The NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet Review
by Joshua Ho on July 29, 2014 9:00 AM ESTCPU Performance
As the first Tegra K1 device the Shield tablet is especially interesting. For those unfamiliar with the Tegra K1, NVIDIA integrated four ARM Cortex A15r3 variant cores along with a fifth companion A15r3. While on the surface it seems the CPU configuration it’s largely similar to the Tegra 4, there are some substantial differences. On the process tech side, the move to 28HPm adds SiGe source and drains for PMOS transistors, which dramatically improves drive current and makes it possible to bump clocks up to 2.2GHz for the CPU cores. The new revision of Cortex A15 also means that there’s better power management which should help with power efficiency (and thus battery life). The result is that peak CPU voltage drops from 1.4 volts in Tegra 4 to 1.2V in Tegra K1, and peak clocks are higher in the K1 as well.
Of course, the truly interesting aspect are benchmarks, as those will really show the differences between Tegra 4 and Tegra K1. It will also help to establish how Tegra K1 fares against the competition.
Despite the largely similar clock speeds compared to the Snapdragon 800 we see that the Tegra K1 is generally a step above in performance. Outside of Apple’s A7 SoC and x86 SoCs, NVIDIA is generally solidly ahead of the competition. Of course, as a gaming tablet there’s a strong need for GPU performance, so we'll look at that next.
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NZtechfreak - Monday, August 18, 2014 - link
Got my Controller today, thought some people might like to know it works fine with other Android devices via USB OTG. Makes it that bit more worthwhile. Couldn't get it to work with my PC though. Hopefully Nvidia will make a small receiver dongle with micro USB OTG and full sized PC connectors.mrreload - Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - link
"While I academically understand why people like tablets, I’ve never really found a use for them."Why in the world would AnandTech pick you for a tablet review? That's like reviewing a car but you don't own a car. Utter rubbish!
SnakeAndShotie - Tuesday, September 23, 2014 - link
I'm a pretty big fan of my NVidia shield - I know it doesn't have the best battery life ever but is totally manageable.If you want to see Portal on the tablet, check out this video: http://tinyurl.com/mxj7osm
While there are some frame rate issues, it runs well for the most part!
Fat Cat Ritz - Thursday, December 11, 2014 - link
I'm sure if you do not like the color or brightness of the screen on the tablet you can thankfully plug it into a TV via mini HDMI right? That should possibly improve the picture. I haven't gotten mine yet.