HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs Intel Core i7-8550U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


HiSilicon Kirin 960 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-8550U
HiSilicon Kirin 960 Intel Core i7-8550U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the HiSilicon Kirin 960 and the Intel Core i7-8550U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the HiSilicon Kirin 960 8 core processor released in Q4/2016 with the Intel Core i7-8550U which has 4 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2017.
HiSilicon Kirin (29) Family Intel Core i7 (298)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 (2) CPU group Intel Core i 8000U (KL) (7)
5 Generation 8
Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53 Architecture Kaby Lake U Refresh
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 960 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.40 GHz. The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i7-8550U clocks with 1.80 GHz (4.00 GHz), has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
8 Cores 4
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
2.40 GHz
4x Cortex-A73
A-Core 1.80 GHz (4.00 GHz)
1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

ARM Mali-G71 MP8 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620
0.90 GHz GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.15 GHz
Bifrost 1 GPU Generation 9.5
16 nm Technology 14 nm
2 Max. displays 3
8 Compute units 24
256 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 16 GB
11 DirectX Version 12

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.

ARM Mali-G71 MP8 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 6 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the HiSilicon Kirin 960, while the Intel Core i7-8550U supports a maximum of 32 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s enabled.

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
LPDDR4-1600 Memory DDR4-2400
6 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
12.8 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
4.00 MB L3 Cache 8.00 MB
-- PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 12
-- PCIe Bandwidth 11.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i7-8550U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has 4.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 16 nm. The cache of Intel Core i7-8550U is at 8.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 14 nm.

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8550U
16 nm Technology 14 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
-- Socket BGA 1356
None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
No AES-NI Yes
Android Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q4/2016 Release date Q3/2017
-- Release price 385 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the HiSilicon Kirin 960 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (2 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-8550U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.9 stars (10 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
HiSilicon Kirin 960 (34%)
Intel Core i7-8550U (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
HiSilicon Kirin 960 (46%)
Intel Core i7-8550U (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
381 (37%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1037 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1521 (51%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
2967 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
403 (31%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1296 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1393 (41%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
3419 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
ARM Mali-G71 MP8 @ 0.90 GHz
245 (55%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
Intel UHD Graphics 620 @ 1.15 GHz
442 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
61 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
189 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1032 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
4626 (100%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
354 (100%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1211 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
37 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
5955 (100%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
671.5 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
378 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 1.80 GHz
1666 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
167 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8550U Intel Core i7-8550U
4C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
564 (100%)

Devices using this processor

HiSilicon Kirin 960 Intel Core i7-8550U
Huawei Honor 8 Pro
Huawei Honor 9
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei Mate 9 Pro
Huawei Mate 9 Porsche
Huawei MediaPad M5
Huawei Nova 2s
Huawei P10
Unknown

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