HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs HiSilicon Kirin 9000 5G

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The HiSilicon Kirin 960 and Kirin 9000 5G are both powerful processors, but they have several differences in their specifications.

Starting with the HiSilicon Kirin 960, it is equipped with 8 CPU cores divided into two clusters. The first cluster consists of 4 Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.4 GHz, which offer high performance, while the second cluster comprises 4 Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz, designed for power efficiency. The processor is based on the ARMv8-A instruction set and has a lithography of 16 nm. With a transistor count of 4000 million, it strikes a balance between performance and power consumption, with a TDP of 5 Watts.

On the other hand, the HiSilicon Kirin 9000 5G comes with a more advanced architecture. It features 8 CPU cores, with three different clusters. The first cluster contains a single Cortex-A77 core clocked at an impressive 3.13 GHz, providing exceptional single-core performance. The second cluster houses three Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 2.54 GHz, contributing to both power efficiency and high performance. The third cluster consists of four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.05 GHz, dedicated to power efficiency. The Kirin 9000 5G is based on the ARMv8.2-A instruction set and has a smaller lithography of 5 nm. With a significantly larger transistor count of 15300 million, it delivers higher performance capabilities. The processor consumes slightly more power, with a TDP of 6 Watts, but offers enhanced neural processing capabilities with the help of Ascend Lite and Ascend Tiny neural processing units, along with HUAWEI Da Vinci Architecture 2.0.

In summary, the HiSilicon Kirin 9000 5G outperforms the Kirin 960 in various aspects. It showcases a more advanced architecture with higher clock speeds and upgraded CPUs. Additionally, the Kirin 9000 5G offers improved neural processing capabilities and a smaller lithography, which contribute to higher overall performance. However, it should be noted that these specifications alone do not provide a complete picture of the processors' performance, and real-world performance may vary based on other factors such as software optimization and system integration.

CPU cores and architecture

Architecture 4x 2.4 GHz – Cortex-A73
4x 1.8 GHz – Cortex-A53
1x 3.13 GHz – Cortex-A77
3x 2.54 GHz – Cortex-A77
4x 2.05 GHz – Cortex-A55
Number of cores 8 8
Instruction Set ARMv8-A ARMv8.2-A
Lithography 16 nm 5 nm
Number of transistors 4000 million 15300 million
TDP 5 Watt 6 Watt
Neural Processing Ascend Lite (2x) + Ascend Tiny (1x), HUAWEI Da Vinci Architecture 2.0

Memory (RAM)

Max amount up to 6 GB up to 16 GB
Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR5
Memory frequency 1866 MHz 2750 MHz
Memory-bus 2x32 bit 4x16 bit

Storage

Storage specification UFS 2.1 UFS 3.1

Graphics

GPU name Mali-G71 MP8 Mali-G78 MP24
GPU Architecture Bifrost Valhall
GPU frequency 900 MHz 760 MHz
Execution units 8 24
Shaders 128 384
DirectX 11.3 12
OpenCL API 1.2 2.1
OpenGL API ES 3.2
Vulkan API 1.0 1.2

Camera, Video, Display

Max screen resolution 3840x2160
Max camera resolution 1x 20MP, 2x 12MP
Max Video Capture 4K@30fps 4K@60fps
Video codec support H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8
VP9
H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8
VP9

Wireless

4G network Yes Yes
5G network Yes Yes
Peak Download Speed 0.6 Gbps 4.6 Gbps
Peak Upload Speed 0.15 Gbps 2.5 Gbps
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth 4.2 5.2
Satellite navigation BeiDou
GPS
Galileo
GLONASS
BeiDou
GPS
Galileo
GLONASS
NavIC

Supplemental Information

Launch Date 2016 October 2020 October
Partnumber Hi3660
Vertical Segment Mobiles Mobiles
Positioning Flagship Flagship

AnTuTu 10

Total Score
Kirin 960
253892
Kirin 9000 5G
762886

GeekBench 6 Single-Core

Score
Kirin 960
382
Kirin 9000 5G
1062

GeekBench 6 Multi-Core

Score
Kirin 960
1544
Kirin 9000 5G
3724