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How do the Dual cores work in this phone?

I got my sensation and love it, I have Android Revolution 3.1 and the RCMix version 1 kernel. It is currently overclocked to 1.78 ghz with Daemon OC.
I was curious though, I heard that some games and apps are not optimized for the dual cores. How do they work in these situations? Will one power down while the other works?
Also, In the newest update for Revolution HD, in the change log he mentions how the dual cores run constantly and that this is a first. Wouldn't this drain battery life?
Sorry about starting a new thread, im just curious. Thanks for any help!!

yes it s a very good question
i am gonna try that rom
especially about battery life.
any idea ?

i'd love the answer to this one myself.

Anyone??
Sent from my Virtuous Sensation, and loving it...

About the thing where the cores run constantly; I've been following the oc dual core thread, and someone found a way to keep both cores online and that overall, it had almost no effect on battery life but seemed to increase performance slightly.
To describe the way our dual core chips are setup would be very complicated, and would draw away from you initial question.
Just know, it shouldn't effect your battery too much.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Generally
Dual Core = Better battery life
As long as the software is optimised to use them both

Really? Wow i thought dual core will consume more battery
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

The dual cores in our phones are asynchronous, meaning instead of both cores splitting the workload evenly like some other chipsets, one core will remain offline until it's needed then spool up to assist with the load. This was causing a problem with overclocking because only one core was recognizing the clock speed and governor settings. Keeping both cores idling allows them to both recognize the proper settings. The thread about it can be found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1233103

CrazyCharlie said:
The dual cores in our phones are asynchronous, meaning instead of both cores splitting the workload evenly like some other chipsets, one core will remain offline until it's needed then spool up to assist with the load. This was causing a problem with overclocking because only one core was recognizing the clock speed and governor settings. Keeping both cores idling allows them to both recognize the proper settings. The thread about it can be found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1233103
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dual core. Keeping it simple
think of a double Decker bus as synchronous CPUs
And two single deck buses. As asynchronous CPUs
passengers are your workload.
Most cpus out there are synchronous. so this means both processors split the load continuously at any one time. . Eg galaxy s2 and Intel CPUs
Asynchronous
Each core works independently from the other. Amd cpus do this and sensation.
But sensation only keeps one active till it needs the other one
Synchronous dual core cpus. These are your double decks. the bus Carries people and uses both floors at one time
Asynchronous in sensation.
these are your single decks. Only one bus will carry passengers. But when the bus is full or cannot cope the second bus is used
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

xl VipeR lx said:
dual core. Keeping it simple
think of a double Decker bus as synchronous CPUs
And two single deck buses. As asynchronous CPUs
passengers are your workload.
Most cpus out there are synchronous. so this means both processors split the load continuously at any one time. . Eg galaxy s2 and Intel CPUs
Asynchronous
Each core works independently from the other. Amd cpus do this and sensation.
But sensation only keeps one active till it needs the other one
Synchronous dual core cpus. These are your double decks. the bus Carries people and uses both floors at one time
Asynchronous in sensation.
these are your single decks. Only one bus will carry passengers. But when the bus is full or cannot cope the second bus is used
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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Click to collapse
first : the best explanation so far about how this phone works , two thumbs up !!!!
2nd : I'm currently thinking on moving from my Htc DHD to a new dual core phone ( had the Atrix , hated the pentile screen )
so in terms of everyday use ( i don't give a s**t about benchmarks ) which one is better to get - SGS2 or HTC Sensation ?

