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[PROJ] Overclocking the Adreno GPU on Snapdragon Devices

I already posted this in the Nexus dev forum, and I hate to clutter the boards, but I know that there are a bunch of talented devs here that may not see it on those forums. If we can bust the 30fps cap for good, and get the GPU overclocked, then we could see some serious gaming performance out of our Snapdragon devices.
I'm sure we all heard about being able to overclock the GPU on some of the old MSM devices, but the Snapdragon handles the graphics chip in a different way. The goal of this thread is to try and overclock the GPU on Snapdragon devices as well.
There is nothing GPU related in acpuclock-scorpion.c (the Snapdragon cpu clock settings) at least for setting gpu clock speed as far as I can tell.
In board-mahimahi.c (Nexus board file) and board-supersonic.c (Evo board file) there is some kgsl init code, but so far as I can tell it isn't setting the clock there, instead it seems to be pointing to PWR_RAIL_GRP_CLK to set the clock in both devices. It defines the variable in each of those files but I'm not sure where that variable is set, since it doesn't seem to be in any of the other board files as far as I can tell. I could be completely off here too though.
In drivers/video/msm/gpu/kgsl/kgsl.c there is a method called kgsl_clk_enable that seems to be called whenever the GPU is enabled. It looks like this:
Code:
/* the hw and clk enable/disable funcs must be either called from softirq or
* with mutex held */
static void kgsl_clk_enable(void)
{
//clk_set_rate(kgsl_driver.ebi1_clk, 128000000);
clk_set_rate(kgsl_driver.ebi1_clk, 245000000); // Looks like it sets the GPU clock, right? Wrong.
clk_enable(kgsl_driver.imem_clk); // Enable the clock
clk_enable(kgsl_driver.grp_clk); // Enable another clock, but why?
}
The line that's been commented out is the original value, I replaced it with my value on the line below it in a failed attempt to overclock it. Probably a stupid effort on my part, I doubt it's that simple, but it was worth a shot. The comments at the end of the line are also my additions.
According to the clk.h files in the standard linux kernel, clk_set_rate is obviously a method to set the clock rate. The first variable is a struct that tells it which clock to set, and the second variable is a long value that is the rate you want it set at. Is it setting the right clock there for Snapdragon chips? Or is it only the clock for older chips?
I'm in way over my head with this source, I'm but a lowly Java dev, but I really wanna solve this. Can anyone with a little more experience than me throw in a little more info? Sorry if it doesn't make much sense, if it isn't clear just ask me & I'll try to explain a little more.
Regards,
Jesse C.
EDIT: Okay I did a little more digging and those kgsl settings should work for QSD8x50 chips. In the config file, under Drivers, Graphics Support, it allows you to enable 3D accelleration for QSD8x50 & MSM7x27 chips. The tag for that is CONFIG_MSM_KGSL_MMU. If you check in kgsl.c it checks to see if that is enabled in the config, and if it is then it compiles and uses kgsl.c & all of the kgsl code. That tells me that the clock is either not being set, or the wrong clock is being set. I'm adding some debug code right now so I can see in dmesg what code is actually being run.

Dude I have no idea how to do this but bump and best of luck
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Isn't this Helping ? http://androidhtc.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=androidhtc/kernel.git;a=blobdiff;f=arch/arm/mach-msm/clock-7x00.c;h=ef178abfcd46cf78dd47962d75298691f887ebf2;hp=d68fea09d1996daeff99365ced9785d65b1cb001;hb=23ff83048726252bc785699fc749a3e364a3bdb0;hpb=110e73c591db3fd23d8558659f8a6a0dfe5ba912
It looks like here he sets the clock writel(grp,MSM_CLK_CTL_BASE+0x84); 0x84
And here is the Orginal topic http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=697673..

fstluxe said:
Isn't this Helping ? http://androidhtc.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=androidhtc/kernel.git;a=blobdiff;f=arch/arm/mach-msm/clock-7x00.c;h=ef178abfcd46cf78dd47962d75298691f887ebf2;hp=d68fea09d1996daeff99365ced9785d65b1cb001;hb=23ff83048726252bc785699fc749a3e364a3bdb0;hpb=110e73c591db3fd23d8558659f8a6a0dfe5ba912
It looks like here he sets the clock writel(grp,MSM_CLK_CTL_BASE+0x84); 0x84
And here is the Orginal topic http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=697673..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I saw that, but that won't work for us, because it is for one of the old MSM7500 chips instead of the new QSD chips we have in Snapdragon devices.
I am working on a few things now and I recommend you check the Nexus forum since that thread is a lot more active.

