We benchmark the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: solid CPU gains, impressive GPU upgrade

09 December 2022
This is a major improvement over the original Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Even the faster 8+ Gen 1 is left miles behind, especially in GPU performance.

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  • Anonymous
  • mZw
  • 13 Dec 2022

If you look at this:
"Adreno 740 @ 680MHz"
You certainly will now there will be Gen2+ variant very soon.

    Anonymous, 12 Dec 2022Isn't 30% exaggerated when it comes to the difference ... moreNope, 30% is pretty accurate, if not I've understated it.

    The best silicon maker for a number of years was Intel. In recent times, they lead the field first with the 16nm-class processors. And while everyone eventually released 16nm nodes, they were far inferior to Intel's. One of the reasons for this, was because Intel was making their nodes and MEASURING them PROPERLY, but the competitors were not. Samsung was second to the market with their 16nm nodes, and close third-place was TSMC. Samsung's 16nm nodes were more like "18nm" slightly superior to TSMC. Whilst TSMCs 16nm nodes were more like "19nm" node. Samsung improved their 16nm nodes and released a pretty good 10nm node. Again remember they weren't measuring these properly so it was more like "15nm" and it finally caught up to Intel's old 14nm nodes. Then Intel slowly iterated with +14nm and +++14nm nodes, but they were mild upgrades which put them more or less on the same standing. TSMC wasn't doing much interesting in that era, they did release a TSMC-12nm node for AMD's Zen+ and ZenMobile processors, but again this was more like a proper "15nm" node.

    Meanwhile, Samsung is doing great, Intel is flailing around, TSMC which was a short-distant third place. Then out of nowhere TSMC came out first to the market with the 8nm-class node. Now I want to remind you, this still isn't properly measured like Intel, so if anything think of this as "10nm" even though they call it TSMC-7nm. Samsung had to rush out their 8nm node, the first of which was just a good-binned Samsung-10nm stacks, so it was more like a "14nm" node. Their second batch (Exynos 9825) was their actual product with improvements but was more like a "12nm" node. Both were vastly inferior to TSMC 7nm, which again was "10nm" in nature. It took a while but Samsung eventually caught up and surpassed this TSMC-7nm node. They called it the Samsung 5nm, again it's not measured properly, so it is more like a "10nm" node. And it took even longer but Intel finally released their Intel 10nm, which is closer to "11nm" which had a lot of volume/mass-production issues.

    Soon after TSMC released their 5nm node. This was pricey and the price which was supposed to drop actually didn't due to covid, and actually increased due to inflation. This TSMC 5nm node is again not-true measured and it is more akin to a "7nm" node. The latest Intel7 that you can buy is pretty decent but it's more like a "10nm". Yes, Intel has joined the others in terms of marketing or cheating with the naming or measurement. Samsung has slowly improved their Samsung-5nm node, and it's more like a "9nm" node. Whilst the latest TSMC-4nm is more like a "6nm".

    We're now waiting for the next node shrink. TSMC was scheduled to release it in Early-2022 but delay after delay its now due for Late-2023 (iPhone 15). And again TSMC is the first to the market with the TSMC-3nm. We are expecting good things. Samsung also did a press release but I am unsure how soon and how much improvement to expect. Intel is ahem, well let's just say do not trust what they say... wait for the lithography product to actually ship inside a product. Intel is having a lot of issues with not just the quality of their product but also the quantity, at least compared to the other two Silicon Fabs.

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      • AnonD-1054733
      • 61K
      • 13 Dec 2022

      Roddyz, 10 Dec 2022Wow I wasn't expecting that much difference from 8+ Gen 1.I know right? Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (not plus) is that bad cuz samsing!1!1

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        • AnonD-1054733
        • 61K
        • 13 Dec 2022

        Samingsung is no more1!!1

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • q8Q
          • 12 Dec 2022

          Kangal, 11 Dec 2022Recent SoC Heirachy: D820, QSD 855, QSD 870, QSD 888, QC 8... moreIsn't 30% exaggerated when it comes to the difference between tmsc and samsung?
          And if it's close to accurate then what happened? Did tmsc improve that much over the late few years? Did samsung get worse? Or both? Cause the difference was that huge in the past and samsung is no slouch.

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            • AB
            • C50
            • 11 Dec 2022

            Too bad the Pixel 7 (nice phone) doesn't come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

              Recent SoC Heirachy:
              D820, QSD 855, QSD 870, QSD 888, QC 8g1, D1000, D8200, QC 8g1+, D9000, D9200, QC 8g2.

              The biggest difference doesn't come from comparing the CPU, like Cortex-A78 versus Cortex-X2, it actually comes from the lithography. TSMC silicon is much more advanced than the Samsung one, by around 30% which is substantial. That's why there's a massive upgrade between the QC 8g1+ versus QC 8g1. Since switching to the cheaper Samsung node, we've seen QSD chips suffering. Meanwhile MediaTek has been using strictly TSMC for their Dimensity chips and have been winning everywhere outside the Western Markets.

              The benchmarks you need to pay attention to is SPEC2017 for Single-Core floating point test, the GeekBench 5 muktithreaded test, and the 3DMark Aztec High Vulkan Offscreen test. Those three give you a good idea. And if you run each test several times constantly, you can also see it's sustained performance which is more indicative of real-world conditions. But be aware of companies and devices that use tactics to cheat on these synthetic tests. You can run practical tests to combat this, such as video encode/decoding, running high-end games, or better yet stress testing it with Emulation.

