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Like it did with its Galaxy S 4 smartphone, Samsung has once again been caught artificially increasing CPU speeds on its Galaxy Note 3 phone when benchmark apps are running, reports Ars Technica.

Samsung uses special code inside its operating system to identify benchmarking apps by name to boost CPU clock speeds and prevent CPU cores from entering low-power modes. As a result, Ars discovered, Galaxy Note 3 benchmarks report CPU performance roughly 20 percent faster than most apps will experience on the device.

note3benchmarks.png
The difference is remarkable. In Geekbench's multicore test, the Note 3's benchmark mode gives the device a 20 percent boost over its "natural" score. With the benchmark boosting logic stripped away, the Note 3 drops down to LG G2 levels, which is where we initially expected the score to be given the identical SoCs. This big of a boost means that the Note 3 is not just messing with the CPU idle levels; significantly more oomph is unlocked when the device runs a benchmark.
Apple executive Phil Schiller -- senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing and the most prolific tweeter amongst Apple's senior staff -- linked to the Ars article in a tweet, saying only "shenanigans".

Article Link: Samsung Again Caught Inflating Benchmarking Scores, Phil Schiller Calls 'Shenanigans'
 

sundog925

macrumors 6502a
Dec 19, 2011
948
971
What? Multi billion dollar corporations lying? I have never heard such blasphemy!
 

Johnny Steps

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2011
578
507
Samsung is a joke lol. Apple will always be the superior company. If only there was a way to make others see this...like to baptize them or something.
 

XboxMySocks

macrumors 68020
Oct 25, 2009
2,230
198
This is pretty hilarious actually. Why not just always run the CPU this way :rolleyes:

EDIT: it wasn't clear, but I was trying to give an air of sarcasm off here. Didn't work. Sorry all ��
 
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TWSS37

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,107
232
But the cores did produce those results, but they just aren't in line with the unwritten rule of what a benchmark should be testing for? Got it.
 

gpat

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2011
1,865
4,975
Italy
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers came out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?
 

Jack97

macrumors regular
Nov 30, 2010
143
1
it's things like this which make me realise why I never buy samsung anything :cool:
 

Serelus

macrumors 6502a
Aug 11, 2009
673
132
Vm9pZA
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers came out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?

I have a feeling this was taken into account, rather than just blantantly neglected.
 

TTile

macrumors 6502
Jan 23, 2013
269
0
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers come out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?

Because its only unlocking the power for these benchmarks. You don't get to experience that power in everyday use.

Its analogous to a governor on a car. Yes, the engine can take you to 200mph but if the governor only lets you hit 130mph then you can never use that extra 70mph.
 

Spacial

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2013
463
0
Phil is ****ing awesome!

Yes he's quite good at whoa is me, we're the victims.

It's just business, man up and quit whining Apple. If you're still sad look at the billions you have. With Apple greed knows no limits.
 

TWSS37

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,107
232
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers came out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?

Exactly.

But since the unwritten rule of benchmarking is to test the "normal activity" of the device, they are somehow distorted.

I don't know about you, but when I notice the need for power it's because it's lagging or stuttering. That's higher intensity stuff where - wait for it - I'll wait all possible power dedicated to completing the task. I'd rather know what the phone is capable of, rather than someone else's definition of normal usage.
 

TheRainKing

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2012
999
535
What's the point? The majority of their customers don't even look at benchmark scores.
 

BlindGoldfish

macrumors regular
Jan 15, 2010
107
0
Because its only unlocking the power for these benchmarks. You don't get to experience that power in everyday use.

Its analogous to a governor on a car. Yes, the engine can take you to 200mph but if the governor only lets you hit 130mph then you can never use that extra 70mph.

Unless you plug in your Note 3.
 

beosound3200

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2010
684
0
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers came out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?

what if you're using that high power mode only for benchmarks? is it still efficiency?

this isnt intel turbo mode. this is only samsung trying to 'win'. its like its lead by teenage geeks - like google
 

vipergts2207

macrumors 601
Apr 7, 2009
4,168
9,235
Columbus, OH
Does this seem more of a feature only to me?
When a particularly demanding task, like a benchmark, is executed, the CPU releases more power. I call this "efficiency".
And these numbers came out from the CPU's calculating power, not from nowhere.. how is this fake?

It's not a feature if it's completely useless. The only time the CPU ups the power is when using a benchmark app, nothing else. Samsung is just using what you call a "feature" to make potential customers believe that the phone is more powerful than it really is.
 
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