Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU Cluster May Have Been Inadvertently Leaked By ARM, Along With Some Sizable Multi-Threaded Performance Numbers

The official ARM announcement involved the British firm debriefing the audience on its new CPU designs  named the Cortex-X4 and Cortex-A720, but the company may have provided a little too much information surrounding the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 without actually naming the SoC. Here, we discuss the possible CPU cluster that Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship chipset might feature, along with its possible multi-threaded performance gain over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
A press release slide reveals the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s ‘1 + 5 + 2’ CPU cluster, along with a potentially decent multi-core performance gain over its predecessor
The slide below reveals that change in the number of efficiency cores. If you have been a part of the rumor mill, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has been rumored to be tested out in two CPU cluster variants , with one of them sporting the ‘1 + 5 + 2’ configuration . Qualcomm is said to stick with a single Cortex-X4 just like this year, but the number of ‘middle’ cores has increased to five, which in this case, would be the Cortex-A720.
ARM has also shared a ‘1 + 3 + 4’ configuration in the slide, claiming that the new cluster is 33 percent faster using the Speedometer benchmark. On Geekbench 6, the ‘1 + 5 + 2’ configuration is 27 percent higher compared to ARM’s previous IP. However, some eagle-eyed readers might have noticed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 uses a ‘1 + 2 + 2 + 3’ cluster, which is not the same as the ‘1 + 3 + 4’ variant, so it is possible that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s new configuration might not offer the same performance gains as ARM claims.
Previous rumors have claimed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will have a '1 + 5 + 2' CPU cluster
Then again, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has been previously rumored to deliver a substantial performance gain without any loss in efficiency , suggesting that the TSMC’s N4P process (improved 4nm node) will bring immense benefits to the table. However, there is some positive news: the new CPU designs will be the first IP to be tapped on the new N3E process. This node was earlier rumored to be used by MediaTek and Qualcomm for next year’s flagship chipset releases, not this year.
Sadly, it might be increased costs and low yields that retain the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on N4P, but if there are any changes, we will be sure to let our readers know. Qualcomm is expected to hold a press release in the fourth quarter this year, so we will officially know what 2024 Android flagships will be outfitted with.
Written by Omar Sohail