Google Tensor G4 Struggles: CPU Performance Drops 60%

Google has announced the launch of its latest Pixel 9 series smartphones, including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, all powered by the new Tensor G4 chip.

The Tensor G4, manufactured using Samsung's advanced 4nm process, features a high-performance octa-core CPU with 1 Cortex-X4 core at 3.10 GHz, 3 Cortex-A720 cores at 2.60 GHz, and 4 Cortex-A520 cores at 1.92 GHz. It also includes the ARM Mali-G715 GPU clocked at 940 MHz. Early comparisons suggest that the Tensor G4 may lag behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen4 in performance.

A recent social media report shared the results of a CPU throttling test conducted on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The test revealed that under heavy load, the Tensor G4 chip's performance could drop by up to 50%. The stress test, which tracked the frequencies of all eight CPU cores, showed noticeable throttling within just three minutes, with performance continuing to decline to approximately 60% loss by the four-minute mark. The Tensor G4's peak performance was recorded at 341 GIPS (Giga Instructions Per Second), with an average performance of 246.6 GIPS.

During the most severe throttling conditions, the chip's performance reduced to 145.5 GIPS, or about 42.6% of its peak capability. Performance levels later stabilized at roughly 65% of peak performance. Frequency analysis indicated that the performance core frequency dropped to 1.32 GHz, while the efficiency core frequency decreased to as low as 570 MHz.

It's worth noting that GIPS is not the sole measure of performance, and stress tests often push devices to their limits. In typical usage scenarios, performance degradation may not be as pronounced.