Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 8 core processor released in Q1/2018 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 which has 4 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2016.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845/850 (2) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (3)
5 Generation 3
Kryo 385 Architecture Kryo
Mobile Segment Mobile
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Predecessor --
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.80 GHz. The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 clocks with 2.40 GHz, has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
8 Cores 4
8 Threads 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.80 GHz
4x Kryo 385 Gold
A-Core 2.40 GHz
2x Kryo
1.80 GHz
4x Kryo 385 Silver
B-Core 1.60 GHz
2x Kryo

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.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
-- AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
-- AI specifications Hexagon 680

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.

Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 530
0.70 GHz GPU frequency 0.62 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 0.62 GHz
4 GPU Generation 5
10 nm Technology 14 nm
2 Max. displays 0
-- Compute units --
256 Shader 256
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
8 GB Max. GPU Memory --
11 DirectX Version 11,1

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.

Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 530
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 10 GB of memory in a maximum of 4 memory channels is supported by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 14.9 GB/s enabled.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
LPDDR4X-3733 Memory LPDDR4-3733
10 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
52.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 14.9 GB/s
No ECC No
1.50 MB L2 Cache --
2.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 has a TDP of --. The TDP of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 is --. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 has 3.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 10 nm. The cache of Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 is at 0.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 14 nm.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
10 nm Technology 14 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android Operating systems Android
Q1/2018 Release date Q3/2016
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.3 stars (4 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
504 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
341 (68%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
2165 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
864 (40%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
552 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
370 (67%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
2022 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
752 (37%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Adreno 630 @ 0.70 GHz
737 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm Adreno 530 @ 0.62 GHz
476 (65%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
3276 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
1594 (49%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
361498 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
OnePlus 6
OnePlus 6T
Vivo NEX S
Asus Zenfone 5z
Razer Phone 2
Asus ROG Phone
Sony Xperia XZ2
Unknown

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