Geniusdog254 said:
Yeah I saw that, but that won't work for us, because it is for one of the old MSM7500 chips instead of the new QSD chips we have in Snapdragon devices.
I am working on a few things now and I recommend you check the Nexus forum since that thread is a lot more active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okey, But as far as I know that code is not standard... Becouse the Vugue msm7500 device is originally WM device.. so the Smart dzo managed this custom code.
I wil follow the nexus form .. This is Damn interesting !

i wish you guys the best of luck..wish i could help..i love xda..lol

I'm going to bump this, would be nice if more people were working on this.

Man... I absolutely love my phone. It really sux that this even needs to be asked. This device is so much more capable and I cannot understand why HTC would cripple it so badly. Look at the Samsung galaxy s or the Droid x. Or even a more similar phone like the nexus or incredible. They all stomp this phone when it comes to anything graphics wise even if it is just swiping home screens. It makes me sad. Lol

I love how it makes you sad, but you still lol. Lol (correctly placed)
This is big but first let's get a true cap fix!
Sent from my Evo 4G

How is there such little interest in this subject? This intergrated gpu will probably overclock like a beast... and maybe we can get actual fps.

jigglywiggly said:
How is there such little interest in this subject? This intergrated gpu will probably overclock like a beast... and maybe we can get actual fps.
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Click to collapse
I'm thinking this is also one of those things awaiting source. Even the overclocked kernals make my phone reset so I'm waiting for a more stable release myself. Since you're still posting here does that mean you decided to keep your evo?

psych2l said:
I'm thinking this is also one of those things awaiting source. Even the overclocked kernals make my phone reset so I'm waiting for a more stable release myself. Since you're still posting here does that mean you decided to keep your evo?
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Click to collapse
I don't know, yet I am in deep havoc lol. I activated my phone on the 20th. I have till 13th of July to pay my bill, so don't know.
I mean the locked bootloader of the Droid X is kind of lame. Also on the Evo, I have a 10$ discount because of the IO conference... unlimited texts too, and I bought two batteries for it with a charger(for 10$ lol, and they actually last a long time 1500ma, I put the 2 extras in my wallet)
Also I think I can upgrade my phone right away already if I read things right, so if Sprint gets an awesome phone I can upgrade to that whenever.
Verizon is more expensive, but I like how they let me do a 1 year contract. The Droid X is also nicer, I mean it has a better camera, and the mic quality when taking videos isn't piss, hopefully someone fixes that. It also has a real graphics card.
So yeah, it's hard to decide. A better phone, vs saving me some money. Though I plan to attend the IO conference once again. I'm still porting my distrubuted prime client onto Android, hopefully it will be high performance. So it's not like I just go there for a phone ^^. Hell I didn't even know about the phones till they said "Where do you want the Droid delivered" I lol'd. Though my time is limited, summer classes at UC Berkeley are tough : /

jigglywiggly said:
How is there such little interest in this subject? This intergrated gpu will probably overclock like a beast... and maybe we can get actual fps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, looks like til we get the kernel in our hands they're tied.
Also what's the point of overclocking if their is still a limit on FPS..
Eventually this will be the next thing on our todo list

some of the source for the OpenGL ES GPU core was announced as being released today
Qualcomm releases open-source 3D Snapdragon driver
http://www.androidcentral.com/qualcomm-releases-open-source-3d-snapdragon-driver
havent looked at it yet, but im sure in the very least this should at least help shed some more light on overclocking the GPU and add another piece to the puzzle!
git location -
https://www.codeaurora.org/gitweb/q...b819424af4be;hb=refs/heads/android-msm-2.6.32

topdnbass said:
Yep, looks like til we get the kernel in our hands they're tied.
Also what's the point of overclocking if their is still a limit on FPS..
Eventually this will be the next thing on our todo list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't really a fps cap with the novatek kernel hack. It made the display much smoother for me and I am using it on EvolutionX. So beast.
Good news about the drivers, maybe we can actually see some overclocking now.

