Intel Atom x5-Z8350 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 MSM8936
Intel Atom x5-Z8350
► remove from comparisonThe Intel Atom x5-Z8350 is a power efficient quad-core SoC for Windows and Android devices (tablets and convertibles), which has been presented in February 2016. It is clocked at 1.44 - 1.92 GHz and part of the Cherry Trail platform. Thanks to its new 14 nanometer low-power process (P1273) with tri-gate transistors, energy efficiency has been significantly improved over its predecessor Bay Trail-T (e.g. Atom Z3795). In addition to the CPU cores, the SoC offers a DirectX 11.2-capable GPU as well as a LPDDR3 Memory Controller (2x 64 bit, 25.6 GB/s).
Architecture
The processor cores are based on the Airmont architecture, which is basically a slightly modified shrink of the previous Silvermont core. While performance per clock has not been improved, the more efficient 14 nm process leads to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and a therefore somewhat higher overall performance.
Performance
Compared to the Atom x5-Z8500, the Atom x5-Z8350 is clocked slightly lower and therefore about 10 percent slower. However, the x5 still beats many ARM-based SoCs and offers a performance similar to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. Compared to the older x5-Z8300, the Z8350 offers 80 MHz higher boost clock and therefore a similar performance. See our X5-Z8300 site for detailed benchmarks.
Using Windows, the chip is adequate for simple everyday tasks such as light browsing or Office, but not for complex software or modern games.
Graphics
The HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) is based on the Intel Gen8 architecture, which supports DirectX 11.2 and is also found in the Broadwell series (e.g. HD Graphics 5300). With 12 EUs (Execution Units) and a clock speed of up to 500 MHz, the GPU is significantly faster as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail) and can handle at least some older and less demandig Windows games in very low settings. The GPU also supports 4K/H.265 video acceleration.
Compared to ARM SoCs, the HD Graphics offers a performance sligthly below a Qualcomm Adreno 330 or PowerVR G6430.
Power Consumption
The entire SoC is rated at an SDP of 2 watts, which indicates a TDP of less than 4 watts. Thus, the chip can be used in passively cooled tablets.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 625
► remove from comparisonThe Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (SD625) is a mid-range octa-core SoC with eight ARM Cortex-A53 cpu cores at up to 2 GHz, an Adreno 506 GPU, a DDR3L-1866 memory controller and a X9 LTE (Cat 7, 4G+, 300 Mbps down, 150 Mbps up) modem. Furthermore, the chip supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1. It is manufactured in 14nm FinFet. The processor performance should be similar to a HiSilicon Kirin 650, which also offers 8 Cortex A53 cores at up to 2 GHz. However, due to the modern manufacturing process, power consumption and throttling should be better with the Snapdragon 625.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 MSM8936
► remove from comparisonThe Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 MSM8936 is a mid-range ARMv8-based SoC largely for Android tablets and smartphones. Announced in February 2014, the S610 is one of the first 64-bit capable SoCs from Qualcomm. In addition to 4 Cortex-A53 CPU cores at up to 1.7 GHz, the SoC integrates an Adreno 405 GPU with a 2x 32-bit memory controller (LPDDR3-1600, 12.8 GB/s) and supports Wi-Fi (802.11ac), Bluetooth 4.0, UMTS and LTE.
CPU
The Cortex-A53 is the successor to the very popular Cortex-A7 design. In addition to the new 64-bit capable ARMv8 ISA, the cores offer a variety of other improvements such as better branch prediction. This leads to a significantly higher performance per clock, which is even above the older Cortex-A9.
The four cores of the Snapdragon 610 are clocked at up to 1.7 GHz, offering a performance similar to that of the older Snapdragon 600 (Krait architecture).
GPU
Another new feature is the integrated graphics unit named Adreno 405 (550 MHz). The Adreno 400 series has been substantially redesigned and supports DirectX 11.2 (FL 11_1) including hardware tessellation, OpenGL ES 3.1, and OpenCL 1.2. Furthermore, the performance has been significantly improved, which is now similar to the Adreno 320 and PowerVR G6200.
Features
The Snapdragon 610 offers numerous wireless technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0 and WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac as well as a Multi-SIM cellular modem supporting LTE cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbps), WCDMA, CDMA, EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE.
The SoC can encode and decode 1080p videos using dedicated hardware and stream content to displays with up to 2560 x 1600 pixels. A large number of video codecs including H.265 (playback only) will be supported. The camera ISP can handle sensors with up to 21 MP.
Power Consumption
The Snapdragon 610 is manufactured by TSMC in a 28 nm LP process. According to the specifications, we expect a medium power consumption for use in medium-sized smartphones and tablets.
Model | Intel Atom x5-Z8350 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 MSM8936 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Intel Atom x5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon | Qualcomm Snapdragon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Cherry Trail | Cortex-A53 | Cortex-A53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Snapdragon Cortex-A53 |
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Clock | 1440 - 1920 MHz | 2000 MHz | 1700 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 2 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 4 / 4 | 8 / 8 | 4 / 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 14 nm | 14 nm | 28 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 90 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail, 200 - 500 MHz), Wireless Display, AES-NI, max. 2 GB Single-Channel DDR3L-RS-1600 (12,8 GB/s), USB 3.0, 1x PCIe 2.0 | Adreno 506 GPU, 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth 4.1, LTE Cat. 7, Dual-Channel LPDDR3-1866 Memory Controller | Adreno 405 GPU, 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE Cat. 4, NFC, GPS/GLOSNASS/BeiDou, 2x 32 Bit LPDDR2/3 Memory Controller | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) (200 - 500 MHz) | Qualcomm Adreno 506 | Qualcomm Adreno 405 ( - 550 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | x86 | ARM | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | www.qualcomm.com | www.qualcomm.com |