              With this all said, I'm not impressed by the QC 8g2. It has a weird layout, and that extra large core does help boost its Multithreaded Performance by around +15%. But it's single-core performance is closer to a +5% increase. This is because the Cortex-X3 core it's using is largely similar to the Cortex-A78 without a major architectural uplift. For those wondering, Apple set the benchmark with the A13 chipset, and Qualcomm has been trying to catch up for years. The QC 8g1+ and the QC 8g2 are the first to properly exceed them, so this is basically an A14-Bionic level chipset. The iGPU performance is impressive with around +40% uplift. It has around -50% less frequency but +50% more cores, so theoretically it should be similar. It isn't. So Qualcomm have really worked some magic under the hood, and we're seeing great Graphical Performance. Here we're talking more of an Apple M1 level of iGPU.

              So why am I not impressed? It took Qualcomm about 3-Years to catch up to Apple. I know many people will take this opportunity to upgrade. I say don't. Apple is releasing their new architecture in 9-months time, so we should see a new standard set for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Whereas Qualcomm, MediaTek and others will also do the same in 15-months time. A new architecture, which is based on the second-generation ARMv9 (Cortex-A730) design. And it just so coincides with the node leap to TSMC-3nm. So expect to see a pretty substantial boost in Late-2023 (iPhone 15) or in Early-2024 (Android Phones). It feels dumb to say this, but the pandemic really did push development back 1-2 years for both CPU design and for Silicon Fabrication. People who bought early to the legendary QSD 855 didn't really have anything to upgrade to, unless you managed to find a MTK D1000 device, or waited longer for the D8200, D9000, or the QC 8g1+.

                When the 8 Gen 2 is in a Red Magic. Black Shark or RoG... The scores will be even higher. No doubt about it. Even closer to A16. Especially multicore scores. And the GPU leaves the A16 far in the dust...

                However... When the 8+ Gen 2 is launched... Apples A16 will look prehistoric. It is clear that the multicore scores and GPU will be beyond the A16's ability...

                Even the single core score will take a leap of faith from Qualcomm. And only end up a little bit behind the A16... But still very very impressive from Qualcomm.

                It is without any doubt. That Mediatek and Qualcomm have simply made massive leaps forward... So much sooo that Apple is looking like it's falling behind... Rapidly now...

                Forget Apple... Forget them... Only Team Droid and especially there flagships and Gaming Phones are to be carefully considered... Forget your ijunk... Let grandma and grandad have those phones...

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • JF2
                  • 11 Dec 2022

                  Vegetaholic, 11 Dec 2022Like it matters. Clown. Its already faster than 10 year old... moreQualfraud makes me cry from how much FRAUDs they are!

                  Apple ARM SoCs (M1 and M2) absolutely destroy MODERN Intel processors and qualFRAUDs can barely contain 10 year old chips.

                  I'm overtaken by rage rn, ngl.

                    Anonymous, 09 Dec 2022The Multicore score is bad, Fraud Qualcomm showed the score... moreLike it matters. Clown. Its already faster than 10 year old desktop intel i7 3770k OC to 5ghz, which is insane achievement. Which means its faster than i7 4770k not OC and could be in a ballpark of i7 6700k not OC top of the line desktop cpu of 8 years ago. Try to digest that 😁

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • rN7
                      • 10 Dec 2022

                      Anonymous, 10 Dec 2022Not when it comes to optimization. The simple fact that app... moreIn reality that's not even true. And when it is its only to very marginal standards. This extreme proclaimed optimizing of theirs is very exaggerated and no where near what you actually get. Especially during major updates. In fact they tend to be some of the least optimized for another 10 updates over the next couple months to fix the beta that they released under the guise of "ready".

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • rN7
                        • 10 Dec 2022

                        Anonymous, 10 Dec 2022I wish Pixel moved away from SCAMSUNG foundries.Why so hurt?

                          Sony Xperia 5 V, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 & Fold 5 should be using this. Razr 2023 should too. Emulation for Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, and Switch should get a lot better.

                          I want to see a comparison from ETA PRIME comparing emulation on an iPad Pro with M2 vs. a Samsung smartphone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The iPad Pro is the best among mobile devices with emulation performance.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • U@6
                            • 10 Dec 2022

                            I wish Pixel moved away from SCAMSUNG foundries.

                              Wow I wasn't expecting that much difference from 8+ Gen 1.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • 70d
                                • 10 Dec 2022

                                Anonymous, 10 Dec 2022The main reason apple's devices consistently score hig... moreART replaced Dalvik since Android 5.0. ART compiles applications into native code.

                                  I may update my phone to MT D8200 or SD7 Gen 2
                                  Still have SD855 (LG8) and fine with it

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • U@6
                                    • 10 Dec 2022

                                    Anonymous, 10 Dec 2022The main reason apple's devices consistently score hig... moreLol you know nothing, all Android apps are Native.

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                                      • AnonD-1067213
                                      • gML
                                      • 10 Dec 2022

                                      Impressive results! Kudos to TSMC! 👏

                                        Anonymous, 10 Dec 2022The main reason apple's devices consistently score hig... moreBlackberry and Nokia all but refused to move on from physical keyboards and lost everything. It's a good lesson for today's big companies.

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