I want this to happen!
Nova runs pretty well on the Evo. Gameloft updated it recently.
I would just like for iphone ports to run well.
I hear the Palm Pixi has the same GPU. It is clocked at 190mhz. What about the Evo?

patelkedar91 said:
I hear the Palm Pixi has the same GPU. It is clocked at 190mhz. What about the Evo?
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Click to collapse
The Pixi doesn't have the same GPU, it has one of the low/mid-range MSM7227 (I think thats the model?) chips. It's similar as it's one of Qualcomms latest gen chips, but it is NOT a Snapdragon so it's different.
Also, the Snapdragon GPU's on HTC devices are clocked as follows:
GRP_CLK: The actual graphics clock, 256mhz
IMEM_CLK: The gpu memory clock, 256mhz
EBI1_CLK: As best I can tell, the bus that the GPU is on is EBI1, this is the clock for it, 128mhz
If you want more info, look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=710850 since that thread is a lot more active, but please don't clutter it, there's actual devving going on there

Thanks for the info. I just wonder how they're going to get 3d games to work on the Pixi then... weird.
It was announced that the Pixi would get 3d gaming with the 1.4.5 update.

Much better (Y)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/and...ck-overclocking-tuning-snapdragon-s1-t2883708

Galaxy S just a label?

i was wondering. what exactly makes a Galaxy S device a Galaxy s device? i hope i made sense there...
because on twitter GalaxySsupport replied to a question i had originally asked to Samsungsupport about the infuse.

more or less. there are many phones named galaxy from samsung. then the galaxy s line came out, then the galaxy s conntinuum. then the galaxy indulge on metro pcs. then the i9003. galaxy s had a narrow line of hardware at first then they played with screens now the whole hardware profile can vary. the infuse is more galaxy s than the galaxy indulge, or the i9003. now they have the galaxy s 2 and will soon have the galaxy s 2 mini and galaxy s+ which will supposedly be based on a quallcom cpu.. so although the infuse has different gps hardware and mhl the radio is likely the same as the t959v sgs4g and is otherwise a galaxy s. samsung said it doesnt have the hardware requirements to be called a galaxy s when asked but it only seems to have hardware improvements. the audio chip is the same, the processor is the same, other phones called galaxy dont meet those requirements, and the phone is also capable of running gps and the camera while making phone calls, the sgs cant do either. im not really sure what game samsung is playing here but it seems galaxy s has been demoted to a label and att maybe didnt want that label because of the bugs and lack of support people think it had.

It seems to be a just a label. I mean this is way batter than any galaxy device out there. Poeple all up on dual core (I was one of them), what exactly do you need so much power for? How fast are you typing that you need a phone to keep up with you. The only phone that does require it would he the atrix because of its lapdock. But even then dual core seems to be a way to drain your battery if you don't know how to set up the phone correctly. And Samsung directed my question to the Galaxy S twitter account. I still think this phone meets and exceeds the requirements for a Galaxy S device.
Sent from my Infuse 4G.

I was checking the Samsung Galaxy S website
i have these comparisons
Samsung Galaxy S 4G:
Android Platform: 2.2
Display: 4.00" Super AMOLED
Camera: 5.0 MP rear VGA front
Processor: 1.0 Mhz
Samsung Infuse 4G:
Android Platform: 2.2
Display: 4.50" Super AMOLED Plus
Camera: 8.0 MP rear 1.2MP front
Processor: 1.2Ghz
and this device is not capable of being a Galaxy S device?
i think this phone has been ripped from it title.

multi core is hard to utilize fully(has to do with the way things are processed and applications are written) but the step from one to two can feel like a big difference in some situations. any lag caused by background services can disappear because there is a non busy processor core ready to go. the lag difference can give the perception of performance even if the actual speed something is processed at is not much faster. if a dual core comes out that has great battery life and no heat issues im sure it will be great. dual core doesnt throw me off that much, what gets me however is they are already talking about 4 core chips for phones! please figure out a way to make the architecture smaller or make 3d architecture like they have been talking about for years so we can get more hz and less power usage. it cant be easy to parallelize applications with simple functions that are written in java.
multi core is great for benchmarking but beyond 2 cores i dont see the point on a small screen and one is perfectly acceptable.

Atrix dual core. Lag and heat central on that phone.
Sent from my Infuse 4G.

