Snapdragon 8 Gen 5: New leak promises performance cores with 5GHz

With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 soon becoming a reality, the leaks are pushing a new leak from a reliable Weibo source that reveals details about its successor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. According to the leak, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will retain the same core configuration as its predecessor, namely 2 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. However, what sets it apart is a significant increase in clock frequencies, which could lead to a significant increase in performance. This suggests that Qualcomm is focused on squeezing even more performance out of the 8 Gen 5 while maintaining the efficient core configuration that balances performance and power consumption.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 could usher in a new era for mobile SoCs

According to the leak, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s performance cores are codenamed “Pegasus.” It will sport an impressive clock speed of 5.0 GHz. Even the efficiency cores will run at a remarkable 4.0 GHz. If these numbers are accurate, they represent a significant jump from the clock speeds of the Gen 4. This model will have performance cores at 4.32 GHz and efficiency cores at 3.53 GHz.

There might be a caveat, however. The leak subtly suggests that these impressive clock speeds might be exclusive to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 variant, which uses TSMC’s advanced N3P manufacturing process. This suggests that the chipset’s performance could vary depending on the production node. The TSMC variant might offer the fastest speeds and the highest efficiency.

Qualcomm has previously hinted that it will pursue a dual-sourcing strategy for the SD8 Gen 5. Therefore, it will use both TSMC and Samsung Foundry for production. This means that we will likely see another version of the chip for Samsung’s Galaxy devices. These will likely come with Samsung’s SF2 node.

While the clock speeds of the Samsung-made version are still under wraps, leaks suggest that Samsung’s SF2 node could deliver comparable performance to TSMC’s N3P process. This could mean that the Samsung-produced SD8 Gen 5 could not only match, but potentially surpass, the performance levels of its TSMC counterpart.

However, it is still too early to talk in depth about the SD8 Gen 5. Qualcomm is currently focused on completing its 2025 flagship SoC, the SD8 Gen 4. This leaves ample opportunity for details about its successor to evolve and change before its official release. However, if the leak proves accurate, the Qualcomm SD8 Gen 5 could offer a significant performance boost over the SD8 Gen 4.