This also helps explain why the Nexus 4 performed so slowly when we reviewed it - this mess was going on back then and Google didn't partake. None of the Nexus do, which is understandable since the optimization isn't a part of AOSP.
![benchmarks from geekbench over cheating benchmarks from geekbench over cheating](https://www.xda-developers.com/files/2017/02/OP3T-Score-Comparison.png)
Looking at the table above you’ll also notice weird inconsistencies about the devices/OEMs that choose to implement the cheat/hack/festivities. It’s a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung. It's possible that older Motorola devices might've done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we’ve worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. We started piecing this data together back in July, and even had conversations with both silicon vendors and OEMs about getting it to stop. I Can't Believe I Have to Make This Table The table below is a subset of devices we've tested, the silicon inside, and whether or not they do a benchmark detect and respond with a max CPU frequency (and all cores plugged in) right away: The second point however applied to many, many more platforms.
![benchmarks from geekbench over cheating benchmarks from geekbench over cheating](https://www.androidheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/OP3T-Score-Comparison-XDA.png)
![benchmarks from geekbench over cheating benchmarks from geekbench over cheating](https://phandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/OP3T-Multi-Core-Throttling-640x427.png)
We did a lot of digging to confirm that max GPU frequency (450MHz) was never exceeded on the Snapdragon 600 version. The first point applied exclusively to the Exynos 5410 equipped version of the Galaxy S 4. Also on Snapdragon platforms, all cores are plugged in immediately upon benchmark detect. Thanks to AndreiF7's excellent work on discovering it, we kicked off our investigations into Samsung’s CPU/GPU optimizations around the international Galaxy S 4 in July and came away with a couple of conclusions:ġ) On the Exynos 5410, Samsung was detecting the presence of certain benchmarks and raising thermal limits (and thus max GPU frequency) in order to gain an edge on those benchmarks, andĢ) On both Snapdragon 600 and Exynos 5410 SGS4 platforms, Samsung was detecting the presence of certain benchmarks and automatically driving CPU voltage/frequency to their highest state right away.