HiSilicon Kirin 970 vs HiSilicon Kirin 980

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

HiSilicon Kirin 970 or HiSilicon Kirin 970 – which processor offers superior performance? In this comparison, we examine disparities and assess which of these two CPUs outperforms the other. We delve into technical specifications and benchmark outcomes.
The HiSilicon Kirin 970 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2017 and belongs to the 6 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
The HiSilicon Kirin 980 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2018 and belongs to the 7 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
Mobile Segment Mobile
HiSilicon Kirin 970 Name HiSilicon Kirin 980
HiSilicon Kirin Family HiSilicon Kirin
6 Generation 7
HiSilicon Kirin 970 Group HiSilicon Kirin 980
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.4 GHz.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
The HiSilicon Kirin 980 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.6 GHz.
None None 4x Cortex-A55
None None 1.8 GHz
1.84 GHz B-Core Frequency 1.92 GHz
2.4 GHz A-Core Frequency 2.6 GHz
4x Cortex-A53 Cores B 2x Cortex-A76
4x Cortex-A73 Cores A 2x Cortex-A76
No Overclocking No
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
8 Threads 8
No Hyperthreading No
8 CPU Cores 8
 
 

Internal Graphics

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 970 uses the ARM Mali-G72 MP12, which has 192 texture shaders
and 12 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The HiSilicon Kirin 980 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 980 uses the ARM Mali-G76 MP10, which has 160 texture shaders
and 10 execution units.
0.75 GHz GPU frequency 0.72 GHz
Q3/2017 Release date Q3/2018
12 Direct X 12
ARM Mali-G72 MP12 GPU name ARM Mali-G76 MP10
16 nm Technology 7 nm
-- Max. displays --
192 Shaders 160
2.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 4.0 GB
12 Execution units 10
Bifrost 2 Generation Bifrost 3
-- GPU (Turbo) --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications --
-- AI hardware --
 
 

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Decode / Encode AVC Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VC-1 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
 
 

Memory & PCIe

4 Memory channels 4
8.0 GB Max. Memory 8.0 GB
pci PCIe pci
No AES-NI No
No ECC No
-- Bandwidth --
LPDDR4X-2133 Memory type LPDDR4X-2133
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 9 W watts.
TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 6 W watts.
-- Tjunction max --
9 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
 
 

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 is manufactured using a 10 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 2.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The HiSilicon Kirin 980 is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
Q3/2017 Release date Q4/2018
-- Part Number --
0 bytes L2-Cache 0 bytes
None Virtualization None
ISA extensions
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53 Architecture Cortex-A76 / Cortex-A55
10 nm Technology 7 nm
Socket
Android Operating systems Android
-- Release price --
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
2.0 MB L3-Cache 2.0 MB