Qualcomm may launch two variants of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
What's the story
Qualcomm is gearing up for the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, where the semiconductor company may announce the highly anticipated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.
Ahead of the official unveiling, a leaked document from gamma0burst (via Gizmochina) claims that the processor will have two variants.
The first will be produced using TSMC's 4nm process node, while the second, more powerful and energy-efficient will be produced using TSMC's N3E (enhanced) 3nm node. They might arrive as non-Plus and Plus versions.
Details
The chips will offer improved efficiency and overheating prevention
In the leaked document, Qualcomm states that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will include ARM's latest Cortex-X4 prime CPU core, the Cortex-A720 performance CPU core, and the Cortex-A520 efficiency CPU core for its chipset structure.
This combination is expected to make it more efficient and less prone to overheating compared to its predecessor.
The 3nm variant will have a smaller feature set and smaller transistors, allowing for more transistors to fit inside the chip, making it more powerful and energy-efficient.
Scenario
Will TSMC's 3nm node boost chip performance?
TSMC's N3E (enhanced) 3nm node provides several advantages for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset over the 4nm process node.
However, despite having a different manufacturing process involved in their production, the two chip versions still bear the same CPU combo structure.
Hence, it will be really interesting to see how much they differ in terms of performance and power efficiency. At the moment, Apple's A17 Pro is the only 3nm mobile chip in the world.
Insights
The unveiling is expected at the Snapdragon Summit
Unlike in 2022, where the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 replaced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm plans to unveil both variants of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset at the same time.
The launch event, set for October 24 at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, should showcase the more efficient and less prone to overheating Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, as a worthy successor to the current flagship, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.