moshikko said:
first : the best explanation so far about how this phone works , two thumbs up !!!!
2nd : I'm currently thinking on moving from my Htc DHD to a new dual core phone ( had the Atrix , hated the pentile screen )
so in terms of everyday use ( i don't give a s**t about benchmarks ) which one is better to get - SGS2 or HTC Sensation ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL well I.am the noobproof dude. so just keeping it simple.
At the moment its hard to say. Depends on your taste and also true power of sensation isn't even seen yet
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

sensation performance / aSMP info needed please

Hi,
i recently return my samsung (4th time) galaxy s2 becouse of various defects , i been looking at the sensation however i have a few questions , firstly for all its issues i like how fast and responsive the galaxay was however when i tryed the sensation i noticed its not as smooth as the galaxy or that much smoother then the desire hd.
One possible reason for this i noticed was that the sensation uses a asmp cpu , which seems a bit cheeky to me. I mean im buying a dual core phone so i would like both cores to work at the same time as opposed to one working then the second kicking in when the first is loaded. From what ive read ics should have better support for this setup , so i was curious does anyone think we will see that much of a difference bearing in mind the sensation is asmp.
I notice there`s a lot of talented devs from the desire development and hd which is encouraging so i was hoping to learn from various users how much of a performance increase there seeing in custom roms ie is the browser jerky like stock ??
Appreciate any / all feedback thank you

I'm interested in some more more info on this topic as well.....
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium

Read up!
ok so aSMP doesn't really work in the method of core 0 gets loaded then core 1 kicks in, thats way off.
basically SMP cpus like Tegra and Samsung's both cores run at the same speed, so core 1 follows core 0. This doesn't mean that core 1 is actually processing anything. In most cases due to gingerbread the phone is still mainly running on one core unless the app supports multicore.
aSMP allows the cores to run completely independent. This is great for battery life. Core 0 can do things like play games and stuff at full speed while core 1 handles background data.
so playing angry birds while syncing photos on flickr:
core 0 could be running at full 1.5Ghz
core 1 could be running at 500Mhz just do handle the syncing
This is basically the idea. We will get better support with ICS for full and proper support for multiple cores and the kernels will only get better as devs learn.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1233103

Hi,
Thank you for you detailed reply ive been following the thread you posted which is what led me to posting question here , i obviously misunderstood what was being said. That being said im no expert but if i buy a dual core phone id rather have both cores committed to one task like pc ... this is one of the things thats making me hold back on sensation. Althougth its a great phone with great ui and fantastic potential with future updates and dev support to the touch at present the galaxy s2 just seems smoother with the way its doing thing.
As i say thou im not expert i can appreciate theres other factor to take into account such as kernal etc, im just going with hands on usage and trying to evaluate the future potential for both devices before making a decision to which i should choose

tonnytech said:
Hi,
Thank you for you detailed reply ive been following the thread you posted which is what led me to posting question here , i obviously misunderstood what was being said. That being said im no expert but if i buy a dual core phone id rather have both cores committed to one task like pc ... this is one of the things thats making me hold back on sensation. Althougth its a great phone with great ui and fantastic potential with future updates and dev support to the touch at present the galaxy s2 just seems smoother with the way its doing thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sensation's CPU works in a much more power efficient way, while still offering the speed of any other dual core CPU. It allows different clock speeds for different cores so applications using only a single core will be able to clock it differently to those using the other in the background. Computers, especially laptops work in a similar way, as there is a need for power efficiency. Realistically the Galaxy SII runs smoother due to it running a much less resource hungry skin on top of android, but both the CPU of the sensation and the Galaxy SII are both of a similar calibre, so it is very difficult to say which is better.

again thanks for the reply , defintly understand how this asmp buisness works more now which has given me some stuff to think about

tonnytech said:
Hi,
Thank you for you detailed reply ive been following the thread you posted which is what led me to posting question here , i obviously misunderstood what was being said. That being said im no expert but if i buy a dual core phone id rather have both cores committed to one task like pc ... this is one of the things thats making me hold back on sensation. Althougth its a great phone with great ui and fantastic potential with future updates and dev support to the touch at present the galaxy s2 just seems smoother with the way its doing thing.
As i say thou im not expert i can appreciate theres other factor to take into account such as kernal etc, im just going with hands on usage and trying to evaluate the future potential for both devices before making a decision to which i should choose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither architecture, SMP or aSMP, will commit both cores to one task unless the app is multithreaded and it currently needs the use of both cores. This is the same way that multicore pc's operate. That's why when quad core CPU's first came out people said that they didn't feel any faster than comparable dual core chips - most existing apps at that time were written for single or dual threaded use so the third and fourth cores largely sat unused. The pc doesn't just force the use of the extra cores just because they are there (regardless of how they scale, aSMP or SMP).
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

