In this article, we will compare in detail the 2 chipsets, Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which were introduced towards the end of 2021. 2021 year passed very quickly. Snapdragon 888, Dimensity 1200 and many chipsets were introduced. Some of these chipsets that were introduced did not offer a good performance gain over the previous generation. If we take Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 as an example, it did not offer significant improvements over the previous generation Snapdragon 865, moreover, Snapdragon 865 performed better at some points.
ARM announced the ARM v9 architecture in the second quarter of last year. Of course, new CPUs that support this announced architecture have been introduced. Cortex-X2, Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510. These new CPUs offer significant improvements over their predecessors. Introduced with the philosophy of large core size and high power consumption for better performance, Cortex-X1 unfortunately did not offer a good performance gain in chipsets such as Snapdragon 888, Exynos 2100 introduced last year. This is because these SOCs are based on Samsung’s 5nm (5LPE) manufacturing technique. Unfortunately, Samsung’s 5nm (5LPE) manufacturing technique does not offer good performance and power efficiency.
Chipsets produced with TSMC’s 7nm (N7P) production technique offer better performance and power efficiency than chipsets produced with Samsung’s 5nm (5LPE) production technique. Towards the end of 2021, MediaTek, Qualcomm and some brands announced new chipsets.
Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000 chipset, which was expected to be introduced with the name Dimensity 2000 but was released with a different numbering, was introduced. Shortly after the Dimensity 9000 was introduced, Qualcomm’s new chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was introduced. Qualcomm changed the name of both the brand and the chipsets with this newly introduced chipset. Qualcomm’s new chipsets will now be introduced under the name Snapdragon only.
It was normally thought that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 would be introduced as the Snapdragon 898, but Qualcomm surprised us. These introduced new SOCs are quite remarkable. Will these chipsets, which will be used in 2022’s flagship devices, be liked by users? Which is better, MediaTek’s long-awaited Dimensity 9000 chipset or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1? Today we will explain them in detail. Let’s start our comparison.
Dimensity 9000 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Specifications
Before moving on to the Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 comparison, we first detailed the technical specifications of the chipsets in the table. In the comparison, we will consider the chipsets in detail.
| SOC | Dimensity 9000 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1x 3.05GHz Cortex-X2 (L2 1MB) 3x 2.85GHz Cortex-A710 (L2 512KB) 4x 1.8GHz Cortex-A510 (L2 256KB) (L3 8MB) | 1x 3.0GHz Cortex-X2 (L2 1MB) 3x 2.5GHz Cortex-A710 (L2 512KB) 4x 1.8GHz Cortex-A510 (L2 256KB) (L3 6MB) |
| GPU | Mali-G710 MC10 @850MHz FHD+@ 180Hz / WQHD+ @ 144Hz | Adreno 730 @818MHz 4K @ 60 Hz, QHD+ @ 144 Hz |
| DSP/NPU | MediaTek APU 590 | Hexagon DSP |
| ISP/Camera | Triple 18-bit MediaTek Imagiq 790 ISP Single Camera: Up to 320MP Triple Camera: 32+32+32MP | Triple 18-bit Spectra CV-ISP Single Camera: Up to 200 MP Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 108 MP Dual Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 64+36 MP Triple Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 36 MP |
| Modem | Peak Download Speed: 7Gbps Peak Upload Speed: 2.5Gbps Cellular Technologies 2G-5G Multi-Mode, 5G/4G CA, 5G/4G FDD / TDD, CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A (SRLTE), EDGE, GSM, TD-SCDMA, WDCDMA Specific Functions 5G/4G Dual SIM Dual Active, SA & NSA modes; SA Option2, NSA Option3 / 3a / 3x, NR TDD and FDD bands, DSS, NR DL 3CC, 300MHz bandwidth, 4x4 MIMO, 256QAM NR UL 2CC, R16 UL Enhancement, 2x2 MIMO, 256QAM VoNR / EPS fallback | Peak Download Speed: 10 Gbps Peak Upload Speed: 3 Gbps Cellular Modem-RF Specs: 8 carriers (mmWave), 4x4 MIMO (Sub-6), 2x2 MIMO (mmWave) Performance Enhancement Technologies: Qualcomm® Smart Transmit 2.0 technology, Qualcomm® 5G PowerSave 2.0, Qualcomm® Wideband Envelope Tracking, Qualcomm® AI-Enhanced Signal Boost Cellular Technology: 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz, FDD, SA (standalone), Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), TDD, 5G NR, NSA (non-standalone), sub-6 GHz, HSPA, WCDMA, LTE including CBRS support, TD-SCDMA, CDMA 1x, EV-DO, GSM/EDGE Multi SIM: Global 5G Multi-SIM |
