Nvidia's New Mobile Processor to Offer Amazing Performance

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If the early rumors are correct, the next generation of Nvidia(NVDA) Tegra processors could provide a big leap in performance.

According to a blog post in Chinese, Nvidia is preparing its Tegra 4 processor with six times the computing power of the current Tegra 3 chips.

The new chips, codenamed "Wayne," are reportedly quad-core along with a fifth core (doesn't that make it a penta-core?) designed to help save battery life, which is always one of the main stumbling blocks with battery-powered gear. Its main competition is Qualcomm's(QCOM) Snapdragon processor.

As for video prowess, the Tegra 4 is said to be able to tap 72-core performance -- six times that of the Tegra 3 -- in products such as the Google(GOOG) Asus Nexus 7 tablet. In terms of sheer numbers, it means the Tegra 4 will be able to deal with 1080p quality, 2560 by 1440 pixel video at 120 hertz. That's pretty amazing for a mobile-device chip.

It also appears the Tegra 4 will be able to handle USB 3.0 input and output.

No word on when the Tegra 4 might be officially announced. But, with the Consumer Electronics Show coming up in January and Barcelona's Mobile World Congress in February, we should know a lot more about it very soon.

-- Written by Gary Krakow in New York

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