Google Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 could not ship the large efficiency increase you hoped for

Google’s Pixel 10 lineup is nearly a 12 months away from launch. However there’s already numerous buzz round it, with studies suggesting the corporate will lastly change to TSMC’s superior node for fabricating future Tensor chips. The Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 will supposedly be Google’s first fully in-house developed SoC, not based mostly on Samsung’s Exynos platform. If you happen to had been anticipating this modification to lead to radical efficiency enhancements, that may not be the case.

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Primarily based on a leaked doc from Google’s “gChips” division, a report from Android Authority has detailed the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 SoC. The Pixel 9‘s Tensor G4 delivered modest effectivity enhancements, primarily because of Google’s resolution to drop a mid-cluster core to scale back energy consumption. Nonetheless, it nonetheless caught with Arm’s older “massive” Cortex X4 CPU core regardless of the Cortex-X925 promising higher efficiency and effectivity.

With the Tensor G5 reportedly being developed in-house and on a brand new node, you’d anticipate Google to change to Arm’s newer CPU cores. Surprisingly (and disappointingly), that will not occur. As a substitute, Google will purportedly follow an 8-core CPU however rearrange the core cluster, switching to a 1 + 5 + 2 structure.

The report states the Pixel G5’s massive cluster will retain the Cortex-X4 CPU. The mid-cluster, comprising 5 cores, will change to Arm’s newer Cortex-A725 CPU, whereas the little cluster will characteristic 2x Cortex A-520 cores.

Under is a desk evaluating the CPU structure and core clusters of Tensor G4 with the upcoming Tensor G5.

As evident, the CPU cluster just isn’t getting as massive of an improve as you had been anticipating. The change to five CPU cores for the mid-cluster ought to enhance the multitasking efficiency. However the Tensor G5’s general efficiency will seemingly be behind Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 SoC by just a few generations.

No less than effectivity ought to get an enormous increase because of the change to TSMC’s 3nm N3E node. Apple and Qualcomm additionally use this node to manufacture their newest flagship chips, the A18 Professional and Snapdragon 8 Elite.

A brand new GPU and modest efficiency increase for the TPU

Google has up to now used Arm’s Mali GPUs on its Tensor SoCs. Nonetheless, the Tensor G5 will change to Creativeness Applied sciences’ DXT-48-1536 GPU, supposedly clocked at 1.1GHz. The identical firm beforehand used to offer GPUs for iPhones and iPads. Little is understood about this new GPU, however the report signifies it helps ray tracing and GPU virtualization. The Tensor G4’s Mali-G715 GPU doesn’t assist each of those options.

Google’s Tensor chips are recognized for his or her AI efficiency, and given the modest CPU and GPU enhancements, you may anticipate the Tensor G5 to excel in that space. However even that will not occur, with the Tensor G5’s TPU reportedly delivering solely a 14% efficiency enchancment in Google’s inside benchmarks. That is comparatively modest, particularly for the reason that Tensor G4 used the identical TPU as 2023’s Tensor G3.

Regardless of such modest upgrades, the Tensor G5’s SoC can have a die dimension of 121 mm^2, making it a lot bigger than Apple’s A18 Professional chip, which measures 105 mm^2 and does responsibility contained in the iPhone 16 Professional.

General, if you happen to had been anticipating the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 to lastly catch as much as the competitors and ship excellent efficiency, you might need to mood your expectations. Primarily based on this leak, Google’s subsequent Tensor SoC is unlikely to deliver radical efficiency enhancements and can presumably ship solely marginal beneficial properties.