# Would you go with the Int. Quad-core/1GB or the U.S. Dual-core/2GB GSIII?



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

I'm wondering which version of the Galaxy SIII you would buy & why, if contracts are of no concern?

I've watched comparison video's of the two & they seem to be pretty close in real world use. So I'm a little stumped on which to go with.

Some concerns of mine are:
How battery life compares on each.
If anyone HAS noticed a difference in performance between the two
Developer support (I would get another GNex, but 4 out of 5 times they are junk now)
I'm not worried about LTE, because it's not in my area yet.

Thanks guys!

(Also, will the T-Mobile model work on AT&Ts network, minus the LTE?)


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## MistaWolfe (Oct 10, 2011)

Ask nocoast. He has a Verizon and international one. I bet he tells you go quad-core as he was raving about it the other day. Said it was amazing.


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## mg386 (Jul 19, 2011)

I don't have the international quad, but I would choose the 2gb ram and S4 CPU.

People seem to think that just because a quad has more cores, its automatically better. The dual core S4 out performs the quad tegra on almost any task. Furthermore, its built on a newer process tech 28nm. Basically means its more power efficient.

Even if the S4 dual was a slower CPU than the quad, I would still choose more ram over a faster CPU. Having built PCs for years, I always see better performance with ram/CPU.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## nocoast (Oct 17, 2011)

As the owner of both phones. I can tell you that the i9300 is noticably snappier interms of every day UI stuff. I also find that the quad core exynos fetches data better (in spite of the radios and the crappy hspa data.) In terms of benchmarks the exynos quad outbenches the the msm8960 OC'd @ 1.8ghz (s4) by at least 1000 in quadrant (at stock clock speed) and a much bigger gap in antutu benchmakrs. The browsermark score on the i9300 is absolutely ASTOUNDING. Additionally, assuming your getting the verizon US version, then expect to understand that the i9300 is about 90000x more root friendly. Lastly, I find the display on the US variant to offer richer, deeper blacks. In the end, assuming your getting a GSM version (in which case you wont be getting LTE) Id DEFINITELY go quad core. You will immediately notice how damn responsive the phone is right out of the box, the s4 (US variant) is in the same league but i really do think the exynos edges it out. A note to consider: the i9300 is at&t friendly, but walmart straight talk offers a plan that piggybacks on at&t's network thats 45 a month for unlimited everything and the data on hspa isnt half bad. The verizon sgsIII gets INSANELY GOOD solid download speeds. So I guess it really depends on what you prefer. If you want raw local horsepower id say go for the i9300. But if you want crazy fast data then the vzw is the only option imo.


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

nocoast said:


> As the owner of both phones. I can tell you that the i9300 is noticably snappier interms of every day UI stuff. I also find that the quad core exynos fetches data better (in spite of the radios and the crappy hspa data.) In terms of benchmarks the exynos quad outbenches the the msm8960 OC'd @ 1.8ghz (s4) by at least 1000 in quadrant (at stock clock speed) and a much bigger gap in antutu benchmakrs. The browsermark score on the i9300 is absolutely ASTOUNDING. Additionally, assuming your getting the verizon US version, then expect to understand that the i9300 is about 90000x more root friendly. Lastly, I find the display on the US variant to offer richer, deeper blacks. In the end, assuming your getting a GSM version (in which case you wont be getting LTE) Id DEFINITELY go quad core. You will immediately notice how damn responsive the phone is right out of the box, the s4 (US variant) is in the same league but i really do think the exynos edges it out. A note to consider: the i9300 is at&t friendly, but walmart straight talk offers a plan that piggybacks on at&t's network thats 45 a month for unlimited everything and the data on hspa isnt half bad. The verizon sgsIII gets INSANELY GOOD solid download speeds. So I guess it really depends on what you prefer. If you want raw local horsepower id say go for the i9300. But if you want crazy fast data then the vzw is the only option imo.


Thank you sir!

