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#1710
If you meant "the processing power of a six-core x86" this could happen within 5 years if not sooner (there are already quad-core processors in all major tablets, point is they can't compete with even a x86 dual core in processing power).
As far as RAM and storage, the main limitation is the power (and space) budget. And the fact most ARM processors are 32-bit.
But frankly at some point it would make no sense to put so much power in a device given to the average customer, whose most intensive activity will be watching HD videos and playing some Nintendo64-like games.
For Ubuntu Edge-like devices (that can double as desktop if connected to other peripherals) it would make sense to go further, and that's where ARM is headed with its new designs.
There are some semi-ARM devices in the works with massive multi-threading coprocessors, able to achieve 90 Gflops of processing power over 64 cores. As a comparison, an i7 3770k does 110-130 Gflops, and an i5 3570k does 120, here other processors.
Point is, the above device pulls this off with less than 10 watts total (and the latest prototypes claim 50 Gflops per watt), an affordable price and tiny size (can fit in a tablet). And the technology can scale upwards with more cores keeping a tablet-fitting size.
Intel is also shitting bricks because now everyone wants to build supercomputers and servers with ARM processors (even without the above). Just google it, tons of articles.
AMD is jumping the gun and plans to make the first server-grade 8 or 16 core 64-bit ARM SoC.
So yeah, ARM can and may very well wipe out x86 while still doing tiny stuff.
Point is, desktops as "big/multiple screen(s), a keyboard and an accurate pointing device put on a table" are not going to disappear, regardless of what is the most powerful device or architecture 5 or 10 years down the road. Unless they perfect thought-machine interfaces and retinal projectors, that is.
It's a matter of minimum screen size required and minimum ergonomics required to avoid back and arm pain after a few hours of use. Tech changes, humans don't.
Last edited by bobafetthotmail; 23 Aug 2013 at 06:17.