Sure, the idea of a 1GHz Tegra 2 processor powering devices like the DROID Bionic and Atrix 4G sounds pretty awesome, but how would you feel about a 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3? According to a leaked NVIDIA slide, that's what we can expect as soon as Q4 of this year. The chip, which is powerful enough to run Blu-Ray video on a tablet with a resolution of 1920x1200, should begin sampling some time in Q4 2010. When the Tegra 3 is put inside a handset, you can expect displays with a resolution of 1366x768, which is just nuts.

The slide also mentions a 3D-capable Tegra 2 processor, which is able to run at speeds up to 1.2GHz on both phones and tablets. Thankfully, we won't have to wait for the 3D Tegra 2's like we will for the Tegra 3 SOC, as the 3D chips are going into production some time this quarter.

NVIDIA has said in the past that quad-core chips are coming, but seeing it printed on a slide makes me even more excited for the prospect of having a 1.5GHz core in the palm of my hand. There may be some concerns about battery life, but NVIDIA claims that having a quad-core chip will actually benefit a phone and its battery. Still, it may be wise to take a wait and see approach. What do you all think of the Tegra 3? Is having a 1.5GHz quad-core processor in a phone overkill?

Via Engadget