I just terminated contract with VZW, so I am on Straight Talk $45 now







. I will never buy a locked bootloader again!

Looks like I'll be going with the i9300, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Appreciate the replies guys! Keep em coming. If anyone else would like to add anything, I would like to hear it.


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## fsx100 (Jun 11, 2012)

One thing I would add...

I have my S3 on At&t, stock but rooted (easily).

Its Quadrant benchmark *beats* the Htc One X benchmark.

The 2Gb RAM makes a huge real world difference.

You cannot add RAM to your phone, but I *can* over-clock if I ever need to..

And At&t LTE speeds are fast, like 20-45mbps/sec.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 (S3) using Tapatalk 2


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

It was a tough call for me... but I went with nocoast's advice & ordered the Quad-core.

He's had both devices for a bit now to compare, knows android pretty well (developer), i9300 seems to have better dev support & every time I check to see how much RAM I'm using on my GNex I'm usually only using 350MB. I'm always transferring large files too, so the quad-core should help more with that then the RAM. You're points are definitely valid 'fsx100' about being able to overclock & not add more RAM.

Anyways, this is just to hold me over until the new Nexus' come out.







So I'm trying not to stress myself out too much on this one & I think I will be able to resell the i9300 easier.

I'd still like to here more opinions tho...


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## hugapunk (Aug 17, 2011)

If I didn't sell cell phones, and get a decent employee price plan, I would defiantly drop Vzw and go to straight talk or T-Mobile.


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## fsx100 (Jun 11, 2012)

Ps, what carrier are you on? Tmo or Att?

The i9300 isn't likely available un-subsidized. What was your cost?

My S3 was $149 thru Staples, and I paid almost nothing after using my Staples Reward $$.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## Jgrimberg1979 (Jul 7, 2011)

Is there no way to get the i9300 to work on att lte? How about the Korean model, that is an lte phone correct?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## TechSavvy (Oct 7, 2011)

fsx100 said:


> One thing I would add...
> 
> I have my S3 on At&t, stock but rooted (easily).
> 
> ...


Ram has been proven to NOT make a difference here, and those lte speeds are achievable on (at least) three different networks.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2


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## nocoast (Oct 17, 2011)

Jgrimberg1979 said:


> Is there no way to get the i9300 to work on att lte? How about the Korean model, that is an lte phone correct?
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


It uses HSPA and can load an HD youtube video (of reasonable length) instantaneously. I have no problem with the connectivity of it, which suprises me


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## MistaWolfe (Oct 10, 2011)

mg386 said:


> I don't have the international quad, but I would choose the 2gb ram and S4 CPU.
> 
> People seem to think that just because a quad has more cores, its automatically better. The dual core S4 out performs the quad tegra on almost any task. Furthermore, its built on a newer process tech 28nm. Basically means its more power efficient.
> 
> ...


We're not talking a tegra processor here. Sammy's in-house chip.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

fsx100 said:


> Ps, what carrier are you on? Tmo or Att?
> 
> The i9300 isn't likely available un-subsidized. What was your cost?
> 
> ...


I'm on Straight Talk with the AT&T sim card. I paid $620 for the 16GB. Ended up just under $650 with overnight shipping.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Budwise (Aug 23, 2011)

Ive seen my VZW S3 using over 1GB of memory on many occasions, just sayin.


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## diewson (Jul 7, 2012)

isnt the korean version going to support voLTE? that means verizon and sprint can use the korean versions right? quadcore plus 2gb ram is my dream phone.


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## droidstyle (Oct 22, 2011)

i would rather have dual core with 2gb or ram over the quad with 1gb...with jelly bean 1gb of ram simply is not enough unless you heavily debloat and limit the amount of apps installed...that pretty much defeats the purpose of having a quad core processor. The quad needs atleast 500mb of Ram per core, 1gb would be better...


