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"NVIDIA's fifth core is ingenious," said Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow at Insight 64. For high-performance tasks - like web browsing, multitasking and gaming - the Tegra 3 processor disables the companion. The four main cores are specifically designed for work requiring high performance, and generally consume less power than dual-core processors.ĭuring tasks that require less power consumption - like listening to music, playing back video or updating background data - the Tegra 3 processor completely shuts down its four performance-tuned cores and, instead, uses its companion core. vSMP includes a fifth CPU "companion," specifically designed for work requiring little power. The Tegra 3 processor implements a new, patent-pending technology known as Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP). This translates into an industry-leading 12 hours of battery life for HD video playback. Known previously by the codename "Project Kal-El," the Tegra 3 processor provides up to 3x the graphics performance of Tegra 2, and up to 61 percent lower power consumption. The world's first quad-core tablet with the Tegra 3 processor is the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. SANTA CLARA, CA - NVIDIA today ushered in the era of quad-core mobile computing with the introduction of the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 processor, bringing PC-class performance levels, better battery life and improved mobile experiences to tablets and phones.