Google has once again collaborated with Samsung to build Tensor G3, the chipset that powers the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. It comes out of Samsung’s 4nm foundries and features a 9-core CPU (1x Cortex-X3 + 4x A715 + 4x A510) and an ARM Mali-G715 GPU.
Google hasn’t revealed any details about this GPU, but it appears to have 7 compute units, the same as last year’s Tensor G2 (that was a Mali-G710). How efficient is this GPU? Golden reviewer ran some tests to find out.
Starting with 3DMark Wildlife Extreme, chipsets are rated by score divided by average power (so the higher, the better). The G3 isn’t very good: it’s as fast as an Apple A14 and is slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
The chipset to watch out for in these tests is actually MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200. It also uses the Mali-G715 (with 11 compute units) but was built on a 4nm node from TSMC. Dimensity outperforms Tensor by a wide margin, however it is almost equal in terms of efficiency.
Moving on to GFXBench Aztec (Vulkan/Metal backend, 1440p off-screen), Dimensity once again puts Tensor to the test and offers almost double the frame rate, but draws almost double the power, so it’s essentially the same in terms of efficiency . Rather disappointingly, the Tensor G3 is only a small upgrade over the G2 in this test (the gap in Wildlife was much more significant).
Finally, another GFXBench (v3.1) test shows that the gap between the Google and MediaTek chips is smaller at 1080p. However, taking power consumption into account, the two chipsets are more or less the same.
Second Golden reviewer,Samsung’s 4nm LPP node is 1.5-2 generations behind the TSMC 4nm node. In more demanding tests the Tensor G3 is not competitive with current flagship chips, let alone those that are just around the corner: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 are expected to be revealed later this year.
The node disadvantage doesn’t bode well for Samsung’s Exynos 2400, though it has an entirely different GPU, based on AMD’s RDNA 3 technology, so an architectural advantage could keep it in the game.
Coming back to Google, the Tensor G4 will likely be built at the Samsung foundry once again as Google still needs the expertise of the Exynos team. However, Google is rumored to be working on an internal design that isn’t dependent on Samsung. This is expected in 2025.
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