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## Nemo aeternamn (Aug 23, 2011)

Maybe it's just me.. I'd want the Korean version.. it has everything.. but it's just a touch thicker.. it's got the quad core 2gigs of ram.. and the reason it's a little thicker.. had separate radio for four g lte.. but that's just my wishful thinking

Cellar Door

"Who are you people and where is my horse?"


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

I looked all over for the Korean quad/2gb & couldn't find it. I would also suspect that the dev support would be almost entirely Korean.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## MistaWolfe (Oct 10, 2011)

droidstyle said:


> i would rather have dual core with 2gb or ram over the quad with 1gb...with jelly bean 1gb of ram simply is not enough unless you heavily debloat and limit the amount of apps installed...that pretty much defeats the purpose of having a quad core processor. The quad needs atleast 500mb of Ram per core, 1gb would be better...


1gb not enough to run JB?

My retired GNex would like to have a word with you. He calls bullshit 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## fsx100 (Jun 11, 2012)

MistaWolfe said:


> We're not talking a tegra processor here. Sammy's in-house chip.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


Both the Tegra 3 and the Samsung Quad-Core (Exypous sp?) were built using a 40nm process ("Scorpion"/A9 cores. Same as in the HP Touchpad, but Quad).

The S3's chip uses the latest "Krait" (A15) cores, built using a 28nm process. Better/faster/more efficient per core.

IF your app is optimized for Quad (Tegra Zone etc), great. If not, 95% of them arent going to use (in real life) the 3rd and 4th core. Android will, but the apps wont. Hope this makes sense.


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## fsx100 (Jun 11, 2012)

TechSavvy said:


> Ram has been proven to NOT make a difference here, and those lte speeds are achievable on (at least) three different networks.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2


Um, you are kidding me, right?

On my stock (but rooted and de-bloated) ATT S3, with 2GB RAM, I have (currently) 800GB of RAM free.

Think about it, if I didnt have 2GB RAM, some of those apps are going to be killed by Android's Task/Memory manager, and would have to be reloaded (abeit from Flash memory) when I needed them.

Of course RAM makes a difference, even on a S3.


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## fsx100 (Jun 11, 2012)

brkshr said:


> I'm on Straight Talk with the AT&T sim card. I paid $620 for the 16GB. Ended up just under $650 with overnight shipping.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


Enjoy the i9300. Thats about $600 more than I paid out of pocket, for my S3 (via Staples).


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

fsx100 said:


> Enjoy the i9300. Thats about $600 more than I paid out of pocket, for my S3 (via Staples).


I buy a new phone every 4 to 6 months, so I'm used to paying $650 to $800 for a phone. I keep most of them too.

I actually thought the SIII was pretty cheap for it's specs. I was expecting $700+.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## droidstyle (Oct 22, 2011)

MistaWolfe said:


> 1gb not enough to run JB?
> 
> My retired GNex would like to have a word with you. He calls bullshit
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


Im talking about factory bloated Jelly bean, not vanilla cm10...Hell touchwiz ICS uses 1gb of ram after its been running for a day or two. Im on beans b7 and debloated more out of it, still uses 8-900mb of ram. not trying to argue just sayin....


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

droidstyle said:


> Im talking about factory bloated Jelly bean, not vanilla cm10...Hell touchwiz ICS uses 1gb of ram after its been running for a day or two. Im on beans b7 and debloated more out of it, still uses 8-900mb of ram. not trying to argue just sayin....


I don't run factory/stock anything! Phones, computers, routers, trucks... I've even torn the tags of my undies









J/k, I get what you're saying


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## MistaWolfe (Oct 10, 2011)

droidstyle said:


> Im talking about factory bloated Jelly bean, not vanilla cm10...Hell touchwiz ICS uses 1gb of ram after its been running for a day or two. Im on beans b7 and debloated more out of it, still uses 8-900mb of ram. not trying to argue just sayin....


Not trying to argue either. I get what you're saying.

With stock rooted, I have about 1gb available 95% of the time because of what I froze. Runs smooth...

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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