Samsung Exynos 990 vs Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Samsung Exynos 990 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
Samsung Exynos 990 Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)

CPU comparison

Samsung Exynos 990 or Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) - 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 Samsung Exynos 990 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.73 GHz. Up to 12 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Samsung Exynos 990 was released in Q1/2020.

The Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) has 20 cores with 20 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 8 memory channels. The Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) was released in Q1/2022.
Samsung Exynos (47) Family Apple M series (25)
Samsung Exynos 990 (1) CPU group Apple M1 (9)
4 Generation 1
Exynos M5/Cortex-A76/-A55 Architecture M1
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Samsung Exynos 990 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.73 GHz. The Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) has 20 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz).

Samsung Exynos 990 Characteristic Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
8 Cores 20
8 Threads 20
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.73 GHz
2x Exynos M5
A-Core 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz)
16x Firestorm
2.50 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
B-Core 0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz)
4x Icestorm
2.00 GHz
4x Cortex-A55
C-Core --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Samsung Exynos 990 Characteristic Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
Samsung AI engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
2 NPU cores @ 15 TOPS AI specifications 32 Neural cores @ 22 TOPS

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.

ARM Mali-G77 MP11 GPU Apple M1 Ultra (64 Core)
0.80 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.30 GHz
Vallhall 1 GPU Generation 1
7 nm Technology 5 nm
1 Max. displays 5
11 Compute units 1024
176 Shader 8192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 64 GB
12 DirectX Version --

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-G77 MP11 GPU Apple M1 Ultra (64 Core)
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Samsung Exynos 990 supports a maximum of 12 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) can connect up to 128 GB of memory in 8 memory channels.

Samsung Exynos 990 Characteristic Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
LPDDR5-2750 Memory LPDDR5-6400
12 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 8 (Octa Channel)
-- Max. Bandwidth 819.2 GB/s
No ECC No
1.50 MB L2 Cache 52.00 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Samsung Exynos 990 has a TDP of --, that of the Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) is 60 W.

Samsung Exynos 990 Characteristic Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) 60 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up 120 W
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Samsung Exynos 990 has a 3.50 MB cache, while the Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) cache has a total of 52.00 MB.

Samsung Exynos 990 Characteristic Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
7 nm Technology 5 nm
Unknown Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
-- Socket --
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Android Operating systems macOS
Q1/2020 Release date Q1/2022
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Samsung Exynos 990 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.6 stars (5 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.7 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Samsung Exynos 990 (50%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Samsung Exynos 990 (12%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
923 (51%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1793 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
2779 (12%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
24055 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
1144 (48%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
2397 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
2645 (11%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
23970 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
ARM Mali-G77 MP11 @ 0.80 GHz
1126 (5%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
Apple M1 Ultra (64 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
21200 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
5511 (13%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
41059 (100%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

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).
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
15 (68%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 0.60 GHz
22 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
114 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1624 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1534 (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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
24189 (100%)

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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
510697 (100%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 0.60 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
379 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Samsung Exynos 990 Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
Samsung Galaxy S20
Samsung Galaxy S20+
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Apple Mac Studio (2022)

News and articles for the Samsung Exynos 990 and the Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)

Apple M2 Pro with more CPU cores and production in 3 nm ?
Apple M2 Pro with more CPU cores and production in 3 nm ?
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-28
After Apple surprisingly presented the normal Apple M2 processor as the first successor to the Apple M1 already in June 2022, the Apple M2 Pro and the Apple M2 Max may follow in autumn. The difference in performance compared to the basic version could be even greater this time and range from 25 to 40 percent.

In this article we describe how Apple could realize this and why the price should also go up.
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X - Cinebench R23 Benchmark projection
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Up to 15 percent more single-core performance and 35 percent more multi-core performance of the 16-core model are realistic !
Apple M2 vs Apple M1 - What are the differences?
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Many leakers had counted on Apple not presenting its new second-generation M processor until the fall. But things turned out differently. And there is very likely a reason for that: the improvements in the Apple M2 are limited compared to the predecessor.

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