HiSilicon Kirin 950 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970

The HiSilicon Kirin 950 and Kirin 970 are two processors designed by the Chinese semiconductor company, HiSilicon. Let's compare their specifications to see how they differ.

Starting with the HiSilicon Kirin 950, it features an architecture consisting of 4x 2.4 GHz Cortex-A72 cores and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 cores. With a total of 8 cores, this processor utilizes the ARMv8-A instruction set. It is built using a 16 nm lithography process and contains around 2000 million transistors. The thermal design power (TDP) for this processor is 5 Watts.

Moving on to the HiSilicon Kirin 970, it also consists of 8 cores but with an upgraded architecture. The processor includes 4x 2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 cores and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 cores, which improves performance. Similar to the Kirin 950, it uses the ARMv8-A instruction set. However, the Kirin 970 is built using a more advanced 10 nm lithography process, resulting in increased efficiency and potentially better power management. It also boasts a significantly higher number of transistors at around 5500 million, indicating more complex circuitry. The TDP for the Kirin 970 is slightly higher, rated at 9 Watts.

One significant feature that sets the Kirin 970 apart from its predecessor is the addition of the HiSilicon NPU (Neural Processing Unit). This specialized component enhances the processor's capability to handle AI-related tasks, providing improved performance for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

In summary, the HiSilicon Kirin 970 offers several improvements over the Kirin 950 in terms of architecture, lithography process, transistor count, and the inclusion of the NPU for AI processing. These advancements contribute to enhanced overall performance and efficiency, making the Kirin 970 a more powerful and technologically advanced option.