Qualcomm Details The Snapdragon 888: 3rd Gen 5G ...

The platform's reabsorption of the modem into the SoC die should signify ... Qualcomm advertises a 25% uplift over the Snapdragon 865, ... Home> Mobile QualcommDetailsTheSnapdragon888:3rdGen5G&Cortex-X1on5nm byAndreiFrumusanuonDecember2,202010:00AMEST Postedin Mobile Qualcomm Smartphones SoCs 5G CortexA78 CortexX1 Snapdragon888 123Comments |AddAComment 123Comments +AddAComment TheSnapdragon888:BacktomonolithicSoCon5nm Hexagon780:AWholenewIPforAI&DSP;Adreno660GPU TripleISPs:ConcurrentTriple-CameraUsage Conclusion&FirstImpressions Thisyearalthoughwe’renotreportingfromHawaii,Qualcomm’sTechSummitisstillhappeningindigitalform,representingthecompany’smostimportantlauncheventoftheyearasitshowcasesthenewflagshipproductsthatwillpowernextyear’ssmartphones.QualcommyesterdayannouncedthenewSnapdragon888SoCandplatform,andtodaywe’regoingin-depthintothespecificationsandfeaturesofthenewsilicondesign. TheSnapdragon888isabigleapforQualcomm,somuchsothatthey’veveeredofffromtheirusualnamingschemeincrementsthisgenerationandevenskippedthe87xseriesaltogether.The888numberisnotthereonlyformarketingpurposesasitrepresentsfortuneandluckinChinese,butthenewSoChassomesubstantialgenerationalchangesthatsetsitapartfromtheusualyearlyimprovementsofpast. FeaturingthefirsteverimplementationofaCortex-X1CPUcoreasitsperformanceengine,newCortex-A78coresforefficiency,amassive+35%boostinGPUperformance,atotallynewDSP/NPUIPredesignedfromthegroundup,triplecameraISPs,integrated5Gmodem,allmanufacturedonanew5nmprocessnode,thenewSnapdragon888touchesandupdatesalmosteverypartoftheSoCdesignwithsignificantupliftsinperformanceandcapabilities.Thereisalottocover,solet’sgooverthedetailspiecebypiece: QualcommSnapdragonFlagshipSoCs2020-2021 SoC Snapdragon865 Snapdragon888 CPU 1xCortex-A77 @2.84GHz1x512KBpL2 3xCortex-A77 @2.42GHz3x256KBpL2 4xCortex-A55 @1.80GHz4x128KBpL2 4MBsL3 1xCortex-X1 @2.84GHz1x1024KBpL2 3xCortex-A78 @2.42GHz3x512KBpL2 4xCortex-A55 @1.80GHz4x128KBpL2 4MBsL3 GPU Adreno650@587MHz   Adreno660@?MHz +35%perf DSP/NPU Hexagon698 15TOPSAI (TotalCPU+GPU+HVX+Tensor) Hexagon780 26TOPSAI (TotalCPU+GPU+HVX+Tensor) Memory Controller 4x16-bitCH @2133MHzLPDDR4X/33.4GB/s or @2750MHzLPDDR5 / 44.0GB/s 3MBsystemlevelcache 4x16-bitCH @3200MHzLPDDR5 / 51.2GB/s 3MBsystemlevelcache ISP/Camera Dual14-bitSpectra480ISP 1x200MPor 64MPwithZSL or 2x25MPwithZSL 4Kvideo&64MPburstcapture Triple14-bitSpectra580ISP 1x200MP or 84MPwithZSL or 64+25MPwithZSL or 3x28MPwithZSL 4Kvideo&64MPburstcapture Encode/ Decode 8K30/4K12010-bitH.265 DolbyVision,HDR10+,HDR10,HLG 720p960infiniterecording 8K30/4K12010-bitH.265 DolbyVision,HDR10+,HDR10,HLG 720p960infiniterecording IntegratedModem none (PairedwithexternalX55 only) (LTECategory24/22) DL=2500Mbps 7x20MHzCA,1024-QAM UL=316Mbps 3x20MHzCA,256-QAM (5GNRSub-6+mmWave) DL=7000Mbps UL=3000Mbps X60integrated (LTECategory24/22) DL=2500Mbps 7x20MHzCA,1024-QAM UL=316Mbps 3x20MHzCA,256-QAM (5GNRSub-6+mmWave) DL=7500Mbps UL=3000Mbps Mfc.Process TSMC 7nm(N7P) Samsung 5nm(5LPE)   Re-integrationofthe5GmodemintotheSoC Themostimportantaspectforthisyear’sdesignisthefactthatQualcommisgoingbacktoanfullyintegratedmodemdesign,contrastinglastyear’ssurprisingchoiceoftheSnapdragon865notcontaininganymodematallandhavinginsteadtorelyontheexternalX55modem. Lastyear’srationaleofgoingwithanexternalmodemwassaidtohavebeenapracticalone,stemmingfromthefactthat5Gwasstillinitsearlystagesandthatmanyvendorshadtomakealotofdesigneffortswhendesigningtheirnewhandsetsfor5G.Aexternal5GmodemsuchastheX55helpedthe5GtransitionasitwasavailabletovendorsearlierthantheSnapdragon865SoCitself,allowingthemtodesigntheirRFsystemsbeforehavingaccesstothenewestSoC. Thisyear,themarkethasevolvedandismoremature,andQualcommchosetore-integratethemodemintothesamesilicondieastheSoC.ThenewX60modemsubsystemisthecompany’s3rdgeneration5Gdesignandbringsnewcapabilitiesintermsofcarrieraggregationand5Gfrequencybandinteroperability. Theplatform’sreabsorptionofthemodemintotheSoCdieshouldsignifybetterpowerefficiency,lowerplatformcostaswellaslowerPCBcomplexityforsmartphonevendors. 2020certainlywastheyearthat5Gbecameamainstreamfeatureamongstdevicevendors,withessentiallyeverybodyadoptingthenewstandardintotheirflagshipandevenmid-rangedevices.ThenewX60modemwillfurthermaturethe5Gexperiencebyprovidingmoreflexibilitytonetworkoperatorsintermsoffrequencybandsupport. mmWaveinparticularhasbeenarathercontentiousaspectof5Gin2020asnetworkdeploymentshasbeenratherscarceandlimitedtoUScities,withusersreportingspottyreceptionwithalargerimpactonbatterylife.mmWavenetworkexpansionisprogressingatasteadypace,andQualcommstatesthatthenewSnapdragon888platformcompletelysolvesthepowerefficiencyconcernsaroundmmWaveusage.Hopefully2021willbetheyearwheremmWavebecomesalotmoreusefulandpracticalforusers. WhilstmmWaveisexpectedtostillberelativelynicheforthevastmajorityofusers,Sub-6GHzwillbetheworkhorseof5G,andherewe’reseeingrapidexpansionanddeploymentsincountriesallovertheworld.ThenewX60’smodemcapabilityofallowingforcarrieraggregationbetweenFDD(FrequencyDivisionDuplex,dedicatedfrequencybandsbetweenupload&download)andTDD(TimeDivisionDuplex,upload&downloadinthesamefrequencyband)meansthatnetworkcarrierswillbeabletomixandmatchmoreavailableSub-6GHzspectrumtogetherforevengreaterbandwidth. DSS,ordynamicspectrumsharing,isalsogoingtobeakeytechnologyenablingnetworkoperatorstomigrateexistingLTEfrequencybandsto5GNRdynamicallybasedontheorganicLTE/5Guserdemand–meaningthatthefrequencyspectrumdoesn’tneedtobesegregatedforeachtechnology,thusallowingmoreactualusablebandwidthforbothtypesofusersinthefirstfewyearsandconsumersswitchoverto5G-capablehandsets. ManufacturedonSamsung5nm/5LPE