The CPU cores bring performance and power-efficiency improvements, making future smartphones. ARM also unveiled the Immortalis G720 GPU, but Samsung might not use it in Exynos chips.
The new cores are likely to be seen in the MediaTek Dimensity 9300, Samsung Exynos 2400, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processors later this year or early next year.
The Galaxy S24 series is expected to feature the Exynos 2400 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips.
All new CPU cores from ARM are 64-bit-only. The processors using ARM’s DSU-120 (DynamIQ Shared Unit 120) design can feature up to 14-core CPUs, which means they would work well for PCs and laptops.
ARM claims a CPU performance jump of 27 per cent in multi-threaded tasks. It also says that its Cortex-X4 CPU core is 40 per cent more power efficient than Cortex-X3. The Cortex-X3 is used in chips like the Dimensity 9200 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It means that chips using the Cortex-X4 CPU core will be much more power-efficient when performing high-end tasks like camera, gaming, and multitasking. The Cortex-A520 core is 22 per cent more power-efficient, while the Cortex-A720 is around 20 per cent more power-efficient than their predecessor cores.
All this means that the battery life of smartphones should be much better.
The ARM Cortex-X4 offers considerable performance and battery efficiency improvement, and it will be used in high-end smartphones and tablets. It can go as high as 3.4GHz and has a 2MB L2 cache (2x compared to last year).
With the Cortex-A720, ARM claims to offer maximum sustained performance with higher efficiency. Cortex-A720 CPU cores are as small as Cortex-A78 from a few years ago while providing 10 per cent more performance. We could see this CPU core used in more mid-range and low-end chips. Overall, ARM expected around 15 per cent faster performance compared to previous generations.
The Cortex-A520 CPU core, used for smaller and low-intensity tasks, offers 22 per cent more power efficiency than last year’s Cortex-A510. At the same power consumption level, Cortex-A520 cores can offer 8% more performance than Cortex-A510 cores.
These performance and efficiency improvements would come to the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the Galaxy Tab S10 series.
ARM also unveiled the Immortalis G720 GPU for high-end smartphone and tablet processors. It offers 52-67 per cent higher performance in ray-tracing tasks and 52 per cent improved performance in VRS (Variable Rate Shading) tasks compared to competing GPUs. This new GPU offers higher performance and power efficiency for longer gaming sessions. The Immortalis G720 GPU can have 10 or higher cores.
The Mali-G720 GPU will be used in mid-range smartphones, while the Mali-G620 GPU is for entry-level smartphones. The Mali-G620 GPU can have five or fewer cores, while the Mali-G720 GPU can have 6-9 cores. ARM’s new GPUs claim to have around 15% better power efficiency, leading to improved battery life while gaming.
