The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Performance Preview: Sizing Up Cortex-X2
by Dr. Ian Cutress on December 14, 2021 8:00 AM ESTConclusionary Remarks: Arm v9 for Android
When we move through significant revisions of Arm’s architecture, up to v8 and now v9, it’s important to note that the new features defined in the ISA do not always fundamentally improve performance – it’s up to the microarchitecture teams to build the cores to the ISA specifications, and the implementation teams to enable the core in silicon with frequency and power efficiency. Accomplishing that requires a good process node, design technology co-optimization, and then partners that can execute by building the best devices for that processor.
Qualcomm’s target with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is very clearly the 2022 Android Flagship smartphones. New cores, new graphics, enhanced machine learning capabilities, a step function in camera processing power, an integrated X65 modem, all built on Samsung’s 4nm process node technology. The flagship Android space is an area in which Qualcomm has been comfortable for a number of years, however the increased thermals of last generation’s Snapdragon S888 gave a number of analysts in the space a bit of a squeaky bum moment.
It’s hard to tell immediately in our small test if that still remains the case. Samsung’s 4nm node has improvements beyond the previous generation 5nm design, however Qualcomm’s presentational numbers were above and beyond those that Samsung provided, perhaps indicating that additional improvements both in architecture and implementation have led to those performance numbers.
Our testing shows +19% floating point performance on the X2 core, which is almost the +20% that Qualcomm quotes, but only +8% in integer, which is often the most quoted. We’re seeing power efficiency improvements for sure on the X2 core, with an overall efficiency improvement of 17%, but peak power has also increased, in part because some of our tests make use of the additional cache in the system. Our machine learning tests are +75% over the previous generation, although not the 4x numbers that Qualcomm states – we need to do more work here on power efficiency testing however. On the gaming side, our 'first run' numbers showcase some explosive gains in GPU throughput.
Although we’ve only done a few tests here, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the elephant in the room: MediaTek. In the last month MediaTek announced a return to the high-end with a flagship processor of its own, using the same 1+3+4 configuration with slightly higher frequencies, more cache, and built on TSMC’s N4 process. Implementation here will be the key metric I feel, so how MediaTek has been able to optimize for TSMC N4 vs Qualcomm on Samsung 4nm is going to be analyzed. I should point out here that a processor is more than just the CPU cores, as we’ll see Adreno vs Mali on graphics, the different machine learning approaches, but also how the two companies approach 5G and connectivity, which has been one of Qualcomm’s most prominent strengths to date.
We look forward to testing the Qualcomm S8g1 in more detail in the New Year, as well as how many of the main smartphone OEMs choose Qualcomm for their flagship devices.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
169 Comments
View All Comments
naagin - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
naagin 6 Today EpisodeWatch naagin 6 Today Live Full Episode, naagin 6 Latest Full Episode Streaming on Mx Player, Hindi Drama naagin All Episode Season 6 Youtube, Tv Drama naagin 6 Today Full Episode Watch Online In High Qualiy Video Youtube Dailymotion, naagin 6 Today Episode Promo, Get all the information about naagin 6 Tv Series
<a href="https://naaginlive.com/"> naagin 6 Today Episode</a>
back2future - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
Thank you and best wishesskavi - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Also is there anywhere I could read up on the characteristics of each of the MLPerf benchmarks?ChrisGX - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
These might help:https://towardsdatascience.com/demystifying-mlperf...
https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/mi/2021/03/...
https://sites.google.com/g.harvard.edu/mlperf-benc...
https://mlcommons.org/en/
lemurbutton - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Boring. Until Qualcomm can do something custom, instead of just using stock ARM cores, it's not interesting.As usual, it's far slower than iPhones. People are getting ripped off when they buy slower Android hardware instead of iPhones.
cknobman - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
There are plenty of other, more important, drawbacks to buying (renting) and iPhone.True the processer performance is not as fast as Apple but I'm on a S865 and have yet to find a situation where it was "slow" or not fast enough.
So in the grand scheme these performance metrics dont mean much other than bragging rights.
I'd rather own a device that I have the freedom to do whatever I want to with than have "benchmark bragging rights" and be told what I'm allowed to do on a device Apple thinks I technically "rent" from them.
Alistair - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Everything said you said is true about iPhones being locked down. But if the speed doesn't matter, then you can buy a $300 Android Phone. There's no justification for expensive Android phones.t.s - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
Well, I bought Redmi Note 9 Pro with 2 A76 and 6 A55, and still happy with it. Not a speed monster, but for my everyday use, it's sufficient.Meteor2 - Friday, December 17, 2021 - link
Yep Pixel 4a XL here. Never wants for performance, and the software is fantastic.It's interesting to see how far the performance and efficiency of these tiny, low-power processors can be pushed, but it's pretty academic. Nobody uses them for AAA games or compiling.
Kangal - Sunday, December 19, 2021 - link
The Samsung A52-S is the flagship killer.It has a SoC that's faster than the QSD 888+ after it throttles, great battery life, display, and adequate cameras. The 3-year software updates, IP67 waterproofing, nice hardware, and premium features like microSD and Headphone Jack are just icing on the cake. During Black Friday sales, you could snag one direct from Samsung for USD $300 which is a steal. There's a good reason Samsung is trying to phase it out so soon, while they downgrade the successor A53 in the coming months.
Worthy competitors are the Samsung S20-fe and OnePlus 8t, but overall the A52-S is still the winner.