ThenewSnapdragon888ismakingthetransitionfrom7nmto5nm,butthenewdesigndoesn’tmerelymakeaprocessshift,it’salsomakingafoundryshift.AfterbeingwithTSMCforthe7nmgenerationsoftheSnapdragon855andSnapdragon865,QualcommisnowswitchingbacktoSamsungFoundryandtheirnew5LPEprocessnodeforthenewSnapdragon888. Qualcomminrecentyearshadbeendual-sourcingfrombothTSMCandSamsungdependingontheSoCdesignandproductrange,butinthehigh-endflagshipSoCsegmentthecompanyseemstohavealwayschosenthetechnologicallysuperiornodeasithadlargerimplicationsforthecompetitivenessofthoseparts.N7andN7PwereclearwinningchoicesfortheS855andS865asSamsung’sown7LPPprocesswaskindoflate,anddidn’tseemtobequiteasgoodasTSMC’svariants.Qualcommnotablystillusedthe7LPPnodeonthisyear’sSnapdragon765SoCwhichhasseenalotofsuccessinthepremiumrangeofdevicedesigns,howeverwehadnotedearlierintheyearthatitdidn’tappeartobenearlyasefficientastheTSMC-manufacturedflagshipSoC. Thisyear’schoiceofswitchingbacktoaSamsungprocessfortheflagshipSoCseemstobeavoteofconfidenceinthenewprocessnode-asotherwiseQualcommlikelywouldn’thavemadetheswitch.Versus7LPP,Samsungpromisesa20%decreaseinpowerconsumptionatthesameperformance,ora10%increaseinperformanceatthesamepower,togetherwitha+-20%areareduction.HowthesefigureswilltranslateovertopracticalimprovementsforthenewSnapdragon888remainstobeseen. Anotherrationaleforthefoundryswitchcouldbemanufacturingcapacity.AsAppleiseatingupalotofTSMC’searly5nmcapacitywiththeA14andM1,QualcommprobablysawSamsung’s5LPEasthesaferchoicethisyearasthenewSnapdragon888maybemanufacturedinthenewdedicatedEUVV1lineatHwaesong. It’llbehardtogaugetheprocessnodeswitchforthisgenerationaswedon’texpecttoseeasimilardesignonTSMC’s5nmnode–unlessMediaTeksomehowhasanewCortex-X1SoCinthepipelinefornextyear. PoweredbyCortex-X1andCortex-A78CPUs TheSnapdragon888isthefirstpubliclyannouncedSoCpoweredbythenewCortex-X1andCortex-A78CPUIPsbyArm.TheCortex-X1inparticularisthefirstofanewgenerationofCPUIPbyArmthatfocusesonmaximisingperformanceatthecostoflesserpowerefficiency,whiletheCortex-A78beingthesame-generationdesignbutwhichstillprioritisesabalancebetweenperformance,powerandarea. ThenewX1core,basedonArm’snumbers,promiseda+30%upliftinIPCoverthelastgenerationCortex-A77whichwasalsodeployedintheSnapdragon865.Qualcommadvertisesa25%upliftovertheSnapdragon865,butthat’slikelyduetoafewconfigurationdifferencesonthepartofthenewSnapdragon888comparedtoArm’sowninternalfigures. TheS888continuestousea1+3+4CPUsetupthisgeneration,withthebigdifferencebeingthatinsteadofusingthesameCPUIPwithadifferentphysicalimplementation,thenew1+3bigcoresareactuallyofdifferentmicroarchitectures. The“prime”performancecoreasQualcommlikestocallitisthenewCortex-X1design,clockinginatthesame2.84GHzastheSnapdragon865’sprimecore.Thenewcoreisconfiguredwiththemaximum1MBofL2cache. Whatstoodoutformeduringourbriefingofthenewchipisthattheclockfrequencyofthenewdesignisn’tallveryaggressiveatall.Qualcomm’s25%performanceboostisincomparisontothevanillaSnapdragon865whichalsocameatthesamefrequency.ComparedtotheSnapdragon865+whichclocksinat3.09GHz,thisperformanceadvantageshouldreducetoonly13%,whichislessimpressive. Qualcomm’s25%generationalboostisalsolessthanArm’sadvertised30%asthenewS888continuestousea4MBL3cachefortheCPUcluster,versusArm’senvisioned8MBconfigurationforahigh-end5nmSoCwiththenewX1cores.Qualcommexplainedtousthatthiswassimplyabalancebetweencost,implementationeffort,anddiminishingreturnsofahighercacheconfigurationdesign. Whatthisallmeansisthatthere’sahighchancethattheSnapdragon888won’tbeholdingtheAndroidCPUperformancecrownnextyearifSamsung’snext-genExynosSoCisevenalittlemoreaggressiveintermsofclocksorcacheconfigurations. Thehigh-performanceX1coresisjoinedbythreeCortex-A78coresclockinginatupto2.4GHz,servingastheevery-dayworkhorseCPUsformostcomputationaltasks.Intermsofcache,thenewcoresseetheirL2doubledupfrom256KBto512KB. OneaspectIwasinterestedinfindingoutiswhetherthenewdesignstillcontinuesQualcommchoiceoffittingallthebigcorestogetheronasinglevoltageplane,whichoddlyenough,alsoseemstobethecaseforthenewSnapdragon888.ThismeansthatwhiletheX1andA78corescanrunatdifferentfrequencies,they’reallpoweredbytheminimumvoltageofeitheroperatingfrequencyatanyonetime.Qualcommexplainsthatthisisagainapracticalchoicesurroundingthedesigncomplexityofthepowerdeliverysystem,particularlymentioningthattheX1corecantakeadvantageoftheincreasedcapacitanceavailablefromthelargersharedpowerplane.WhilstthishasworkedwellfortheSnapdragon855and865,IwonderthatgiventhenewX1core’sincreasedperformanceanddynamicrange,ifthecompanyisn’tleavingfurtherperformanceorefficiencygainsonthetableforthesakeoflowerpowerdeliverydesigncost.It’llbeinterestingtoseehowotherSoCvendorstackletheirX1implementations. Finally,thebigcoresareagainaccompaniedbyfourCortex-A55cores.Thisyearthecompanyyetagainclocksthemat1.8GHz,whichmakesthisthe4thgenerationSoCwithanessentiallyidenticalconfigurationoflittlecores,whichisabitdisappointing.Qualcommcan’tdomuchhereasthere’ssimplyaneedforanewlittlecoreCPUIP,somethingwhichwe’llhopefullyseereleasednextyearin2021for2022SoCs. Hexagon780:AWholenewIPforAI&DSP;Adreno660GPU TheSnapdragon888:BacktomonolithicSoCon5nm Hexagon780:AWholenewIPforAI&DSP;Adreno660GPU TripleISPs:ConcurrentTriple-CameraUsage Conclusion&FirstImpressions Tweet PRINTTHISARTICLE PostYourComment Pleaseloginorsignuptocomment. POSTACOMMENT 123Comments ViewAllComments eastcoast_pete-Wednesday,December2,2020-link ThanksAndrei!Whilenottheorevenafocusofyourarticle(therewasnoneed),IamstruckbyhowstuckARMbigLittletypedesignsarewhenitcomestotheefficiencycores.A55,still?Let'smakenomistake,you/wewantcapableandefficientsmallcoresintheSoC,sothatthebigcoresdon'tfeastonthebatteryallthetime.5Gmodemstendtoincreasepoweruse(thisintegratedonehopefullyabitless),sohavingtheabilitytostayonthelowpowercoresoftheCPUlongerisevenmoreimportant.Andrei,ifyoucan,I'dappreciateadeeperdiveintothestateoftheartofthesmallcores,especiallyacomparisonofApple'svs.stockARMA55designs.Thanks! Reply