.264, VC1, WMV) and encoder (MPEG4.2, H.264) also stem from Imagination Technologies (VDX385 and VDE285) and should allow 1080p30 de- and encoding of videos.

Furthermore, a dual channel LPDDR2 memory controller (2x 32 Bit) for a maximum of 1GB RAM is integrated.

The whole SoC was optimized for power efficiency and low power consumption. It is produced with a 32nm LP (low power) process and has a TDP of 3 Watt (according to TechPowerUp). Therefore, the Z2580 is even suited for smartphones.

Sources: Intel Pressemeldung, Intel ARK, Anandtech, Techpowerup (Socket, TDP)

Mediatek MT6735M

The 1.5 GHz MediaTek MT6735M is a 64-bit ARM-based SoC launched in mid 2015 primarily for small budget to mainstream Android devices. The quad-core processor is manufactured in 28 nm and is based on the Cortex-A53 architecture. It integrates a cat.4 LTE modem with CDMA2000 and an ARM Mali-720 GPU capable of decoding and encoding videos of up to 1080p30. Compared to the MT6732, the MT6735M utilizes a slower graphics unit. Compared to the similar MediaTek MT6735, the "M"-version is significantly lower clocked (only 1 versus 1.5 GHz).

Processor

The Cortex-A53 is the successor to the popular Cortex-A7 design. In addition to the jump from 32-bit to 64-bit architecture (ARMv8 ISA) to address more than 4 GB of memory, the new design offers better branch prediction and higher performance-to-power ratio that rivals the Cortex-A9. The four cores of the MT6732 are clocked at up to 1 GHz and therefore the MT6735M is significantly slower than other A53 SoCs that are usually clocked at 1.4 GHz and up.

The power-efficient processor is still suited for low demanding tasks like browsing and running light applications.

Graphics

The integrated single-core Mali-T720 is an entry-level GPU clocked at up to 450 MHz. Most Android games will play at acceptable frame rates on medium resolutions and quality.

Features

The MT6732M SoC integrates a memory controller (32-bit LPDDR3, 6.4 GB/s), multiple radios (WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS), and a cellular modem (GSM, UMTS, GPRS, HSPA+, HSUPA, TD-SCDMA, EVDO, and LTE Cat 4). Its integrated video engine allows for 1080p playback at 30 FPS. Cameras are supported up to 13 MP.