Marvell has announced the world’s first ARM tri-core processor, the Armada 628.

The 1.5GHz part should deliver excellent performance for high end smartphones and tablets, but there is a twist. Only two of its cores are clocked at 1.5GHz, while the third one runs at 624MHz. Marvell claims the third, low power core handles routine tasks and takes some of the load off the 1.5GHz cores. So basically it’s something like an intern or an office temp.

The Armada 628 supports 1080p playback, which isn’t surprising considering the specs. Marvell also claims the new chip will allow vendors to integrate HDMI and USB 3.0 ports into their designs.  It’s even got a rudimentary 3D engine with four unified shaders, but don’t expect you’ll do much gaming on it.

The Armada 628 should start shipping sometime next year and there’s no word on design wins yet.