psychobriggsy-Wednesday,December2,2020-link Iimaginethatthere'sonlysofaryoucantakeanin-orderARMv8coredesignwhenyouwanttooptimiseforpowerconsumption.ARMdoreleaseupdatestotheircoredesigns,whilstretainingthesamenameaswell,sotheydogetsmallimprovements.TherearenoISAchangesfortheseconsumercoreseither,asfarasIamaware.ButitdoeslookliketheA55hasprettymuchnotchangedmuchinseveralyears,andsimplybecomemoreandmoreefficientastheprocesshasshrunkdownto5nmandtheclockshaveremainedthesame.IthinkpeoplewereexpectinganA58bynow-maybetherewillbeanA59togowiththeA79nextyear? Reply Lolimaster-Thursday,December10,2020-link ProbablycalledA63. Reply Ppietra-Wednesday,December2,2020-link ThisiswhathesaidabouttheicestormcoresintheA14:"Theperformanceshowcasedhereroughlymatchesa2.2GHzCortex-A76whichisessentially4xfasterthantheperformanceofanyothermobileSoCtodaywhichreliesonCortex-A55cores,allwhileusingroughlythesameamountofsystempowerandhaving3xthepowerefficiency." Reply brucethemoose-Wednesday,December2,2020-link MakesonewonderwhatonearthAppleisdoingtoachievethat.ItsnotlikeARM'sCPUarchitectsareunderpaidchumps.Someofitisextradiespace,Iguess?TheLITTLEcoreshavetobe,err,little,whileApplecanaffordtoblowupareaforefficiency. Reply tkSteveFOX-Wednesday,December2,2020-link Notreally.Apple'schipsarealwaysroughlythesamesizeasQCandKirintopchipsandonthesamenodes.JustbetterarchitectureandmoreR&Dinvestment.QChavebeendoingthesamechipfor3gensnow,justupdatingtheARMtechandgainsinAIandISP,buttheCPUconfigremainsthesame,it'sevenclockedthesame! Reply Ppietra-Wednesday,December2,2020-link IthinkAppleCPUcoresaresignificantlybiggerthanARMdesigns Reply headeffects-Wednesday,December2,2020-link Idon’thaveallthenumbersonmebutApplehasneverhadanondiemodemwhileQualcommusuallydoes,soyoucan’tdirectlycomparediesizeslikethat.AndreiwouldperhapsknowthemeasurementsoftheactualcoresizesandhowtheycomparefromAppletoQualcomm. Reply Fulljack-Thursday,December3,2020-link Nope.AppleA13is98,48mm²whileSnapdragon865is83,54mm²—accordingtoTechInsights.BotharemanufacturedonTSMCN7Pandfeaturenointegratedmodem.Soyeah,wider(andthusbigger)coresdesigndoesimproveperformance,butnotalwaysthough. Reply RSAUser-Wednesday,December2,2020-link Applehasbothanarchitecturedesignleasandaprocessnodelead,TSMC5nmvsSamsungsMarketingVersionofitwhichisworsethanTSMC7nm. Reply 1 2 3 4 5 6 13 ▶ PIPELINESTORIES +SubmitNews ATDeals:SeasonicPrimeTX-750PSUNearly50%OffatNewegg ImaginationLaunchesCatapultFamilyofRISC-VCPUCores:BreakingIntoHeterogeneousSoCs UnitedStatesFTCFilesLawsuittoBlockNVIDIA-ArmAcquisition WesternDigitalSpillsBeansonHDDPlans:30TBHDDsPlanned,MAMR'sFutureUnclear SeagateExosX20andIronWolfPro20TBExpandRetail20TBHDDOptions ATDeals:CoolerMasterMH670GamingHeadset