My atrix got very hot as well. I haven't noticed any speed difference between my atrix and the infuse. I think overall the infuse is a far superior device.

i was speaking in theory about the lag. blur is a piece of crap. that and locked bootloaders are why i wont buy it. i dont mind limited development as long as i can get things the way i want them, lack of ability to flash roms seems like too much of a hinderance in getting the phone setup the way i want it. i will look at the attain, but with the audio issues im may wait for a while before i buy another phone.

I think I'm pretty much set with the Infuse.
Sent from my Infuse 4G.

Even then with Dual core, blur should be able to run really snappy.
but it doesn't. only real thing that i see dual core has to provide are better graphics in games.

Transformer27 said:
Even then with Dual core, blur should be able to run really snappy.
but it doesn't. only real thing that i see dual core has to provide are better graphics in games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best part is that kholk found while working on the bootloader that the Atrix kernel only loads one core on boot....lol....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

h8rift said:
The best part is that kholk found while working on the bootloader that the Atrix kernel only loads one core on boot....lol....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG LOL. Epic fail. I knew something was up with that phone. LOL
Sent from my Infuse 4G.

Transformer27 said:
Even then with Dual core, blur should be able to run really snappy.
but it doesn't. only real thing that i see dual core has to provide are better graphics in games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the infuse gpu can keep up with some kernel tweaks and api support for tegra based games. the sgs renders some things better(not sure if that's true in a technical sense but certain benchmarks look more natueral) and in most cases can run similar frame rates, some overclocking and the sgx power vr540 gpu is a beast. dual core helps in games that are written for dual core especially if it uses tegra2 specific APIs, chainfire's chainfire 3d may help with that situation.
and well dual core would only help with lag caused by multi tasking. a laggy launcher on a single core may be just as laggy on a dual core(unless it is multi threaded), but a snappy launcher may lag if there is a background service running on a single core but is not likely lag to on a dual core even with background services. i guess i wasnt specific enough.
i guess im only reinforcing the idea that dual core is marketing nonsense because unless you are a multi tasking junkie you wont notice a bit of difference 90% of the time.

h8rift said:
The best part is that kholk found while working on the bootloader that the Atrix kernel only loads one core on boot....lol....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a large portion of the boot process is probably in one large thread making dual core useless untill the ui starts. though having the core ready would mean you could start playing with things while the ui is still loading making the wait for everything to load less annoying.

Dani897 said:
i was speaking in theory about the lag. blur is a piece of crap. that and locked bootloaders are why i wont buy it. i dont mind limited development as long as i can get things the way i want them, lack of ability to flash roms seems like too much of a hinderance in getting the phone setup the way i want it. i will look at the attain, but with the audio issues im may wait for a while before i buy another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are the audio issues on the attain?

nstong said:
What are the audio issues on the attain?
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Click to collapse
well the attain isnt tested yet, maybe i should have said sgs2. if the attain is the same as the sgs2 international supercurio wasnt very happy with the audio, and audio is important to me. it has a yamaha chip not a wolfson. not that yamaha is bad but it appears that the chip may be faulty or something. also wolfson was very cooperative in providing drivers and sources for supercurio's voodoo project. im sure it actually sounds good with the exception of the noise level. there are some clicking or popping issues from what i understand. i use in ear headphones and im sure id be able t to hear it.

Transformer27 said:
I was checking the Samsung Galaxy S website
i have these comparisons
Samsung Galaxy S 4G:
Android Platform: 2.2
Display: 4.00" Super AMOLED
Camera: 5.0 MP rear VGA front
Processor: 1.0 Mhz
Samsung Infuse 4G:
Android Platform: 2.2
Display: 4.50" Super AMOLED Plus
Camera: 8.0 MP rear 1.2MP front
Processor: 1.2Ghz
and this device is not capable of being a Galaxy S device?
i think this phone has been ripped from it title.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just making sure about this, but you do mean a 1.0 Ghz processor on Galaxy S right? lol

my bad yeah. furious typing at the moment of doing the list. lol

Don't bother with battery comparisons on the i9500, the phone is unfinished.

