Qualcomm’s New Mid-Range Chip Can Run 60Hz Games at 120Hz
Qualcomm has announced its latest mid-tier Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, which sticks to older Cortex cores, and targets mid-range devices. While the SoC doesn’t directly compete with the Oryon-based “Elite” chips, it brings huge performance increments over the 8s Gen 3, especially in the GPU segment.
The SoC Misses Out on In-House Oryon Cores But Comes With Frame Generation and Real-Time Ray Tracing
The chip is fabricated on TSMC’s older 4nm process node, which may not match top-tier SoCs in raw power but does bring a fair bit of competition to the mid-range segment. For one, its GPU, the Adreno 825, inherits the same architecture as its “Elite” counterpart and brings close to 49% improvement in graphical performance in a 39% more efficient package. Note that these metrics are based on comparisons with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, for some reason.
With the SoC, it also packs Qualcomm’s AFME (Adreno Frame Motion Engine) 2.0, which allows it to render 60fps frames at 120fps. What this means is that it’ll double the frame rate at roughly the same power draw. With most mid-range devices coming with higher refresh rate screens, it’ll be a step up in the gaming segment.
Not only this, but the chip also brings real-time ray tracing to phones, thereby allowing a more realistic and better visual experience. If these upgrades make you think that the performance will take a hit once more demand comes into the fold, the chip also comes with QAPE (Qualcomm Adaptive Performance Engine), which dynamically adjusts the performance based on the device’s current operating status.
While the SoC is being called out for missing out on Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon cores, it does bring a heap load of improvements, particularly in the GPU segment. Xiaomi and iQOO are reported to be the first customers of this chip and will start rolling out the first supported devices in mid-April.
This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
