Snapdragon 8 Gen 4: Beyond the Benchmarks - Efficiency and Manufacturing

Qualcomm's upcoming flagship mobile processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, is generating a lot of buzz. Here's a glimpse into what we know so far about its rumored specs, focusing on CPU and GPU performance.

CPU: Targeting the Top Spot

Leaks suggest the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will sport a "tri-cluster" CPU design. This means it will have three tiers of cores, each optimized for different tasks:

• High-Performance Cores: Two next-generation Cortex-X5 cores clocked at a staggering 4GHz, potentially exceeding the performance of Apple's A17 Bionic.
• Mid-Range Cores: Rumored to be 6 Cortex-A730 cores running at 2.8GHz, offering a balance between power and efficiency.
• Efficiency Cores: Likely for background tasks, these cores aim to conserve battery life.

This configuration, if true, could position the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 as a CPU powerhouse, especially for demanding applications and multitasking.

GPU: Graphics Powerhouse on the Horizon?

The rumors surrounding the GPU are equally exciting. The Adreno 830 GPU is expected to be a significant leap forward, particularly for gamers. Early talks suggest it might outperform Apple's M2 in benchmarks and enable smooth gameplay on titles like Genshin Impact at native 1080p resolution.

However, it's important to note that these are speculations. Benchmarks and real-world testing will paint a clearer picture of the GPU's capabilities.

The Takeaway: Promising Potential

With a potentially top-tier CPU and a powerful GPU on the horizon, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 appears poised to be a serious contender in the high-end mobile chip market. Official details are expected around October 1, 2024, so stay tuned for confirmation and further insights on this exciting chip.

Conclusion: A Well-Rounded Package

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 appears to be shaping up as a well-rounded mobile processor, targeting not just raw power but also efficiency and AI capabilities. With the official announcement expected in October 2024, the next few months will be crucial in revealing the true potential of this chip and its impact on the future of smartphones.

Qualcomm and Nvidia at loggerheads with TMSC, next to 28Nm chips entrusted to Samsung?

Two of the largest U.S. chipmaker, Qualcomm and Nvidia , are beginning to reckon with a poor yield of the production 28Nm carried out by TMSC , Taiwanese semiconductor company to which they refer many organizations in the field. Already last month came forward signals determined by Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, who said in Forbes hope that establishments Intel could "accommodate" the production of the next (SoC Tegra 4) and Kepler GPU to 28Nm. Vain hope given the response of the lapidary home in Santa Clara:

Thanks, but no thanks

TMSC has therefore serious problems in the manufacturing shift to a more sophisticated architecture and is the right partner with which to face future challenges in the mobile industry. For this reason the search started for an alternative that may provide greater safety and the names circulating are the United Microelectronics, Global Foundries and even Samsung , which relies on the structures of Austin, Texas, in the further modernization and expansion.

Be noted that Nvidia stands to lose more with Tegra SoC and 4 GPUs Kepler just waiting to start production for a market introduction in early next year as announced on the roadmap . A delay would be really catastrophic and would leave the field open to emerging reality with better means as Intel , colossus that may rely on its facilities and is already producing in large volumes to 22Nm. No small advantage.

TMSC, meanwhile, is investing huge sums to adapt to the situation and, if it has to deal with the discontent of Nvidia and Qualcomm, can also enjoy the positive approach of recent Apple and AMD obviously aim at different targets. The chipset market will be even more busy in the months and Intel, which is emerging only now seriously in the mobile sector, could be a real thorn in the side.

Socket 775 and 65nm continues to be shipped late in 2012

While we eagerly await the latest processors from Intel on their 22nm technology, they have no hurry to let the past die with dignity. Their old LGA 775 socket and several associated processors will ship until late in 2012, including a processor built on 65nm.

LGA 775 socket may be viewed as special for many when Intel made its transition from the not so successful NetBurst architecture, Conroe and Core 2 Duo, which put the company on the map again in both performance and power efficiency. But certain things should be allowed to die out with dignity and this is a clear example of this. Core 2 Duo was launched and was manufactured at 65nm, and since then we have seen the 45nm, 32nm and soon 22nm from the company.

LGA 1156 and LGA 1155 that houses today's Sandy Bridge processors have since been released. Ivy Bridge, which is expected to appear in March-April next year will be built on 22nm and be compatible with LGA 1155th But it has no intention to end the LGA 775th

During the fourth quarter of this year, ending the company shipping the Core 2 Duo E7600 and E7500, but other processors will be shipped well into the next year. Pentium E6800, E6700, E5800 and Celeron E3500 and E3400 will be shipped to the Q3 2012 but this date may be extended. Last out, we have Celeron 430 which are built on 65nm, and has a core clocked at 1.8 GHz with a TDP value of 35W. Although this will be shipped until Q3 2012th

As the top of that, Intel LGA 1156 alive with multiple processors. so there are many generations they stay alive, to ensure that clients and consumers have an upgrade path to climb on. But at the LGA 775, we have hard to see why they still retain, Core 2 Duo was good in its day but has now been replaced by better alternatives.