So I got my i9500 and already did some foolery with it.
Fine device, but I hate the raised lip around the screen edge. Something I definitely did not miss on the S3 and something very annoying.
Other than that small design critique:
THE ****ING PHONE ISN'T RUNNING FINAL FIRMWARE!
Basically the CPU is running on the cluster migration driver, meaning it switches all four cores from the LITTLE to the big cluster, as opposed to the core migration driver who does this in an individual core-pair manner.
You can pretty much throw all battery comparisons out of the window: it's completely unfinished and unoptimal.
I already compiled the kernel and flashed it without the cluster migration tidbit, but the phone won't boot. So yea. Current sources also useless.
Cleverly enough: you can't really distinguish between the two drivers apart from one manner: if /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/iks-cpufreq/max_eagle_count is present, you're running an IKS driver. If it's not, then you're running the sub-optimal IKCS driver.
So yea. We'll see what Samsung does about this, currently the advantages of big.LITTLE are pretty much unused.
Another nail in the coffin on how rushed and unprepared this phone has been.

Wow, this is seriously turning out to be a fiasco.

ChronoReverse said:
Wow, this is seriously turning out to be a fiasco.
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Click to collapse
This is EXACTLY why at the end I don't care for technical details about socs but was rather waiting for real world usage first. As much I wanted to agree with Andrei Lux on how intelligent BigLittle is, I sort of felt that it wont be same at the end.
Question is now: Is this possible to fix in the near future?? So that maybe buying the Exynos will be beneficial if the devs take over. I wont bet on Samsung introducing mind-blowing improvements in that department in upcoming firmwares

Xdenwarrior said:
Question is now: Is this possible to fix in the near future?? So that maybe buying the Exynos will be beneficial if the devs take over. I wont bet on Samsung introducing mind-blowing improvements in that department in upcoming firmwares
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The code other driver is there in the kernel, it's just not used. No idea. It's not like we need Samsung for it: I already talked to a developer at Linaro about some incomplete switcher code that's being currently getting the green-light to be made public. But who knows how long that will take.
Whatever the case, I gather that they can't just let it be in the current state.

AndreiLux said:
The code other driver is there in the kernel, it's just not used. No idea. It's not like we need Samsung for it: I already talked to a developer at Linaro about some incomplete switcher code that's being currently getting the green-light to be made public. But who knows how long that will take.
Whatever the case, I gather that they can't just let it be in the current state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any way to just disable cortex a15 altogether yet just to see how well cortex a7 will perform in simple texting, browsing, calling and to see what the battery life will be like on that?? (cause cortex a7 only uses like 200 something mw as opposed to 1000mw for snapdragon). I know u wont be able to game. How often does Cortex A15 hits in? cause I would suspect a much worse battery life with incomplete drivers doing the switching if its very often on. But PocketNow reports very similar battery results to snapdragon variant which I find odd

Xdenwarrior said:
Any way to just disable cortex a15 altogether yet just to see how well cortex a7 will perform in simple texting, browsing, calling and to see what the battery life will be like on that?? (cause cortex a7 only uses like 200 something mw as opposed to 1000mw for snapdragon). I know u wont be able to game. How often does Cortex A15 hits in? cause I would suspect a much worse battery life with incomplete drivers doing the switching if its very often on. But PocketNow reports very similar battery results to snapdragon variant which I find odd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use any app to limit the CPU frequency to 600MHz. That'll limit it to the A7 cores running to 1200MHz. Basically you can just use CPU-Spy. Everything <= 600 are A7's mapped at half frequency, everything above it are A15's at 1:1 frequency.
As for PocketNow: irrelevant. The difference is what could be instead of what is, the Snapdragon doesn't play a role in the discussion here.

WOW , thats sucks
Samsung was too rushed and ruined it :/

AndreiLux said:
Use any app to limit the CPU frequency to 600MHz. That'll limit it to the A7 cores running to 1200MHz. Basically you can just use CPU-Spy. Everything <= 600 are A7's mapped at half frequency, everything above it are A15's at 1:1 frequency.
As for PocketNow: irrelevant. The difference is what could be instead of what is, the Snapdragon doesn't play a role in the discussion here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks, but I don't have the S4 to test it with since i'm still debating on which to get. I live in Canada and so the only version here which I can get a lot cheaper on a contract is LTE snapdragon, but I wont mind getting the Exynos since it got potential. Besides 16GB internal isn't enough for me. So that's why asking if u seen any improvements in battery when only cortex a7 ran? If a7 doesn't do much in power consumption, then no point spending 800 bucks and loosing LTE altogether...

