MediaTek Dimensity 9400: 30% Faster, 40% Less Power
MediaTek, a leading smartphone chip designer, is set to launch its next-generation flagship chip, the Dimensity 9400, in October 2024. The company's CEO, Rick Tsai, has expressed strong confidence in the new processor, highlighting its potential to redefine smartphone performance standards. Recent reports indicate that a 3DMark benchmark test reveals the Dimensity 9400 outperforms Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 by 30% in performance while also achieving a 40% reduction in power consumption.
The Dimensity 9400 is expected to utilize TSMC's second-generation 3nm process (N3E). According to TSMC, this advanced process technology delivers a 34% reduction in power consumption at the same speed and complexity as its predecessor, the N5 process. It also offers an 18% increase in performance at the same power level and boosts logic transistor density by 60%.
The new chip will continue to adopt an all-big-core CPU design, featuring one Cortex-X5 core clocked at 3.4GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores at 2.96GHz, and four Cortex-A720 high-efficiency cores at 2.27GHz. This configuration increases the processor's overall size to 150mm² and integrates 30 billion transistors, promising a substantial boost in computing power.
In a recent announcement coinciding with Arm's release of its new Armv9.2 instruction set CPU IPs, including the Cortex-X925 CPU and Immortalis-G925 GPU, MediaTek's Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless Communications Business Unit, Dr. JC Hsu, shared, "We are excited to launch the new flagship Dimensity 9400 mobile chip in the second half of this year. This chip will incorporate the latest Armv9 Cortex-X925 CPU and Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU. Our ongoing collaboration with Arm focuses on enhancing mobile chip performance and capabilities, driving rapid advancements in mobile computing technology."
The Dimensity 9400 is anticipated to feature the new Armv9 Cortex-X925 CPU as its super core, alongside the Cortex-A725 for its big cores, and the Immortalis-G925 GPU, ensuring a significant overall enhancement in performance and efficiency.
In terms of AI capabilities, rumors suggest that the Dimensity 9400 offers a 40% improvement over the previous generation, the Dimensity 9300, which delivered 48 TOPS. This new chip is also expected to support advanced models with over 20 billion parameters, further enhancing its AI processing power.
Rick Tsai also shared his positive outlook during the company's mid-year financial report, forecasting that revenue from this year's flagship Dimensity chips will grow by more than 50% year-over-year. The Dimensity 9300 series enabled MediaTek to achieve $1 billion in revenue from flagship smartphone chips in 2023, marking a growth of over 70% year-over-year. Tsai is confident that the Dimensity 9400 will replicate this success due to its superior technology and capabilities.
