Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs HiSilicon Kirin 960

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 960
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 HiSilicon Kirin 960

CPU comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or HiSilicon Kirin 960 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.40 GHz. Up to 24 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was released in Q4/2023.

The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. The CPU supports up to 6 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 960 was released in Q4/2016.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (2) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 960 (2)
3 Generation 5
-- Architecture Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53
Mobile Segment Mobile
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.40 GHz. The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.40 GHz.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 960
8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.40 GHz
1x Cortex-X4
A-Core 2.40 GHz
4x Cortex-A73
2.96 GHz (3.15 GHz)
5x Cortex-A720
B-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A53
2.27 GHz
2x Cortex-A520
C-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.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 960
Qualcomm AI engine AI hardware --
Hexagon NPU @ 34 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

Qualcomm Adreno 750 GPU ARM Mali-G71 MP8
0.90 GHz GPU frequency 0.90 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation Bifrost 1
4 nm Technology 16 nm
2 Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 8
-- Shader 256
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
6 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
12.1 DirectX Version 11

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

Memory & PCIe

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 supports a maximum of 24 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 960 can connect up to 6 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 960
LPDDR5X-9600 Memory LPDDR4-1600
24 GB Max. Memory 6 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
76.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 12.8 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
12.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has a TDP of 12.5 W, that of the HiSilicon Kirin 960 is 5 W.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 960
12.5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has a 12.00 MB cache, while the HiSilicon Kirin 960 cache has a total of 4.00 MB.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 960
4 nm Technology 16 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv9-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM) Operating systems Android
Q4/2023 Release date Q4/2016
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (108 ratings). Rate now:
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:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 (20%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 (22%)

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 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1709 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
381 (22%)

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 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
6431 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1521 (24%)

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 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
2293 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
403 (18%)

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 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
7117 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1393 (20%)

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 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Qualcomm Adreno 750 @ 0.90 GHz
2287 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
ARM Mali-G71 MP8 @ 0.90 GHz
245 (11%)

AnTuTu 10 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 10 benchmark is one of the best-known benchmarks for mobile processors, which is now available in version 10. There is a version for Android-based smartphones and tablets, as well as a version for Apple mobile devices, i.e. iPhones and iPads.

The Antutu 10 benchmark has 3 phases. In the first phase, the device's RAM is tested, in phase 2 the graphics are tested and in the final phase the entire device is pushed to its performance limits by rendering 3D graphics.

Antutu 10 is therefore ideal for comparing the performance of different devices.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1949480 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1476480 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

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. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
34 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 960 HiSilicon Kirin 960
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 HiSilicon Kirin 960
Xiaomi 14
Xiaomi 14 Pro
ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro
Samsung S24 Ultra
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

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