With 1 primary, 2+2 performance, and 3 efficiency cores as its initial CPU arrangement, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was a little unusual. Now, according to Geekbench 6.1.0 scores, Qualcomm is adding a second performance core while removing one efficiency core, and the two performance cores will operate at various rates
It has one prime core operating at 3.30GHz, three performance cores running at 3.15GHz, two more running at a slower 2.96GHz, and then two efficiency cores running at 2.27GHz. Here is a table of comparisons:
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (speculative) | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | |
| Prime | 1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.30GHz | 1x Cortex-X3 @ 3.2GHz* |
| Performance 1 | 3x Cortex-A7xx @ 3.15GHz | 2x Cortex-A715 @ 2.8GHz |
| Performance 2 | 2x Cortex-A7xx @ 2.96GHz | 2x Cortex-A710 @ 2.8GHz |
| Efficiency | 2x Cortex-A5xx @ 2.27GHz | 3x Cortex-A510 @ 2.0GHz |
| * 3.36GHz prime core on the “for Galaxy” and 8+ Gen 2 chips | ||
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 specifications:
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to be a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It will have a new 1+5+2 core configuration, with a Cortex-X4 prime core, three Cortex-A720 performance cores, and two Cortex-A520 efficiency cores. The X4 core is expected to offer up to 15% higher performance or 25% higher efficiency than the Cortex-X2 core in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
There are rumors that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 prime core will run at 3.7GHz, but this is not yet confirmed. Even if it does run at that speed, it is still unclear whether it will be able to maintain that speed in a passively-cooled, battery-powered device.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is also expected to be manufactured on TSMC’s N4P node, which is an improved version of the N4 node used for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This should lead to some performance and efficiency improvements.
Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 looks to be a promising chip that could challenge Apple’s A16 Bionic for the top spot in the performance rankings. However, it remains to be seen whether it will be able to overcome Apple’s node advantage.
Qualcomm is expected to unveil the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 at the end of October, and Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S24 series early next year. The Galaxy S24 series is expected to be one of the first smartphones to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
