Well, as many has already said the power consumption of the ARM is interesting BUT I beg to differ :)
I don't think that's why ARM was chosen. Nvidia has been willing to build a CPU for a long time. And it's a well know fact that it has been barred from market entrance by Intel patents. ARM is beefing up its CPU line beyond mobile sector, so it's a logical choice.
As for power, well don't forget it'll be associated with a GPU, so the power advantage could easily be offseted by GPU hungriness. Time will tell.
On the other hand, tight integration and great compiler could allow Nvidia to tap into the GPU number crunching power through CUDA.
Still, it's not easy, just look at how the Cell hardly lived up to expectations. Interesting move from Nvidia. Wait and see the results.
I don't think that's why ARM was chosen. Nvidia has been willing to build a CPU for a long time. And it's a well know fact that it has been barred from market entrance by Intel patents. ARM is beefing up its CPU line beyond mobile sector, so it's a logical choice.
As for power, well don't forget it'll be associated with a GPU, so the power advantage could easily be offseted by GPU hungriness. Time will tell.
On the other hand, tight integration and great compiler could allow Nvidia to tap into the GPU number crunching power through CUDA.
Still, it's not easy, just look at how the Cell hardly lived up to expectations. Interesting move from Nvidia. Wait and see the results.