HiSilicon Kirin 930 vs HiSilicon Kirin 980

The comparison between HiSilicon Kirin 930 and HiSilicon Kirin 980 processors reveals significant differences in their specifications.

Starting with the CPU cores and architecture, the Kirin 930 features a quad-core setup with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2 GHz and another four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz. On the other hand, the Kirin 980 boasts a more powerful configuration with two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.6 GHz, two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 1.92 GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. It is evident that the Kirin 980 offers higher performance due to its higher clock speeds and advanced Cortex-A76 architecture.

Additionally, when considering the lithography, the Kirin 930 utilizes a 28 nm manufacturing process, while the Kirin 980 is built using a more advanced 7 nm process. The smaller lithography allows for better power efficiency, increased transistor density, and improved overall performance. This makes the Kirin 980 more energy-efficient and capable of delivering higher performance levels.

Speaking of transistors, the Kirin 930 houses 1000 million transistors, whereas the Kirin 980 incorporates a whopping 6900 million transistors. This demonstrates a significant leap in transistor count, indicating a higher level of complexity and capability in the Kirin 980.

Furthermore, the thermal design power (TDP) of the Kirin 930 stands at 5 Watts, whereas the Kirin 980 has a slightly higher TDP of 6 Watts. While the TDP difference may not be considerable, it suggests that the Kirin 980 may generate a little more heat under heavy loads.

Moreover, a notable feature exclusive to the Kirin 980 is the inclusion of the HiSilicon Dual NPU, which stands for Neural Processing Unit. This dedicated hardware for artificial intelligence tasks enables the processor to deliver superior performance in machine learning and AI-related applications.

In summary, the HiSilicon Kirin 980 outperforms the Kirin 930 in various aspects. With its superior CPU cores, advanced lithography, significantly higher transistor count, and the addition of the dual NPU, the Kirin 980 represents a significant improvement in terms of performance, power efficiency, and AI capabilities.