@bala_gamer please see my PM its important...
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium

Oh wow. Just got word (without further in-depth explanation) that this might actually be a hardware limitation. Coming from a reliable source.
No words...

AndreiLux said:
Oh wow. Just got word (without further in-depth explanation) that this might actually be a hardware limitation. Coming from a reliable source.
No words...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you elaborate a bit more pls?
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2

that's not what samsung exynos advertised..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6UNODPHAHo

Is it possible that we're having a simpler Exynos 5 system technically closer to Exynis 5 Quad (plus 4 A7 cores) than a real seamless Octa-core system? It was strange reading that "Octa-core manufacturing starts in Q2" (April-June) then see Octa-core versions hitting reviewers early April, that's way too low time frame. Maybe this is a 1st-gen 5410. In any case, performance and current-state battery life beats the Snapdragon version, even if only just.

AndreiLux said:
Basically the CPU is running on the cluster migration driver,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wtf? Well done Samsung... This is ridiculous...
AndreiLux said:
Oh wow. Just got word (without further in-depth explanation) that this might actually be a hardware limitation. Coming from a reliable source.
No words...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WHAT THE [email protected]??!!
Actually WTF is a massive understatement here....!!!
Please can you give more info about this matter whenever is possible? This is very serious...
Is it a specific hardware limitation? Something that Samsung specificly did in GS4 (I9500) ?
Because this can't be a generic exynos octa limitation. It makes no sense... Unless everything we've read from Samsung and ARM about exynos octa, are completely misleading...

A hardware limitation..? They advertised the functionality and to then release a device without it, is just plain stupid. Hopefully it is a just a kernel issue and can be resolved quickly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Probably Samsung will implement it in their Note 3 device? It's a conspiracy so that people buy their next Note phone but this news is sad.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Now what is this all about? Is this a very serious issue?

So its either all A15s or all A7s?
so would the 'octa' really be a better choice than the S600? That should be powerful enough.. and the S600 is pretty power efficient too

rkial said:
So its either all A15s or all A7s?
so would the 'octa' really be a better choice than the S600? That should be powerful enough.. and the S600 is pretty power efficient too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I understood is its either the full cluster of a7 or a15 is used/ functional based on the load, dynamically turning on one or two cores of a15 to work along with a7 may not be possible it seems.
I may be wrong, waiting for an elaborate exp from andrei
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2

bala_gamer said:
What I understood is its either the full cluster of a7 or a15 is used functional based on the load, dynamically turning on one or two cores of a15 to work along with a7 may not be possible it seems.
I may be wrong, waiting for an elaborate exp from andrei
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was always under the impression this was the intention of Samsung's particular implementation of it. I thought it was common knowledge that Samsung's version worked on a 4 or 4 (A15) or (A7) basis.
Maybe he was talking about the ability to change that.

Galaxy S4 (GT-I9505) - Games Focus

Hi all, for those of you interested, I shot a video focus on the GT-I9505 performance while running cpu/gpu intensive games like Real Racing 3, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Asphalt 7, Dead Trigger, etc
http://youtu.be/Ibj_o5YahhM
Ciaoooooo

Very nice video!
One concern that I had, and now after watching this video is an even bigger concern, is gaming performance. Overall all games are somewhat lagging, I believe that this is due to the high resolution, that not only it has to process more pixels, but also requires additional video memory, which I believe is shared with the system memory.
I got very excited to buy this phone after S4 GE announcement, but now I'm skeptical, I have seen the Nexus 4 running games a lot smoother than this and I'm worried I will have to upgrade again soon in the future for a phone with a better GPU like Adreno 330 to be able to play newer games in 1920x1080 while the Nexus 4 could still play the same game smoothly.
What do you guys think? are you also disappointed with gaming performance?

