Today Samsung LSI introduced the brand new Exynos 1080 SoC, a successor to final 12 months’s Exynos 980. This 12 months’s 1080 is seemingly positioned somewhat above the 980 by way of efficiency as we’re seeing some fairly notable beneficial properties in options in comparison with the 980. It’s to be remembered that this can be a “premium” SoC, that means it’s not a flagship SoC, but it surely’s additionally not fairly a mid-range SoC, becoming itself in-between these two classes, a distinct segment which has change into fairly widespread over the past 1-2 years.
The new SoC is outlined by having a brand new 1+3+four CPU configuration, as fairly giant GPU, and full 5G connectivity built-in, and is the primary publicly introduced SoC to be manufactured on Samsung’s new 5LPE course of node.
| Samsung Exynos SoCs Specifications | ||
| SoC | Exynos 980 | Exynos 1080 |
| CPU | 2x Cortex-A77 @ 2.2GHz + 6x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz |
1x Cortex-A78 @ 2.8GHz + 3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.6GHz + 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz |
| GPU | Mali G76MP5 | Mali G78MP10 |
| NPU | Integrated | NPU + DSP 5.7TOPS |
| Memory Controller |
LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X / LPDDR5 |
| Media | 10bit 4K120 encode & decode H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9 |
10bit 4K60 encode & decode H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9 |
| Modem | Shannon Integrated
(LTE Category 16/18) (5G NR Sub-6) |
Shannon Integrated
(LTE Category 16/18) (5G NR Sub-6) (5G NR mmWave) |
| WiFi | Integrated 802.11ax (WiFi 6) | Integrated 802.11ax (WiFi 6) |
| ISP | Main: 108MP Dual: 20MP+20MP |
Main: 200MP Dual: 32MP+32MP |
| Mfc. Process |
Samsung 8nm LPP |
Samsung 5nm LPE |
On the CPU facet of issues, that is the primary time we’ve seen Samsung undertake a 1+3+four CPU configuration, now adopting the Cortex-A78 structure on the a part of the efficiency cores. One core is clocked at 2.8GHz whereas the three others are working at 2.6GHz. Qualcomm had first launched such a setup and it appears it’s change into fairly widespread because it provides the good thing about each efficiency and energy effectivity. The 4 huge cores are accompanied by 4 Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0GHz.
On the GPU facet of issues, we’re seeing a fairly giant leap in comparison with the Exynos 980 as Samsung is not solely shifting onto the brand new Mali-G78 microarchitecture, however is deploying double the variety of cores. It’s attainable that earlier efficiency of those “premium” tier SoCs wasn’t as effectively acquired as there was a big hole in efficiency in comparison with their flagship SoC counterparts, so Samsung using a a lot bigger GPU right here is sort of welcome, and nonetheless leaves room for a a lot bigger configuration for his or her flagship SoC, which has but to be introduced.
Samsung now additionally features a new technology NPU and DSP within the design, and quoted machine-learning inference energy of 5.7TOPs which is once more fairly a sweet-spot for such an SoC.
The new modem now could be able to each 5G NR Sub-6 frequencies as effectively mmWave, one thing which was missing within the Exynos 980. Samsung’s choice to deploy mmWave right here is attention-grabbing on condition that exterior of the US there’s little or no deployment by way of community protection as sub-6GHz is being prioritised. Samsung including this in in what’s purported to be a less expensive SoC signifies that they’re truly anticipating it for use, which goes to be very attention-grabbing.
Multi-media smart, the specs listed for the SoC present that it truly reduce down on the MFC (Multi-Function Codec) decoder and encoder capabilities because it’s now solely able to 4K60 as an alternative of 4K120 within the final…
