The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Performance Preview: Sizing Up Cortex-X2
by Dr. Ian Cutress on December 14, 2021 8:00 AM ESTSystem-Wide Testing and Gaming
For our system wide tests, we had time to go through Geekbench 5, PCMark, and GFXBench. For workload based testing, we see performance uplifts with the S8g1, and it is a noting that here we tested PCMark with both performance mode on and off, which gave a +10% increase in the score – we’ve seen this before running PCMark on both Arm and x86 devices where turbo and favored cores can have large effects on scores. By contrast, GB5 scored the same.
In our PCMark tests, it's clear who the new ruler of the roost is.
On the graphics side, Qualcomm’s new number-less Adreno that is advertised as being ‘new from the ground up (but we won’t tell you how)’ again offers generational improvements for next year’s Android flagships. Qualcomm historically also offers better graphics performance per watt, so we’ll have to wait until we get the devices on hand to showcase that data. But overall, the gains in these tests show a large +50% performance jump over previous generation S888 graphics performance. In 2022, we'll have MediaTek’s flagship trying to aim for the same market but based on the Mali GPU, and graphics is an area that Qualcomm historically outpaces Mali designs quite easily. The only serious competitor in this space is Apple.
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eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
As of now, and assuming Mediatek doesn't screw up the firmware, the Dimensity 9000 would best QC's "flagship" mobile SoC for 2022. Now, I remember reading that no major smartphone maker plans to sell phones with the Dimensity 9000 in the US, at least not officially. Is that really so, and if yes, does anyone here know why? I gladly do without the mm wave 5G channels (the 9000 doesn't cover those), which are really only available on Verizon, and even then only in some places.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, December 17, 2021 - link
Dimensity has no support for Verizon, which means you lose about 40% of the US market from the get go.Wardrive86 - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
Excellent article Ian! Those geekbench scores are extremely close to my tigerlake i5-1135g7 in fullsize notebook. Extremely impressive, look forward to sustained performance testing and comparisons to mediatekTheinsanegamerN - Friday, December 17, 2021 - link
How many times does it need to be pointed out that geekbench is worthless for comparisons across systems? Unless you are doing ARM android VS ARM android or the like, the scores are not representative of real world performance.Comparing ARM android to x86 windows is like comparing an apple to a medieval sword. Totally different use cases.
Wilco1 - Saturday, December 18, 2021 - link
How many times does it need to be pointed out the scores are directly comparable? It compilers the same benchmark source code using LLVM whenever possible and runs the same datasets. There are differences between OSes of course, but that only affects scores in a minor way.And it's not like Geekbench scores show a completely different picture from SPEC results - modern phones are really as fast as laptops.
Wardrive86 - Sunday, December 19, 2021 - link
Agreed Wilco, it may not stress the memory subsystems to the extent that SPEC does, but it seems to paint roughly the same picture.IUU - Monday, February 7, 2022 - link
"modern phones are really as fast as laptops."No they are not. You will inever beat the physical law. The only reason some Android or iOS devices have reached to the point of being comparable with laptops or desktops is because they have managed for the first time in history to grab some superior lithographies first
If that was not the case , laptops and desktops would be x3 to x15 faster than today's mobile devices. But if laptops nad desktops sold at 700 to 2000 dollars then how would smartphones be sold at today's prices ? The comparison would be abysmal.
So the industry found a solution. Keep desktops and laptops at ancient lithographies while grab for android and iOS the best of the best.
Then con
IUU - Monday, February 7, 2022 - link
then convince the sheeple that they somehow live in a revolution of better and most economical devices while keeping them at the same level of computing capacity for the best part of the decade. Not only that , but also get tons of dollars for selling a dream....IUU - Monday, February 7, 2022 - link
I accept both geekbench AND antutu for making a quick comparison between mobile devices(and yes I know the qualms about Antutu but I think they are hysterical. And geekbench for making quick comparisons between platforms, having in the back of my mind their limitations, always.Before the mobile devolution came we had a very clear picture of the computational capacity of our chips. Then the radicals came being secretive about their chips. So , though we still have a gross impression of the theoretical performance of desktop and laptop chips we are in the dark concerning the "mobile" . As far as I am concerned I take their claims with a huge grain of salt.
Good guys don't hide....
ChrisGX - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
On these numbers the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 doesn't appear to be living up the 4x AI perf claim. Is there more performance to come? We will know soon enough but even without any further improvement in the AI scores the SD8 Gen 1 still looks pretty good.With the SD8 Gen 1 and the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 posting good AI scores (unconfirmed in the case of the D9000) we can expect Google and even Apple to start raising the stakes on the AI performance of future silicon. Qualcomm, too, is going to have to lift its game with MediaTek looking very competitive in so many areas.