Also the new firmware has made it smoother due to extra optimisations. Web browser is not as good as the galaxy S 2 due that being GPU accelerated. Power wise the Sensation you will get somewhat more out of your battery life wise.

hardensm said:
Realistically the Galaxy SII runs smoother due to it running a much less resource hungry skin on top of android, but both the CPU of the sensation and the Galaxy SII are both of a similar calibre, so it is very difficult to say which is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look at my thread and see the post:
MSM8x60:
Adreno 220 GPU
2x Cortex A8 Based Cores
512KB L2 Cache
45nm
upto 333Mhz LPDDR2
Exynos 4210:
Mali 400 GPU
2x Cortex A9 Based Cores
1MB L2 Cache
45nm
support for LPDDR2/DDR3
Tegra 2:
ULP Geforce GPU
2x Cortex A9 Based Cores
1MB L2 Cache
40nm
support for 600Mhz LPDDR2
So the biggest thing is is that the Exynos is based on a new core micro-arch then the Snapdragon 2, also it has the ability to support DDR3 memory. To go into more detail about ARM Cortex.
Items that A8 and A9 have in common:
Jazelle RCT for JIT Compilation
Neon SIMD Instruction Set (Optional)
Thumb2 Instruction set
VFPv3 Floating Point Unit (Optional)
Cortex A8:
Superscalar Dual-Issue Micro-Arch
2.0 DMIPS/Mhz
Cortex A9:
Out-Of-Order Superscalar Micro-Arch
2.5 DMIPS/Mhz
Jazelle DBX for Java Execution
Dual-Core Processing Built In
The SGSII has a new generation architecture as so does the Tegra

This thread is iteresting. I want to continue that.
my cpu0 and cpu1 arrive at 1,7 ghz. so cpu1 doesnt arrive up to 500 mhz

[Q] Number of CPU cores?

I've already asked it somewhere else, but the only one answer I've got seemed to me to be wrong.
Here there's the question:
I would expect that my Sensation's /proc/cpuinfo showed 2 CPUs as processor 0 and 1.
This should be normal for a Linux kernel running on a "dual core CPU", both in case of actual twin cores and in case of "dual threaded single core" CPU.
But what I can see is just 1 core as processor:0.
How can I tell my device is usign both cores?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Your device only uses cpu1 under heavy load. You can monitor this by downloading a cpu monitor like system tuner and checking it out for yourself.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using XDA Premium App

Device uses one core until 2nd is needed, to save power, you can force both online using system tuner
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

All this is something I've never seen in (real) Linux. Real news to me!
That is, I have, say, 8 cores with 7 idle at 100% and one working on low loads.
But I'm still able to see 8 cores in /proc/cpuinfo wich shows the maximum number of cores I can rely upon, despite they are in use or not.
Thanks for the answers.

Sensation doesn't use the core no. 2 unless it is under heavy load as stated. But you can always force the two CPUs online using apps like System Tuner if you ever really need two cores active at the same time

Uqbar said:
All this is something I've never seen in (real) Linux. Real news to me!
That is, I have, say, 8 cores with 7 idle at 100% and one working on low loads.
But I'm still able to see 8 cores in /proc/cpuinfo wich shows the maximum number of cores I can rely upon, despite they are in use or not.
Thanks for the answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sensation is asynchronous SMP architecture, and uses the Linux kernel's built-in CPU hot plugging feature. That's probably why you have never send something like this before. And iirc, Intel CPU is synchronous SMP while and is asynchronous SMP, but doesn't use the same CPU hot plugging like htc does.
Sent from my HTC Sensation

best overclocking?