| Memory Controller | 4x 16 bit channels LPDDR5X 3750MHz 6MB System level cache | 4x 16 bit channels LPDDR5 3200MHz 4MB System level cache |
| Encode/Decode | 8K30 & 4K120 encode & 8K60 decode H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9 8K30 AV1 Decode | 8K30 / 4K120 10-bit H.265 Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG 720p960 infinite recording |
| Production Process | TSMC (N4) | Samsung (4LPE) |
The Dimensity 9000 chipset is a chipset introduced by MediaTek in November 2021 with the aim of making a big difference to its competitors. The chipset, which includes the new Cortex-X2, Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510 CPUs, also brings the 10-core Mali-G710 GPU. It should be noted that TSMC is built on superior 4nm (N4) manufacturing technology. The successor of Snapdragon 888, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 aims to be the best flagship chipset with new Adreno 730 GPU, X65 5G Modem and other features. It should be noted that this chipset is produced with Samsung 4nm (4LPE) production technology, which is weaker in terms of efficiency and performance than TSMC 4nm (N4) production technology. Now let’s move on to our comparison.
Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU Comparison
Dimensity 9000 comes with a triple CPU setup as 1+3+4. Our outstanding performance core is 3.05GHz Cortex-X2 with 1MB L2 cache. Our 3 performance cores are 2.85GHz Cortex-A710 with 512KB L2 cache, and the remaining 4 cores are 1.8GHz efficiency-focused Cortex-A510 with 256KB L2 cache. These cores can access 8MB of L3 cache. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 comes with 1+3+4 triple CPU setup like Dimensity 9000. Our outstanding performance core is the 3.0GHz Cortex-X2 with 1MB L2 cache. Our 3 performance cores are 2.5GHz Cortex-A710 with 512KB L2 cache and our remaining 4 cores are 1.8GHz efficiency oriented Cortex-A510 cores with 256KB L2 cache. Now let’s start to evaluate these cores that can access 6MB of L3 cache in more detail. First, we test Geekbench 5 on chipsets
- 1. Dimensity 9000 Single Core: 1302 Multi-Core: 4303
- 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Single Core: 1200 Multi-Core: 3810
Dimensity 9000 offers 17% better performance than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in multi-core. When we examine the single core scores, the chipsets perform quite close to each other, but at this point the Dimensity 9000 is ahead by a small margin. The Dimensity 9000 performs excellently as it has higher clock speeds and more L3 cache. In the end, MediaTek has designed a chipset that is much better than its competitors. There were those who have been waiting for this moment for a long time, now it has come true. Dimensity 9000 performs much better than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 disappoints us. It has no difference compared to the previous generation Snapdragon 888 and its performance is clearly worse than its competitors. Introduced last year, the Snapdragon 888 didn’t offer a significant improvement over the previous generation Snapdragon 865, and we found the Snapdragon 865 to perform much better at some points. This time, we see some setbacks in the newly introduced Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. If you want, let’s do SPECint tests to examine the CPU cores in more detail and continue our Cortex-X2 review in detail.
- 1. Dimensity 9000 (Cortex-X2) 48.77 points
- 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Cortex-X2) 48.38 points
When we examine the scores, we see that the Cortex-X2 cores of both chipsets perform very close to each other, there is no serious difference. The reason why there is no serious difference is due to the fact that both cores have almost the same feature. Dimensity 9000 takes the lead by a small margin, but when we look at the power consumption, the main difference is seen on this side.
- 1. Dimensity 9000 (Cortex-X2) 2.63 Watt
- 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Cortex-X2) 3.89 Watt
Dimensity 9000’s 3.05GHz Cortex-X2 core outperform Snapdragon 8 Gen 1’s 3.0GHz Cortex-X2 core while also consuming less power. Here we can see the difference in the cutting-edge TSMC 4nm (N4) fabrication technology. The power consumption of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is huge, which is bad news for Qualcomm. Usually, Qualcomm designs chipsets that offer better performance and efficiency than MediaTek. However, with the year 2022, this situation has completely changed. With the Dimensity 9000, MediaTek has designed a chipset that offers better performance and power efficiency than any flagship chipset on the Android side. Now let’s examine the performance and power efficiency of the mid-cores.
