I had an Exynos 5422, and when it came out it was a great card, however, nowadays, it's old generation - it consumes more and it's less performing than the latest archictures (A7x).
"Double the cores" is not a valid consideration - 4+ core configurations typically have 2/4 cores (the 5422 has 4) with a high-powered architecture, and the remainder with a low powered one.
Compare for example the XU4 with the N2 - the N2 is more powerful, and yet, it has less cores (4 hp. + 2 lp.) and requires no fan.
The RPi is an interesting configuration - they have 4 high-powered architecture cores (4x A72) only. It seems it doesn't require any fan.
Of course if one requires specific chipset/components, we're talking about specific use cases, which is another story.
It does at least need a heatsink. Though it will function without it, you may get temperature warnings, and it will run hot enough to significantly reduce component life. I've also hooked an old PC case fan to the GPIO pins or a USB port, and it runs slower (5V vs the 12 it expects) but does the job fine.
"Double the cores" is not a valid consideration - 4+ core configurations typically have 2/4 cores (the 5422 has 4) with a high-powered architecture, and the remainder with a low powered one.
Compare for example the XU4 with the N2 - the N2 is more powerful, and yet, it has less cores (4 hp. + 2 lp.) and requires no fan.
The RPi is an interesting configuration - they have 4 high-powered architecture cores (4x A72) only. It seems it doesn't require any fan.
Of course if one requires specific chipset/components, we're talking about specific use cases, which is another story.