The new ARM Cortex A73 chip with Mali G71 graphics is designed for continuous operation at maximum load.

Today, ARM has introduced a new ARM Cortex A73 processor, which uses a Mali G71 graphics chip. The new system on the chip is positioned as a replacement for the Cortex A72 and uses a 64-bit architecture. To reduce power consumption, the Cortex A73 can be paired with several Cortex A53 or A35 to handle undemanding tasks in power mode.



The new A73 chip has a 30% better performance with 30% reduced power consumption. In comparison with the Cortex A72, the new Cortex A73 operates at a frequency of 2.8 GHz against 2.5 GHz, respectively. The main changes occurred at the level of architecture - the reduction in power consumption is achieved due to the 10-nm process technology, while the chips of the previous generation use the 14-nm or 16-nm process technology.

Cortex A73 chips using this process should be on sale in 2017, but it is possible that solutions with the Cortex A73 on the 14-nm or 16-nm process can be released this year. The use of the old process technology in the production of the Cortex A73 can also affect the power consumption, which should be considered before purchasing devices with such a chip.

Reducing power consumption with increased performance is not the only difference from the previous generation. New Cortex A73 is designed for longer operation at maximum frequencies in comparison with Cortex A72 and Cortex A57. The market is still the only manufacturer who asks the question of maximum stable operation over a long time without lowering the clock frequency, remained Apple. This direction is especially important for virtual and augmented reality, when the chips have to work with a full load for a long time.



The Cortex A73 uses a Mali G71 graphics chip with Bifrost architecture. According to ARM, the new architecture is better scaled in comparison with the Mali T600-, T700- and T800-, and also received support from the HSA architecture. It allows developers to use a graphics chip to handle various requests, similar to CUDA for NVIDIA graphics chips.



On average, the performance gain from the Mali G71 will be about 50% with the power consumption reduced by 20%, and the chip itself can include up to 32 shader cores against 16 in the Mali-T880. Other changes in the Mali G71 architecture are aimed at avoiding memory overflow by simultaneously distributing and executing four threads at once.