Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: MediaTek Outshines Qualcomm in One Way
Oct. 23, 2024Qualcomm has finally launched theSnapdragon 8 Elitewith the second-gen Oryon CPU and it looks impressive. Just last month, MediaTek also released its flagshipDimensity 9400chipset. Now, we can finally analyze both chipsets in detail. From the CPU and GPU performance to even the NPU and ISP, both chipsets promise major improvements. So, we have pitted Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400 in our in-depth comparison below.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: Specs Comparison
Starting off with the CPU of the latest processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built on TSMC’s 3nm (N3E) process node this time around. The Dimensity 9400 has no intentions of staying back and has upgraded to the same process node this year. For your reference, Apple’s A18 Pro is also developed on the same fabrication process.
As for cores, both are octa-core chipsets, with some notable differences in the core classification. The Snapdragon 8 Elite useseight 2nd-Gen Oryon cores, with two Prime cores clockedup to 4.32GHz. Meanwhile, the six performance cores are capped at 3.53GHz. Both the Prime and Performance cores have separate access to 12MB of L2 cache, bringing the total L2 cache to 24 MB.
In comparison, the Dimensity 9400 is based on the newer Armv9.2 architecture and features eight CPU cores. The prime core, Arm Cortex-X925 clocksup to 3.63GHzand has access to a 2MB L2 cache. In addition, there are 3x Cortex-X4 cores that hit a maximum frequency of 3.3GHz with 1MB L2 cache. Finally, the 4x Cortex-A720 cores peak at 2.4GHz with 512KB of L2 cache. In addition, there’s also 12MB of L3 cache.
The difference is not much when you take a look at the Geekbench 6.3 scores of the chipsets, with theSnapdragon 8 Elite leading by around 10%in both single-core and multi-core tests.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite uses theAdreno 830 GPU, which Qualcomm claims is40% more powerfulthan the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 while drawing40% less power. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Elite improves the Ray Tracing performance by 37%. It has also gained support for Unreal Engine, Chaos Engine as well as Nanite.
On the other hand, the MediaTek Dimensity’sMali-G925 Immortalis MP12 GPUpromises something similar, claiming to deliver40% better graphics performancewhile being44% more power efficient. Further, the Dimensity 9400 is backed by MediaTek’s HyperEngine which brings Adaptive Gaming Technology 3.0, Super Resolution, and Frame Rate Converter to the table.
Most importantly, we also have a look at Geekerwan’s test results (visit) of the chipsets, and we see theDimensity 9400 take a small leap aheadin the graphics-intensive3DMark Steel Nomad Lighttest. To sum up, the Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU has a slight edge over the Adreno 830 GPU on Snapdragon 8 Elite.
With improved chipsets, we are also seeing chipset makers evolve theNPUperformance to deliver more AI performance, which is much needed. For starters, the Snapdragon 8 Elite comes with a powerful and improvedHexagon NPU, which is said to be45% fasterthan the predecessor’s AI engine. Getting into specifics, it features a 6-core vector accelerator and an 8-core scalar accelerator which is ready to tackle on-device multimodal AI models and Generative AI applications.
On the other hand, the Dimensity 9400 sportsMediaTek’s proprietary8th-gen 890 NPU. According to MediaTek, the latest NPU brings support for high-quality on-deviceAI video generation, alongside being used to further train LoRA (Learned Rank Augmentation) image generation models. It also brings support for MoE LLMs along with support for Google’sGemini Nanomultimodal model.
Right now, it can’t be said which chipset’s NPU has the most caliber. But, as soon as we get our hands on devices running them, we’ll run a series of AI tests like Geekbench AI and update you right here.
Moving on, both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 sport improved ISPs this year. Qualcomm claims that its latest processor is about 33% faster than the last generation.
Meanwhile, MediaTek brings the Imagiq 1090 ISP to the table, which they claim,“is the only flagship chip that can enable HDR video capture throughout the entire zoom range, resembling a professional camera zoom lens, so there’s never a drop in quality.”However, both processors can capture up to 320 MP images and shoot videos up to 8K resolution at 60FPS.
In terms of connectivity options though, the Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a more future-proofBluetooth 6.0support in comparison to the Dimensity 9400’sBluetooth 5.4. However, both chipsets offer support forWi-Fi 7.
For 5G connectivity, the Snapdragon 8 Elite uses theSnapdragon X80 5Gmodem which also brings the Snapdragon Satellite support alongside. As per Qualcomm, the latest chipset can offer peak download speeds ofup to 10 Gbps.
On the other hand, Dimensity 9400 uses the MediaTek 5G modem which is based on3GPP Release 17specifications and deliversup to 7 Gbpsof peak download speeds. Only a series of 5G tests will showcase how good the chipsets actually are in real-life scenarios. We’ll get on top of those too as soon as we get our hands on the latest phones packing them, and update this section accordingly.
From the looks of it, we have reached a point in mobile performance where there’s very little difference in the latest and greatest chipsets. While the Snapdragon 8 Elite is definitely bonkers in terms of CPU performance, the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 is no less and offers slightly better GPU performance. At least, that’s what the initial test results and on-paper specifications showcase.
One thing is for sure though – Apple has to really buckle up and do something spectacular with its GPU next year. Samsung’s Exynos 2500 is also coming, and we’re excited to see what that has to offer against these chipsets. We will be running extensive benchmarks on all of these chipsets like we did for theApple A18 Pro. So, stay tuned for those!
Meanwhile, do drop your thoughts in the comments down below on which you think is the more impressive chipset in our Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400 comparison.
Sagnik is a tech aficionado who can never say “no” to dipping his toes into unknown waters of tech or reviewing the latest gadgets. He is also a hardcore gamer, having played everything from Snake Xenzia to Dead Space Remake.
