Dimensity 9500 specifications leak with new CPU architecture, notable frequency uplift, and promise of big performance gain

With the launch of the Dimensity 9400, MediaTek proved that it can make a killer flagship SoC, as the chip is more than 25% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in single-core and multi-core Geekbench 6.3 tests. The Dimensity 9400 is also fasrer than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the graphics department. 

However, the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite has put Qualcomm back on top with a double-digit lead over the Dimensity 9400 in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. Qualcomm’s chip has also managed to eliminate the iGPU performance gap. This performance increase, coupled with the reportedly excellent efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, has put up a big challenge for MediaTek.

That said, MediaTek could have something pretty good up its sleeves, as early Dimensity 9500 specifications point to a capable SoC.

Per the Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, the Dimensity 9500 will feature two Cortex-X930 and six Cortex-A730 cores for a total of eight cores in a 2x Travis + 6x Gelas CPU architecture. Sadly, we have no idea if “Travis” and “Gelas” are just marketing terms or if they entail something different.

Moving on, DCS also claims that the Dimensity 9500 could hit a 4 GHz frequency, a roughly 10% bump over the 3.62 GHz max frequency of the Cortex-X925 inside the Dimensity 9400. However, even this 400 MHz frequency increase won’t be enough to match the Snapdragon 8 Elite which can go up to 4.32 GHz.

Finally, the Dimensity 9500 reportedly utilizes the TSMC N3P process and features Scalable Matrix Execution (SME), which the Dimensity 9400 lacks.

DCS alleges that the Dimensity 9500 will see a ”big upgrade” in performance. Per our database, the Dimensity 9400 is 21% and 8% faster than the Dimensity 9300 in the Geekbench 6.3 Single-Core and Multi-Core benchmarks, respectively. So, assuming the Dimensity 9500 scores a similar performance bump, the SoC will give the Snapdragon 8 Elite a run for its money, since the Dimensity 9400 is around 14% and 17% slower than Qualcomm’s chip in Geekbench 6.3 Single-Core and Multi-Core per our database.

If we also assume another big GPU performance bump for the Dimensity 9500, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which already can’t beat the Dimensity 9400 in the GPU-wise, will be relegated to a distant second place. Of course, we don't have any concrete numbers or estimates to go off on and this is just pure speculation on our part.

Lastly, we don’t expect to see the Dimensity 9500 launch anytime soon. So, take the information detailed here with extreme caution.

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