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Samsung's First Exynos 9 Chip is Faster, Uses Less Power, and Supports Gigabit LTE

Posted by msmash on from the leap-forward dept.

Samsung is taking a big step forward on both processing and LTE speeds with its next mobile system on a chip. From a report on The Verge: The chip, called the Exynos 9 Series 8895, is supposed to perform 27 percent faster than its predecessor and consume 40 percent less power. It's also Samsung's first to support gigabit LTE, offering much faster speeds on networks that support it. The big gains come from Samsung shifting over to a 10nm process for this chip series, allowing it to make a more efficient processor. That means Samsung is following right behind Qualcomm on the move from a 14nm process to a 10nm process. Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon SoC, the 835, also uses a 10nm process and supposed includes speed improvements and a 25 percent power reduction. The Exynos 8895 has an octa-core processor, and its GPU is supposed to include graphics improvements for 4K VR and gaming. Samsung says the processor supports video recording at 120FPS 4K and cameras with a resolution up to 28MP.

39 comments

  1. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But can it run crysis?

  2. Sounds hot by garompeta · · Score: 1

    is it flammable?

    1. Re:Sounds hot by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

      is it flammable?

      Don't be so facetious. This thing is going to singe the competition.

  3. Try Again... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Don't know about the new Slamdung SoC; but the A10 in the iPhone 7 still outperforms the Qualcomm 835.

    And the A11 is just around the corner.

    Just sayin'...

    1. Re:Try Again... by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Why are you even bringing that up? TFS doesn't even mention the A10 or talk about the Exynos 9 being the fastest SoC, just faster and more efficient than their previous Exynos 8, which should be expected if they're manufacturing it on a new process node and made no architectural changes at all.

    2. Re:Try Again... by fred6666 · · Score: 2

      But you are stuck with Apple. Not worth it.

    3. Re:Try Again... by goombah99 · · Score: 2

      He's bringin it up because there's nothing about absoulte speed here. Samsung is saying they made their processor faster by a larger margin than qualcom did this year but they are not saying it's faster than qualcoms. they did the same thing with the A10. samsung claimed a faster clock speed and big improvements in battery usage. Meanwhile the slower clock spees A10 is actually faster to do anything, and uses less battery.

      his point is samsung spec are completely non-informative.

      --
      Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    4. Re:Try Again... by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      I just keep waiting, arm processors are eventually going to replace x86 probably in every consumer device except hardcore gamer equipment with in the next 3-5 years. There are supposed to be windows arm devices coming out later this year with the snapdragon 835 and x86 32bit emulation.

    5. Re:Try Again... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      He's bringin it up because there's nothing about absoulte speed here. Samsung is saying they made their processor faster by a larger margin than qualcom did this year but they are not saying it's faster than qualcoms. they did the same thing with the A10. samsung claimed a faster clock speed and big improvements in battery usage. Meanwhile the slower clock spees A10 is actually faster to do anything, and uses less battery.

      his point is samsung spec are completely non-informative.

      ...and actually deceitful; which is far worse to the consumer.

    6. Re:Try Again... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      But you are stuck with Apple. Not worth it.

      I don't see it as "stuck" with anything but a "secure" device and "secure" Apps.

      It that's "stuck", then consider me happily glued.

    7. Re:Try Again... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Yeah so secure you can't actually load files onto the phone without jumping through hoops in iTunes. It tells me a file generated by Lame is unsupported and then copies it anyhow and guess what? It plays just fine.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    8. Re:Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, we keep hearing these chips are faster than the CISC chips from Intel. Massively faster - possibly even an order of magnitude - watt for watt. The 2W graphics processors in phones are pushing 4k and 60Hz refresh now.

      And yet nobody seems scrambling to put them into massively parallel systems where - if their claims are actually true - they would easily crush Xeon processors on the cost and power front. Nobody is putting dozen of these on a card to take over the 500W+ CUDA-based desktop cards.

      Are they really that fast, or is it all just misleading hype?

    9. Re:Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real story here is that the top device makers are making first party SoCs because Qualcomm is lagging behind.

    10. Re:Try Again... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Yeah so secure you can't actually load files onto the phone without jumping through hoops in iTunes. It tells me a file generated by Lame is unsupported and then copies it anyhow and guess what? It plays just fine.

      What's your point?

    11. Re:Try Again... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Security getting in the way of functionality. Let me access the phone storage like any Android device.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    12. Re:Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably good enough already for a lot of tasks. Samsung must put this chip in something that can be used like a small PC. Debian arm64 could be happy to run on it.

    13. Re:Try Again... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Security getting in the way of functionality. Let me access the phone storage like any Android device.

      And we have all seen how well that is working out for Android...

    14. Re:Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yes. And also, those ARM servers are going to wipe out Intel. Meanwhile, this is the Year of Linux on the Desktop!! And Microsoft is Absolutely, Definitely, For Sure going Down.

