UK-based chip maker ARM has introduced three new mobile graphics processors that offer a host of new features and performance improvements. One of the most important features of these graphics processors is that they have Ray Tracing, which is only found in new generation game consoles and computer GPUs.
ARM this week announced its mobile GPU in a new flagship segment as part of its roadmap for its upcoming CPUs and GPUs. This new architecture, called I mmoralis and will have at least 10 cores, will provide hardware-based ray tracing and a new execution engine to high-end Android smartphones. It will also offer Variable Rate Shading (VRS) to save performance and battery life.
Ray Tracing Technology normally requires a significant power source that is kept out of the mobile domain, but mobile hardware has evolved to meet this challenge. Introduced last year, the Mali-G710 supports ray tracing on the software side. Nvidia is transitioning to similar hardware ray tracing technology on its RTX graphics cards, AMD Radeon RX 600 series, Sony PlayStation 5 consoles, and Microsoft Xbox Series consoles.
ARM isn’t the only company to offer mobile ray tracing tech
ARM isn’t the only company promoting ray tracing technology in the mobile market. Imagination Technologies introduced the IMG-CXT last November. The features of the ARM Immoralis have not been disclosed in detail yet, but the IMG XCT is expected to reach about a quarter of the ray tracing power found in the RXT 2060. The first Immoralis chip, the G715, will be launched in early 2023.
ARM’s roadmap also includes two new flagship-level Mali GPUs. Although they lack ray tracing technology, they will still support VRS and the new execution engine. While the top segment model Mali-G715 GPU comes with 7 to 9 cores; The Mali-G615 GPU will be coming with a maximum of 6 cores.