sniperbr0 said:
Very nice video!
One concern that I had, and now after watching this videos is an even bigger concern, is gaming performance. Overall all games are somewhat lagging, I believe that this is due to the high resolution, that not only has to process more pixels, but also requires additional video memory, which I believe is shared with the system memory.
I got very excited to buy this phone after S4 GE announcement, but now I'm skeptical, I have seen the Nexus 4 running games a lot smoother than this and I'm worried I will have to upgrade again soon in the future for a phone with a better GPU like Adreno 330 to be able to play newer games in 1920x1080 while the Nexus 4 could still play the same game smoothly.
What do you guys think? are you also disappointed with gaming performance?
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Frankly speaking, I'm disappointed for the whole performance experience with my GT-I9505. The whole system it's not perfectly smooth and there's some stuttering here and there. The same issue obviously happen during games, although it's not so noticeable.
To be honest, any device I tried with the recent Qualcomm architecture (I mean both APQ8064 and APQ8064T Snapdragon 600), screen resolution apart, was not completely smooth during games like NFSMW or Real Racing 3. And, just to give a term of comparison, I had: PadFone 2, Nexus 4, Xperia Z, Optimus G, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9505). On Android OS, I could just see the Galaxy Note 2 (Exynos and Mali of course) running almost perfectly smooth Need For Speed Most Wanted. Then, I wouldn't be that worried about games and even more about general performances of GT-I9505. Samsung it's relatively new to APQ8064(T), then I guess it can only get better in the next updates.

Any game not running perfect on this phone just needs optimization that's all. The soc is relatively new in most regards, and aside from the mali-t6, has the most capable graphics card out there. The mali 400 used in the s2 through the note 2 handle every game just about prefect.
Swyped from a minimalist S2

how abouti9500 one and is it better:? they gave me this version im so sad and i forced to chose this phone

I think octa is more for gamming, gpu have more Power, some games really need optimizations
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

matheus_sc said:
I think octa is more for gamming, gpu have more Power, some games really need optimizations
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app
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Dont think so
The 320 is on the same level as the power vr , according to some sites , the adreno is little bit better
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9505 mit Tapatalk 4

Playing real racing and fpse and had never a lag and a slow down.
Most people which say s4 is slow use the crappy touchwiz interface.
I can tell you guys its not the phone or the hardware which is laggy,its just touchwiz.
Get rid of it and you will never have a lag,launcher redraw or a slow down anymore
Edit:
I run a superslim deodexed and pre rooted 4.2.2 rom and have no lag and perfect battery life.
Just try it guys
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2250824
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

MultiLockOn said:
Any game not running perfect on this phone just needs optimization that's all. The soc is relatively new in most regards, and aside from the mali-t6, has the most capable graphics card out there. The mali 400 used in the s2 through the note 2 handle every game just about prefect.
Swyped from a minimalist S2
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Yeah I think it's this and a combination of the Touchwiz interface and other bloated apps / processes.
optimising games for the phones hardware will increase performance in terms of average fps and that sort of thing but these random dips and microstutters we see are caused by background processes and services. Touchwiz is the main culprit but not the only culprit.

kamranhaghighi said:
how abouti9500 one and is it better:? they gave me this version im so sad and i forced to chose this phone
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The 9500 uses the Octacore. It's a little bit more powerful than the APQ8064T you can find into the 9505.
On the other side, you will just have HSPA modem, not the LTE one. Only in korea for what I can remember, Samsung release an Octacore version together with an LTE modem.
If you don't need or you can't use LTE, you should have a slightly better device than the 9505.

Aratheba said:
The 9500 uses the Octacore. It's a little bit more powerful than the APQ8064T you can find into the 9505.
On the other side, you will just have HSPA modem, not the LTE one. Only in korea for what I can remember, Samsung release an Octacore version together with an LTE modem.
If you don't need or you can't use LTE, you should have a slightly better device than the 9505.
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in iran we dont even have 3g we have 2g or edge that max speed is 10kb/s! that means 80kbps! seems they are alsmot same anyway i dont ahve performance probelms and happy whit my s4 expext I FORCED TO PAY a lot of money i was goign to buy nexus 4 they gave me wrong version (8gb) they told me w dont have the 16gb so i forced to chose that! btw it wroth screen is freakigna wesome and thin and light (i dont care about weight and thin!)

devgee said:
Dont think so
The 320 is on the same level as the power vr , according to some sites , the adreno is little bit better
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9505 mit Tapatalk 4
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Both have their advantages. Power VR can push out more FPS but the adreno has a better hexagon fill rate. The adreno 320is the newer chip and unfortunately many games are not optimized for it yet. The power vr on the I9500 is older and thus why some games will play more smoothly. If you try a game like real racing 3 you will see what I mean. However, a game like asphalt 7, both devices should handle well.