- 1. Dimensity 9000 (Cortex-A710) 38.27 Points
- 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Cortex-A710) 32.83 Points
Moving on to the mid-core comparison, we see that the Dimensity 9000 is ahead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 by a significant margin. We think that the differences in the Cortex-A710 cores of the two chipsets directly affect these results. Dimensity 9000 has 2.85GHz, 3x Cortex-A710 cores with 512KB L2 cache. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has 2.5GHz, 3x Cortex-A710 cores with 512KB L2 cache. With a higher clock speed difference of 300MHz, the Dimensity 9000 can achieve much better performance levels.
- 1. Dimensity 9000 (Cortex-A710) 1.72 Watt
- 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Cortex-A710) 2.06 Watt
While the Dimensity 9000 performs much better than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, it also consumes less power. The reason why Dimensity 9000 consumes less power is that it is built on superior TSMC 4nm production technology. We have repeatedly stated that TSMC’s 4nm production technology is very good. It is obvious that Samsung’s 4nm production technology is bad. The results of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are very poor and do not provide a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 888. Will Qualcomm make improvements to the next chipset? We will learn the answer to this in time. The winner of our comparison was the undisputed Dimensity 9000. Now that we have examined the CPUs in detail, let’s move on to the GPU review.
Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 GPU Comparison
The Dimensity 9000 has upgraded to the 10-core Mali-G710, which is much better than the 7-core Mali-G77 in the Dimensity 1200. This new GPU, which can reach 850MHz clock speed, has 20 shader cores. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has made the switch from the Adreno 660 found in its predecessor Snapdragon 888 to the new Adreno 730. This new GPU can reach 818MHz clock speed. To better evaluate the Dimensity 9000 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 GPU comparison, we will cover benchmark and gaming tests.
- 1. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Adreno 730) 43FPS 11.0 Watt
- 2. Dimensity 9000 (Mali-G710 MC10) 42FPS 7.6 Watt
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 shows slightly better results than the Dimensity 9000, but consumes almost 3.4W more power. The difference in performance is not much, they are almost close to each other, but the difference in power consumption is huge and the GPU efficiency of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is obviously bad against Dimensity 9000. Had the Dimensity 9000 consumed the same amount of power as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, we would have seen the Dimensity 9000 perform much better, but its current performance is great considering its power efficiency.
- 1. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Adreno 730) 2445 Points
- 2. Dimensity 9000 (Mali-G710 MC10) 2401 Points
As we mentioned in the previous test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performs slightly better than the Dimensity 9000. However, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performs well, consuming more power. We will cover the importance of power consumption in detail in gaming tests. If you wish, let’s move on to the game tests immediately.
Before we move on to the Genshin Impact test, we need to specify what resolution the devices are running at while playing games. We will consider two versions of Oppo Find X5 Pro. There are two versions of this model with both Dimensity 9000 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets. The photo shows what resolution the devices are running at while playing games. Now let’s move on to the game test.
- 1. Oppo Find X5 Pro (Dimensity 9000) 59FPS 7.0 Watt
- 2. Realme GT 2 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) 57FPS 8.4 Watt
- 3. Oppo Find X5 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) 41FPS 5.5 Watt
The version of Oppo Find X5 Pro with Dimensity 9000 consumes 1.4W less power than Realme GT 2 Pro powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and comes up with a much better FPS value. We said that power consumption is important, we will explain why it is important when we evaluate the post-game temperatures of the devices in detail. Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performs much worse than other Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Dimensity 9000. This disappointed us. It is worth noting that these results are evaluated according to the first 10 minutes of the game.
- 1. Oppo Find X5 Pro (Dimensity 9000) 45FPS 5.4 Watt
- 2. Oppo Find X5 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) 38FPS 5.2 Watt
Because the Oppo Find X5 Pro has a thin case, it got hot and had to throttle its performance in order not to reach extremely high temperature levels. When we examine the current FPS values, we witness that the Dimensity 9000 supported version of Oppo Find X5 Pro performs much better than the other Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. This shows that Dimensity 9000 has a highly efficient GPU, while Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has a worse GPU in terms of power efficiency.