OK guys. After much searching i've just become confused as to which is the best overclock app/ROM for the HTC sensation z710e. I used SetCPU but it couldn't actually take my processors above 1.188GHZ and I tried the sense-o-maniac ROM and also the android revolution 6.0.3 ROM, both of which say the processors are overclocked to 1.5GHZ but there is absolutely no difference to me, no they are not slower, and I just want a clear straight up ROM or app that OVERclocks.
Thanks,
Sensation lover

I under clocked my cpu to 1 ghz and I see no difference in speed.... From 1.2 to 1.5 its 20% increase in cpu speed.... Speed of the phone doesn't depend on cpu alone... So thats around 7-10% increase in speed overall (because there is gpu, ROM, sd card, memory)... And thats maybe... Do you really think you can see 7% in speed? Try some synthetic cpu benchmark with 1.2 and 1.5 and only then will you see....
This is my five cents ;-)
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using xda premium

Well the app that controls the CPU clocking is limited in what it can do by the Kernel you're running.
If you're Kernel only supports 1.18 Ghz, Set CPU can't do anything about it.
So you need a Kernel that supports overclocking. The Kernel also controls what kind of governors who can put on the CPU (Conservative, performance, battery saving, etc...)
As far as the controller apps go though, I like the ones that can set the screen off speeds at a different rate than the screen on speeds. That makes sure I don't drain battery at alarming rates when the phone is in my pocket because a rogue app decided it wanted to get funky.

As Skipjacks mentioned, the overclocking speed is due to the kernel you have flashed.
If you are unsure on which kernel to use,
Always use the kernels suggested by the ROM developer.
Of course, you could try various Kernels but do keep in mind that not all ROM's support different kernels.
Normally the current roms has CPU clocking apps built into it,
one widely used is the Daemon control. It usually comes with an app that you can control the overclocking speed.
The current app i'm using, I use System Tuner Pro (yes I support app developers)
It enables me to force cpu2 online, which ultimately makes my phone faster.

Dual Core Dual Channel but only running on 1 core??

Howdy everyone,
i happened to come across an app on the market called CPU Gauge and this demonstrates to you exactly what each core on your phone is doing at all times, even in your notification bar at all times. Now i have noticed no matter what i do there only ever seems to be 1 core running which is pretty pants i reckon. how can i enable it to run dual cores all of the time? i dont understand it personally, why have a dual channel architecture if its hardly ever used? and surely it having to decide whether to use one core over two and to send data down both channels or just the one is probably a reason why we get lag? i am probably completely wrong but id rather the cpus always be on and drain battery if it improves overall performance

androidfanboi said:
Howdy everyone,
i happened to come across an app on the market called CPU Gauge and this demonstrates to you exactly what each core on your phone is doing at all times, even in your notification bar at all times. Now i have noticed no matter what i do there only ever seems to be 1 core running which is pretty pants i reckon. how can i enable it to run dual cores all of the time? i dont understand it personally, why have a dual channel architecture if its hardly ever used? and surely it having to decide whether to use one core over two and to send data down both channels or just the one is probably a reason why we get lag? i am probably completely wrong but id rather the cpus always be on and drain battery if it improves overall performance
Click to expand...
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Though a mod will move this thread please post questions in the general section this is for development purposes only..
But if what you say is true i will have to look into this. What rom are you currently running?

Just a rooted/overclocked LG stock gingerbread rom.

For me it shows 2 Cores working ,but second is ON only when needed (as it should be) So its OK. Lags are because of poor ram managment on LG software, I recommend Rushdroid ROM.