Ivy Bridge quad-core screened and tested

Once again it is time for a taste of the latest from Intel: the Ivy Bridge. It's overclocking profile coolaler who got hold of an engineering sample with four cores and a clock frequency of 2.0 GHz, where he runs the memories of the 2134 MHz CL6.

Intel's next tick will begin at 22nm is based on their Sandy Bridge architecture, called Ivy Bridge. Ivy Bridge will come with several minor improvements to the processor, while the graphics part and the northbridge to get the biggest lift to today. Graphics chip is expected to be around 60 percent better than Sandy Bridge, and the processor will have official support for PCI Express 3.0. But what is expected of the architecture is mostly lower power consumption than before. Now coolaler got hold of an engineering sample of Ivy Bridge.

Several media have gone out with the CPU comes with a B3-stepping anything that is incorrect. The processor will be under CPU-Z with "Stepping 4" and cool yourself, believe that the processor is stepping B1. The letter B reveals that the processor has undergone a major revision since it first was printed out. It is not unlikely that the Ivy Bridge processors we'll see in the trade will be the stepping B2, when a new stepping normally takes around three months to develop and manufacture.

The processor reported in CPU-Z to come up with a clock frequency of 2.4 GHz when it shows up the turbo-frequency engineering specimen. It also reported that the processor has 65W TDP something that almost certainly will be when today's Sandy Bridge can run all four cores at 2.3 GHz with a TDP value of 45W . The results of AIDA64 appears to be slightly lower than with Sandy Bridge across the board, then probably AIDA64 and the motherboard does not have good support for Ivy Bridge. The memories run right pressure in the 2134 MHz 6-9-6-24 CR2 so we think that the results should be higher than what they do, then Ivy Bridge is a shrink of Sandy Bridge.

Sorry is not so much about processor performance than this, but hopefully more results will be published with the processor. It is still planned to Ivy Bridge will be launched in March-April, for both desktop and notebook computers, and the focus looks more like to be on power efficiency than pure performance.

Liquid metal can power future processor for Smartphones

Long as the industry has been operating at a high heat dissipation of circuits, and to stack multiple chips on each other is becoming more or less standard for certain types of circuits. IBM shows off a new interesting technique that involves both cooling and operating these types of circuits with liquid metal.

So-called 3D die-stacking, TSV (Through Silicon Via) is that you stack multiple chips on each other. This is common in today's smartphones, which have a system processor and etches the RAM on top. The advantages of this technique is faster transfer speeds, communication between the stacked chips and lower power consumption. The disadvantage is that the cooling circuits, but also to provide the upper circles of power.

IBM has developed a technology to solve both problems, while it is still in experimental stage, it sounds very interesting. IBM does a lot of artificial intelligence has taken inspiration from the human brain, using the same medium to transport heat and provide the brain (and other body) with energy.

"The human brain is 10.000 times more dense and efficient Than any computer today. That's Because it Possible Uses only one, extremely efficient, network of capillaries and Blood Vessels to transport heat and energy, all at the Same Time," IBM

It has made channels in their wafers to allow the liquid metal - in this case the element Vanadium - to flow through a circuit. When you then stack multiple chips on each other, there are channels to flow through it. In IBM's tests should I have stacked a hundred silicon-based circuits on top of each other.

Vanadium can lead to charge through the stacked chips to run them, and when it loses its charge, it can absorb heat, allowing it to act as cooling. The idea is that you have a single medium for both running and cooling the stacked chips.

3D die-stacking is the future, but the technology will be used to overcome the problems of power and heat generation?

If and when the technology is materialized in real products is not clear, and IBM has previously shown a similar technique with thermally conductive adhesive for the same use. But the potential of this technology from IBM is large, and can result in both higher frequencies and lower power consumption. Another problem can not think of when you only see all the numbers in GHz (gigahertz), is that as the transistors may work faster need faster communication between all types of circuits. Although this is 3D die-stacking is actually a solution to the problem when you place the chips on each other, creating minor delays between them.

What we can say is that TSV is the future of the semiconductor industry, and some type of technology will be required in future to overcome both power and heat generation. Could you imagine having liquid metal in the heart of your computer or smartphone?