- 1.Oppo Find X5 Pro (Dimensity 9000) 44.3 °C
- 2.Oppo Find X5 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) 45.0 °C
Powered by Dimensity 9000, Oppo Find X5 Pro does an excellent job. Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Dimensity 9000 offers much better FPS than other Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, consumes less power and heats up less. The Dimensity 9000 is not only better than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on the CPU side, but also much better than its rival on the GPU side. As a result of the comparison of Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 GPU, our winner was MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000.
Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 ISP Comparison
Now we move on to the ISP comparison of the Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In this section, we will consider the new 18-bit triple ISPs. The Dimensity 9000 has a triple 18-bit Imagiq 790 ISP. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has a triple 18-bit Spectra ISP just like the Dimensity 9000. These ISPs provide us with groundbreaking new technologies in image processing. Now, ISPs, which have the ability to process images from 14-bit to 18-bit depth, allow you to quickly combine multiple photos and get perfect, noise-free photos.
Imagiq 790 ISP supports up to 320MP camera sensors while Spectra ISP supports up to 200MP. The Imagiq 790 ISP is capable of image processing at 9 gigapixels per second, while the Spectra ISP is capable of image processing at 3.2 gigapixels per second. Imagiq 790 ISP can process images almost 3 times faster than Spectra ISP. Regarding its video shooting capabilities, the Imagiq 790 can record 4K@60FPS videos while the Spectra ISP can record 8K@30FPS videos. Spectra ISP is ahead in this regard, but 8K videos are not very common so it’s not a significant difference. While Imagiq 790 ISP can record 30FPS 32+32+32MP videos simultaneously with 3 lenses, Spectra ISP can record 30FPS 36+36+36MP videos simultaneously with 3 lenses. Spectra ISP is also ahead in this regard as it can record higher resolution video. Frankly, when we evaluate ISPs, we encounter situations where both ISPs are ahead of each other. Both ISPs will easily meet your needs with their state-of-the-art features and aim to offer you more. However, if we had to pick a winner, we would choose the Imagiq 790 ISP, which supports higher resolution camera sensors and has much better image processing. In the comparison of Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 ISP, the winner was Dimensity 9000 with Imagiq 790 ISP.
Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Modem Comparison
If we come to the Modem comparison of Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, this time we will compare the modems in detail. Then we make a general evaluation and come to the end of our article. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has Snapdragon X65 modem with mmWave support. The Dimensity 9000 comes with a 5G-Sub6 modem that does not contain mmWave. Considering that mmWave is not very common outside of America, we do not see this as a major shortcoming. But we still need to point out that mmWave is not available. As for the download and upload speeds of the modems, the Snapdragon X65 5G Modem can reach 10Gbps download and 3Gbps upload speeds. On the LTE side, the modem with Cat24 support can reach 2.5Gbps download and 316Mbps upload speeds. Dimensity 9000’s 5G Modem can achieve 7Gbps download and 2.5Gbps upload speeds. On the LTE side, like the Snapdragon X65 5G, the Cat24 supported modem can reach 2.5Gbps download and 316Mbps upload speeds. It is obvious that the Snapdragon X65 5G modem is clearly superior in 5G download and upload speeds. That doesn’t mean the Dimensity 9000’s 5G modem is bad, it’s pretty good in terms of power consumption. But if we have to pick a winner in the Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Modem comparison, the winner is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with Snapdragon X65 5G modem.
If we evaluate the comparison of Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in general, we witness that Dimensity 9000 is a much better chipset than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. MediaTek, which usually designs chipsets for budget devices, improved itself over time and managed to design a much better chipset than Qualcomm. This is happy news for the mobile market. Increasing competition between brands is always in favor of the user. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 disappoints us. Performance and power efficiency are clearly behind its rival. The failure of Snapdragon 888 continues in Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Samsung’s 4nm (4LPE) fabrication technology offers significantly worse performance and power efficiency than TSMC’s superior 4nm (N4) fabrication technology. For this reason, Qualcomm should not outsource the production of the new chipsets it has designed to Samsung, but outsource it to TSMC. The reason why last year’s Snapdragon 888 couldn’t bring a performance increase over the previous generation Snapdragon 865 is that it was produced with Samsung’s 5nm (5LPE) manufacturing technology. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm faces a Samsung disaster again, this time around. Let’s say that a POCO device with Dimensity 9000 chipset, which impresses with its performance, will be introduced to Global. Click here for more information about this device. We have come to the end of the Dimensity 9000 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 comparison. Do not forget to follow us for such content.