      Really, don't you have something better to do with your time? Maybe forecast the End of the World or something. Perhaps you'll have better luck with that.

    15. Re: Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cause he's a fucking loser who needs to get a life.

    16. Re: Try Again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, that explains a lot. You're a fucking glue sniffer.

  4. Kaby Lake lithography is 14 nm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Intel is losing the race, when they thought that had it in the bag against AMD.

    Wintel combo is becoming irrelevant as days go by.

    1. Re:Kaby Lake lithography is 14 nm by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Maybe. Maybe not. The sizes given for processes often do not mean what they seem to mean. But sure, Intel will have to play catch-up for a few years. And maybe they will even try a non-criminal way this time.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Kaby Lake lithography is 14 nm by edxwelch · · Score: 3, Informative

      This article gives good analysis of the latest nodes:
      https://www.semiwiki.com/forum...

      Samsung's 10nm is about 10% denser than Intel's 14nm

  5. Can it explode? by gweihir · · Score: 2

    If not, this is decidedly a step back. Removing features in new products is not impressive!

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Can it explode? by Plus1Entropy · · Score: 1

      Samsung has some serious courage.

      --
      Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
    2. Re:Can it explode? by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      The Exynos 9 now provides a software defined detonator.
      The detonator pin included in the Exynos 8 SoC was a resounding success. However, it was only compatible with Note7 batteries. The new technology should be able to make any phone ready to explode with just a firmware flash.
      These new chips are expected to make a killing in the middle east.

    3. Re:Can it explode? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If not, this is decidedly a step back. Removing features in new products is not impressive!

      Either way, I am sure that the people is burning with anticipation.

  6. vacuous story by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    So were down to comparing rates of improvements? How does one compare two brands when one of them got 25% faster than it's last chip and the other got 40% faster. Does that mean the latter was abysmally slow to begin with so it was easier to make faster. There's no information content here.

    it's also not news.

    A newsworthy headline would be samsung latest processor is slower and uses more battery. I full expect every generation to be better than the last but if you can't actually make useful comparisons there's nothing newsworthy here.

    thanks for posting a press release.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:vacuous story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      were down?

    2. Re:vacuous story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's last chip?

  7. Is it fully programmable without binary blobs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it is not then it is not very exciting. Some might go as far as to call it unusable.

  8. Not comparable, Orange to apples. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Qualcomm part has got a LTE modem, and other comms stuff. They have to decide how to allocate their transistor budget. The apple part is more free in that respect.

  9. Less Power?? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    Isn't the display the biggest energy hog on the phone? Did I miss something?

    1. Re:Less Power?? by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      Not really. You can easily get 5-6 hours of screen-on time if your not processing much. Put it into game mode where you're driving the CPU/GPU at the edge of its thermal envelope and you'll be lucky to get 90 minutes.

      In fact, for amoled screens, that on-time can be pushed to 9+ hours if you use a dark theme. After reading online using a dark background and light screen font, with ~20-25% brightness, my Note 7 (God rest it's fiery soul) showed a predicted 16 hours of remaining battery life after three hours of reading (after starting nearly fully charged). Pop that baby into a GearVR, though, and 2 hours was more than you would likely get before having to recharge.

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    2. Re:Less Power?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try not flipping the screen on all the time. The screen is the 4th highest power user on my phone following; Cell Standby, Chrome and Android System.

  10. Re:Try Again... (or maybe don't) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Secure device.... umm what planet are you living on? It's absolutely no more secure than any high-end Android. I'll concede the Android app store has more bad eggs but a little common sense and that's not an issue and the benefit is having massively more choice (maybe not in numbers but in diversity it's not even slightly debateable). I'm not against iPhones in theory but in practice they just aren't worth the compromises they impose. The camera is well below the top of the line Androids, connecting to a PC for storage is a no-go, expandable storage is a no-go, lasting a full day on a charge is a no-go and don't even get me started on the fact you're stuck in the small world of Apple where even connecting your latest laptop to your phone now requires buying a special lightning to usb-c cable and connection it to a monitor will also set you back upwards of £20 and requires you to carry a proprietary dongle everywhere.

  11. Re:Try Again... (or maybe don't) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree with you it's not worth it for several reasons (have just switched myself), but no need to exaggerate - my 6S+ lasted 3 days between charges, and portrait mode on the 7+ is easily the most aesthetically pleasing camera out there at the moment. The camera is the main thing I'm missing right now and was the main reason I've held out so long.

  12. Gigabit LTE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With Gigabit LTE speeds you can get hacked and spied on faster than ever! Sign up TODAY to have your life splayed open like a frog in a dissection tray!

  13. AMD / Intel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is this tagged as AMD and Intel? Neither of those companies or their products are mentioned in TFS. We're not even talking about x86 CPUs.