Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064)  vs Nvidia Tegra 3 (T33) 

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and the Nvidia Tegra 3 are to SoC- System on a Chip- processors used in tablets, smartphones and other such devices. The two sport four cores but the Snapdragon offers a slightly higher clock rate- 1.7GHz- when compared to the Tegra- 1.6GHz. Another difference is that the Snapdragon is manufactured with a dual channel memory controller and 2MB of L2 cache, whereas the Tegra comes with only a single channel and 1MB of L2 cache. Also the overall manufacturing process of the Snapdragon is newer than the Tegra- 28 nms and 40 nms respectively.

Where the two differ greatly is that, in reality, the Tegra actually has a fifth core- a “companion” core- which the Snapdragon doesn’t have. The companion core’s sole purpose is to power down all the other cores when the device is in a state of standby, or is performing other mundane tasks- like playing music or even video- in order to save energy.

The Snapdragon also has a battery-preserving function, however, as it comes equipped with an integrated cellular communication antenna, which makes the necessity of such an antenna being present on the PCB void.

So, in the end, as a conclusion I'd say that the Tegra is the better core of the two, due to the "companion" core it has and the usefulness it has.