What I know, Android 2.3 and below does not provide a support for multi cores. However, ICS does support it. So, I think the phone will run much better when the ICS update comes.

abo_mara7 said:
What I know, Android 2.3 and below does not provide a support for multi cores. However, ICS does support it. So, I think the phone will run much better when the ICS update comes.
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nope. thasts only an urban legend But it can improve performance at some points, but I would be rather sceptic. Custom roms must be always better (what they are doing making software, making it slower on purpose? go Samsung way and hire cm team members)

In games it uses both cores but im dissapointed that when testing swapping between different apps and web browsing seemed to all be using just the one core, and that was with lags inbetween swapping from for instance gallery to browser. I love this phone great specs but it annoys me more and more to think LG really did have no clue when it came down to putting it all into action. is there any way to have 2 cores on at all times or atleast change the values that decide when to use second core/channel.
If anything it makes for an interesting discussion

IFLPI said:
nope. thasts only an urban legend But it can improve performance at some points, but I would be rather sceptic. Custom roms must be always better (what they are doing making software, making it slower on purpose? go Samsung way and hire cm team members)
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It has a partial support, not 100%, and the proof is that all dual core phones which received ICD update, got a huge improvement in the performance, as their users said.

androidfanboi said:
In games it uses both cores but im dissapointed that when testing swapping between different apps and web browsing seemed to all be using just the one core, and that was with lags inbetween swapping from for instance gallery to browser. I love this phone great specs but it annoys me more and more to think LG really did have no clue when it came down to putting it all into action. is there any way to have 2 cores on at all times or atleast change the values that decide when to use second core/channel.
If anything it makes for an interesting discussion
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Click to collapse
The processor works as it should be, all cores when needed. Check System Panel app. Ram is the issue here. On stock it will be always laggy. On rushdroid and samba there is good ram management. Almost 250mb for the user. On stock i doubt if there is 130mb free available.
@up: there is no evidence that GB supports 1 core only and ICS multiple cores. A better performance on ICS can be due to the bigger optimizations, and hw support (that can be buggy) like gpu enabled scrolling etc.
But Ive heard that ics supports fully multicores, and that is an urban legend for me (no evidence) Ics can be just more optimized than gingerbread (and more like honeycomb which was quite fast)

IFLPI said:
The processor works as it should be, all cores when needed. Check System Panel app. Ram is the issue here. On stock it will be always laggy. On rushdroid and samba there is good ram management. Almost 250mb for the user. On stock i doubt if there is 130mb free available.
@up: there is no evidence that GB supports 1 core only and ICS multiple cores. A better performance on ICS can be due to the bigger optimizations, and hw support (that can be buggy) like gpu enabled scrolling etc.
But Ive heard that ics supports fully multicores, and that is an urban legend for me (no evidence) Ics can be just more optimized than gingerbread (and more like honeycomb which was quite fast)
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Click to collapse
you are correct cores are working as they should be not a problem here at... Gingerbread supports multicore and does use the cpu to the max when needed, you don't need to run both your cores all the time if that was the case you would need to charge your phone every 3 hours....
The issue with our optimus 3d is it needs ram tweaks to keep it smooth, 512mb ram is good i am not complaining because it's dual channel and so on so the ram speed is amazing just to free up ram we have tweaks...
Also the cpu is used to the max when needed, when you make a call you do not need both cores working at the same time that would be pointless. But when you play games, browse the net and bench your device all cores are used at the same time...

if you want to try it (see the difference) with both cores enabled ,(and cpu speed at max) try system tuner app , in cpu setting put governor to "performance" the first core will go to max speed , then go to active tweak and there is an option to force all cpu on , try it , it will be hard for the battery... when you put governor back to hotplug , the second core will return on demand (on/off) . if you want to do it again after you have to redo all step and turn the force all cpu on off and on again...

i'm on v21D on rushdroid 3.6.3. Both cores show up as working. 1 core ususally hits 1.4ghz and 2nd one upto 1ghz during regular processing. Great app btw tnx for letting us know

Which kernel you use on rushdroid @1,4ghz?

IFLPI said:
Which kernel you use on rushdroid @1,4ghz?
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Click to collapse
Titan kernal v21d
Sent from my LG-P920h using XDA

Its not neccessary to use dual core all the times ,using dual core for small task degrade the performance that increasing. Since our phone have dual memory the cache plays an important role in deciding which core should be used.