BestLaptops:Holiday2021 ATDeals:SanDiskSSDPlusSATA2TBDropsto$170atAmazon ATDeals:Samsung2TBT7PortableSSDOnly$250atAmazon BestPCPowerSupplies:Holiday2021 ATDeals:Sabrent4TBRocket4PlusSSD$749atAmazon TexasToGetMultipleNewFabsasSamsungandTItoSpend$47BilliononNewFacilities TWEETS IanCutress:@alpha_poweruser@TechDeals_16I_mentioned_themasapointinhistoryforadditionalcontext. IanCutress:RT@TechDeals_16:Dr.IanCutressLIVEw/TechDeals https://t.co/cjdy2sUJZ0 Thankyouto@IanCutressforjoiningustoday,pleasebesur… IanCutress:@fasch420691337Myfilterisaphonewithacasethathecan'tseethrough IanCutress:Totheguynexttomeontheplaneorderingsextoys,onhisworklaptopwithaprivacyfilter-yourfilterdoesn'twork.Justsaying. RyanSmithAT:@IanCutressThetriedandtruemethodoftechjournalism:hangingoutattheairport,bars,andotherplaceswhereengineerscongregate IanCutress:AustinAirportlounge:theplacetobetooverhearsomeonetalkingaboutstresstestingtheirDSP RyanSmithAT:@CarlVonBraun@IanCutressIt'slikelynotevenanIntelphoto.It'sprobablyastockphotofromShutterStockorthelike RyanSmithAT:Idon'tconsiderthisunexpected.ButIamabitsurprisedbythe4-0vote.https://t.co/pax5PP2krs RyanSmithAT:@dlawrie42Unfortunately,IanisinHawaiirightnow.AndBrett'sGE76wasreturnedtoMSI.Sowecan'tdouble-chec…https://t.co/neETteG3Yx RyanSmithAT:@dlawrie42Theone-thirdoftheanswerIdon'thaveforyouiswhythetwoGE76laptopsscoredsodifferently.The…https://t.co/oQad0QwhP6 ganeshts:@robertheronhttps://t.co/XN4L9SodqP(Nopersonalexperiencewiththisbrand) ganeshts:@mguthausUsedonesfromtheofficeliquidatorsareusuallyaroundhalf-off(evenforbarelyusedones).Manyvendo…https://t.co/wD5qENbXKG ganeshts:AThunderbolt4/USB4hubfrom@plugableataveryattractivepricepoint(consideringtheUSBC-HDMIvalueadd).A…https://t.co/DiJZS8MmF9 ganeshts:@JamesDSneed@IanCutressYes,NANDhastheabilitytostoredynamicsectorremapinformation-thisisnotonlyfor…https://t.co/J0NYC9oCZk ganeshts:@AG_1138Micronhasahistoryofdoingthesesilentchanges.TheP2'ssilentmovefromTLCtoQLCresultedinworse…https://t.co/UfmTilvFi1 Follow@ANANDTECH   TOPICS FOLLOW ABOUT CPUs Motherboards SSD/HDD GPUs Mobile Enterprise&IT Smartphones Memory Cases/Cooling/PSU(s) Displays Mac Systems Cloud TradeShows Guides Facebook Twitter RSS About Advertising PrivacyPolicy ContactUs TermsofUse ShowFullSite Copyright©2021.Allrightsreserved. BENCH CPU SSD GPU2013 GPU2012 Smartphone2011 Mobile TOPICS CPUs Motherboards SSD/HDD GPUs Mobile Enterprise&IT Smartphones Memory Cases/Cooling/PSU(s) Displays Mac Systems Cloud TradeShows Guides FOLLOW Facebook Twitter RSS ABOUT About Advertising PrivacyPolicy ContactUs ShowFullSite Copyright©2021.Allrightsreserved. Login Don'thaveanaccount?Signupnow Username Password RememberMe Lostyourpassword? We’veupdatedourterms.Bycontinuingtousethesiteand/orbyloggingintoyouraccount,youagreetotheSite’supdatedTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.