The article was reissued after being blocked by OTA.
Comparison of mobile CPUs and desktop CPUs shows that mobile CPUs are at a disadvantage.
In the past, the performance of Intel and AMD desktop CPUs was significantly superior to that of ARM mobile chips. Intel and AMD desktop CPUs have high performance but also high power consumption, while ARM mobile chips have lower performance than Intel and AMD but also lower power consumption.
In this context, comparing desktop CPUs and mobile CPUs is inappropriate.
However, with the changing times, ARM’s high-performance CPU cores have become increasingly powerful, surpassing Intel in manufacturing processes. Many IC design companies in the ARM camp have begun to develop desktop and server CPUs based on ARM technology licensing and cutting-edge processes.
Years ago, some manufacturers developed two server CPUs based on ARM A57 and A72, claiming to be self-developed.
ARM’s A75, A76, and A77 can be used in mobile devices as well as in desktop and server applications.
For example, Baikal Electronics in Russia has developed the Baikal-S server CPU using the ARM Cortex-A75, which integrates 48 A75 cores, manufactured with a 16nm process, and has a clock speed of 2.5GHz.
Similarly, ARM’s high-performance CPU cores can be used in server and desktop CPUs as well as in mobile chips.
In fact, as long as they are both ARM chips, it is feasible to compare the performance of desktop CPUs and mobile CPUs.
Indeed, desktop CPUs often have larger caches, higher memory frequencies, and better cooling conditions, so chips developed based on the same ARM CPU core generally achieve slightly higher test scores on desktop platforms than on mobile platforms.
Specifically, the same ARM A77 used in a desktop CPU will yield higher test scores than the A77 used in a mobile device.
Similarly, due to larger caches in server CPUs, even when using the same CPU core, the single-core test scores will outperform those of the desktop CPUs using the same CPU core.
In short, with the advancement of ARM CPUs, the performance of mobile chips and desktop chips can now be compared, and the test scores of mobile CPUs will be slightly disadvantaged due to factors such as cache, memory, and cooling.
The performance of ARM CPUs depends on whether they can obtain top-tier technology licensing and cutting-edge processes from ARM.
From the GB6 test scores, it can be seen that the operating systems are all Linux, all using the ARM instruction set, and the tests were conducted in the same year, making the GB6 scores of the three ARM chips comparable.
The first chip’s CPU core performance is comparable to A77, with a clock speed of 2.5GHz and a process of 12/14nm, but it does not outperform the third chip in single-core performance.
The first chip surpasses the third chip in multi-core performance, primarily because the third chip is a mobile chip with weaker multi-core performance. In contrast, the first chip has 8 large cores, giving it an advantage in multi-core performance.
The second chip is manufactured with a 28nm process, and its CPU core is equivalent to A57, making it the weakest in performance.
Now let’s look at a set of GB6 test scores for ARM CPUs, including Lenovo S1101, Xiaomi Xuanjie, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8e, and 9020, all of which are ARM chips.
Lenovo S1101 has two large cores at 3.29GHz ARM Cortex X3, manufactured with a 5nm process, with a single-core score of 2014 and a multi-core score of 6763.
Xuanjie has a large core at 3.9GHz ARM X925, manufactured with a 3nm process, with a single-core score of 3119 and a multi-core score of 9673.
The Snapdragon 8e used by Samsung has a large core clock speed of 3.5GHz, manufactured with a 3nm process, with a single-core score of 3160 and a multi-core score of 9941.
The 9020 has a large core clock speed of 2.5GHz, with a single-core score of 1604 and a multi-core score of 5138.
From this, it can be seen that the stronger the CPU core and the better the manufacturing process, the better the GB6 test scores.
Comparing the 9006C and Lenovo S1101, both have a 5nm manufacturing process, but since Lenovo uses ARM X3 and 9006C uses ARM A77, this directly leads to S1101’s GB6 single-core test score being 66% higher than that of 9006C, due to X3 being stronger than A77.
Currently, the ARM CPU development process is very mature and has become a game of capital.
The performance of ARM CPUs depends on whether the licenses purchased from ARM are advanced and whether the processes used are cutting-edge, which has been validated by practice.
Xiaomi, Lenovo, ZTE, and Alibaba have all proven this through practice.
The performance of desktop ARM CPUs is inferior to that of mobile ARM CPUs, proving that desktop CPUs generally have average performance.
It has been previously stated that the same ARM CPUs can be compared between desktop CPUs and server CPUs, and desktop CPUs will have a certain advantage.
If in a controlled testing environment, the GB6 scores of mobile ARM CPUs significantly outperform those of desktop ARM CPUs, it indicates that the performance of that desktop ARM CPU is average.
A certain desktop ARM CPU’s performance is being overshadowed by mobile ARM CPUs like Xiaomi Xuanjie and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8e, with a GB6 single-core performance only 30% of that of Xuanjie, due to a significant gap in CPU cores and manufacturing processes.
Specifically, the performance of this desktop ARM CPU core is comparable to ARM A77, while Xuanjie uses ARM X925, and the manufacturing process of the desktop ARM CPU is 12/14nm, while Xuanjie’s is 3nm.
It is precisely the performance level difference between the A77 CPU core and X925, along with the gap between 12/14nm and 3nm, that results in the GB6 single-core test score of this ARM desktop CPU being only 30% of that of Xuanjie.
This is yet another vivid example that reaffirms the view that the performance of ARM CPUs depends on whether they can obtain top-tier technology licensing and cutting-edge processes.
When the GB6 test scores of desktop ARM CPUs are significantly inferior to those of mobile ARM CPUs, it can only indicate that the performance of that desktop ARM CPU is lagging behind, making it unable to stand in the commercial market, essentially a flower in a greenhouse, relying on the protection of the greenhouse to make a living.
If Xiaomi learns from its competitors and promotes Xuanjie as self-developed, it could essentially launch a dimensional attack, easily overwhelming those ARM CPUs with GB6 single-core scores only 30%-50% of Xuanjie.