But why should Asphalt be no problem? I played it and it plays smooth Like it should. The game Epoch is running smooth but a simple game as carmaggedon has frame drop. Epoch is unreal powered and looks awsome.
Could this be because of optimizing games? I sure hope so. I love the device.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

Vulkan API?

So yeah Samsung said that it's integrated in the S7 and S7 edge, but what does that mean right NOW? I still haven't noticed any improvements in gaming performance, and games still drain the same amount of battery (as they say it improves performance in gaming and battery life, also it's said that the new TouchWiz uses or will use the Vulkan API, is it already being used or what?). What exactly should we expect and when?
My questions might not be well asked, but you get what I want to know

Silvers91 said:
So yeah Samsung said that it's integrated in the S7 and S7 edge, but what does that mean right NOW? I still haven't noticed any improvements in gaming performance, and games still drain the same amount of battery (as they say it improves performance in gaming and battery life, also it's said that the new TouchWiz uses or will use the Vulkan API, is it already being used or what?). What exactly should we expect and when?
My questions might not be well asked, but you get what I want to know
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This post explains it pretty well, basically it's a new way to boost graphics performance and harness the full power of the CPU. It translates into more responsive game play, more fluid animations and a slicker/snappier touchwiz.
https://news.samsung.com/global/see...y-s7-create-more-immersive-gaming-experiences
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

gsmyth said:
This post explains it pretty well, basically it's a new way to boost graphics performance and harness the full power of the CPU. It translates into more responsive game play, more fluid animations and a slicker/snappier touchwiz.
https://news.samsung.com/global/see...y-s7-create-more-immersive-gaming-experiences
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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Thanks, I know all of this.. But it's still all on paper, right? when do we expect to actually see it and notice any difference on the Galaxy S7?

Silvers91 said:
Thanks, I know all of this.. But it's still all on paper, right? when do we expect to actually see it and notice any difference on the Galaxy S7?
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It will depend on devs implementing it when building their games, I'm not sure which ones/if any use it at the moment.
I think it's helped a lot with the optimisation of touchwiz which is noticeably improved although this could also be due to the 4GB ram and newer CPU in the S7.
I believe android N is supposed to add native support for the vulkan api so perhaps it will be more apparent when it comes.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

gsmyth said:
It will depend on devs implementing it when building their games, I'm not sure which ones/if any use it at the moment.
I think it's helped a lot with the optimisation of touchwiz which is noticeably improved although this could also be due to the 4GB ram and newer CPU in the S7.
I believe android N is supposed to add native support for the vulkan api so perhaps it will be more apparent when it comes.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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I'm actually trying now to play Vainglory which is supposedly using Vulkan API, and I can't deny it, it runs smoother than a lot of games I have including clash royale, hearthstone and subway surfers.. even though it looks demanding.. Also the phone isn't overheating much like it does on clash royale and battery drain is normal.. I don't know if it's actually thanks to Vulkan or if the game runs like this on other phones as well.

Silvers91 said:
I'm actually trying now to play Vainglory which is supposedly using Vulkan API, and I can't deny it, it runs smoother than a lot of games I have including clash royale, hearthstone and subway surfers.. even though it looks demanding.. Also the phone isn't overheating much like it does on clash royale and battery drain is normal.. I don't know if it's actually thanks to Vulkan or if the game runs like this on other phones as well.
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Nice one, it certainly sounds like its running well although hard to confirm its purely down to Vulkan, without being able to enable and disable it on the handset itself. I suppose the way to test would be to run it on an S6 or an HTC 10 for comparison.

Silvers91 said:
So yeah Samsung said that it's integrated in the S7 and S7 edge, but what does that mean right NOW? I still haven't noticed any improvements in gaming performance, and games still drain the same amount of battery (as they say it improves performance in gaming and battery life, also it's said that the new TouchWiz uses or will use the Vulkan API, is it already being used or what?). What exactly should we expect and when?
My questions might not be well asked, but you get what I want to know
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Click to collapse
After almost a year of your post, I am also still looking for this information. Have you found what you are looking for? I am now in nougat with a game that "said" support vulkan api, but my analysis, cpu work is still high and gpu work is still low.

mashardpro said:
After almost a year of your post, I am also still looking for this information. Have you found what you are looking for? I am now in nougat with a game that "said" support vulkan api, but my analysis, cpu work is still high and gpu work is still low.
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Sorry mate, I got rid of the S7.