Expected to be the Pixel 8 family processor, the Google Tensor G3 gained new rumors this week that reinforce its inspiration from Samsung’s Exynos line, as well as the use of an unprecedented CPU configuration. Apparently, the new generation of the platform would seek to differentiate itself from other components by having 9 cores, a combination that could make it faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, if there are no manufacturing problems.
The information arrives through the leaker Revegnus, responsible for many of the recent rumors linked to Samsung and Google, and indicate that the Tensor G3 will feature a curious configuration of 9 cores. Most modern chipsets, including solutions from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung itself, use only 8 cores, and it would be the first time in years since the Helio X family that this barrier would be broken.
In the case of the new Tensor, we would have these structures distributed in a group of 1 + 4 + 4, with 1 maximum performance Cortex-X3 running at 3.3 GHz, 4 high performance Cortex-A715 working at 2.6 GHz and 4 High efficiency Cortex-A510 operating at 2.3 GHz. In addition to the already mentioned amount and the very high clocks, the use of recent ARM cores is also noteworthy — previous generations had chosen to use older models, betting on more modern lithographs to present improvements.
Speaking precisely of performance, Revegnus believes that the new combination could have the strength to overcome the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm’s latest chip present in almost all Android tops in 2023, and current champion of performance and efficiency. The leaker warns, however, that everything must depend on how much better the 4 nm lithography, called 4LPP, that Samsung will use to produce the Tensor G3 will be.
It’s no secret that the South Korean giant has been working to improve its manufacturing processes — and by extension the Exynos family, which may soon return —, much criticized for years for low yield, energy efficiency and transistor density compared to rivals from TSMC, and it looks likely that we’ll see these enhancements already play a notable role in Google’s new chip.
More interesting is that Samsung’s involvement with the Tensor G3 should go beyond production, as it also indicated. Revegnus in your post. Responding to another user, the informant reinforced old rumors that the processor would be a modified version of the Exynos 2300, a canceled component that should have been used in the Galaxy S23 family. That said, contrary to expectations, we shouldn’t see an AMD GPU.
The graphics processing would be under the responsibility of the new ARM Mali-G715, a simpler variant of the Immortalis-G715 used in the MediaTek Dimensity 9200, for example, without access to Ray Tracing technology and with a smaller number of cores — configured in 8, in this case. case. Its performance should be much more robust than the Tensor G2’s Mali-G710, but it shouldn’t pose a threat to the powerful Adreno 740 of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
It is expected that we will have official news very soon, considering Google’s recent strategy of releasing teasers of its releases well in advance. It is very likely that the Tensor G3 and its first details will be announced as early as this month, during Google I/O 2023, the search giant’s annual event for developers scheduled for May 10.
