Nvidia announces the Tegra K1, a 192-core 'super chip'

Nvidia Tegra K1
Meet the "Super Chip"

Nvidia has taken to the stage at CES 2014 to unveil its Tegra K1 mobile processor, a "super chip" with graphics capabilities that Nvidia compares to next-gen consoles.

The successor to the 72-core Tegra 4, the Tegra K1 has a 192-core Nvidia Keplar GPU and takes the place of the rumored Tegra 5. Of course, we're talking graphics cores here, not CPU cores.

In terms of CPU cores, Tegra K1 will be offered in two variants, the first will use a 32-bit quad-core ARM Cortex A15 solution, while the second variant will use Nvidia's custom 64-bit dual-core "Denver" ARM architecture.

The 32-bit variant will be available in the first half of the year and the 64-bit version will be released in the second half of 2014.

Setting standards

While Nvidia has said that the K1's graphics are comparable to the Xbox One and PS4, it said in its release that the K1 is 1.5 times more efficient than Qualcomm's S800 and Apple's A7 processors as well.

It also has support for PC and console-class gaming engine Unreal Engine 4, and support for OpenGL 4.4 and DirectX 11.

Nvidia will be making a push into new markets with the Tegra K1 too, outlining how its new mobile processor will be used for advanced driver assistance (ADAS).

  • Want more from this years CES? Head on over to our round up of what else you should be expecting out of CES 2014.