The Dimensity 9300did not stick with a traditional CPU cluster like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3this year, with the biggest difference between the two chipsets being the lack of efficiency cores on MediaTek’s current flagship SoC. While the advantage here is that the Dimensity 9300 can deliver incredible overall performance by surpassing Apple’s A17 Pro GPU, it is at the expense of increased power consumption. In a new CPU stress test, the crack in the silicon’s armor has been displayed, all the while running in an Android flagship that has a capable cooling solution.

Vivo’s X100 Pro’s vapor chamber is unable to tame the Dimensity 9300; frequency clocks down to 0.60GHz on one core due to thermal throttling

Most Android flagships, like the X100 Pro, sport a vapor chamber designed to keep the temperatures of the Dimensity 9300 in check. Unfortunately, despite being mass produced on TSMC’s power-efficient N4P process, the lack of low-power cores on the latest SoC means that it will have a higher power draw than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and A17 Pro. Due to this change, Sahil Karoul demonstrated on X that running the CPU Throttling Test results in the thermal throttling of the silicon in just two minutes.

For those that do not know, the CPU Throttling Test loads the Dimensity 9300’s 8-core CPU with up to 100 threads and measures performance. Looking at the graph, one of the core’s clock speeds drops to 0.60GHz, with the remaining cores reduced to a frequency of 1.20GHz and 1.50GHz. By default, the chip’s maximum clock speed is 3.25GHz, which is for the Cortex-X4. According to the results, the Dimensity 9300 performance dropped by 46 percent due to running the stress test.

Mediatek Dimensity 9300 #VivoX100Pro pic.twitter.com/Zi3k4Wmeib

— Sahil Karoul (@KaroulSahil) November 23, 2023

Even though these tests suggest that MediaTek should not have switched to a CPU cluster with performance-only cores, the CPU Throttling Test is designed to bring even the most thermally efficient chipsets to their knees. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or A17 Pro may perform better, but there are other factors involved that determine how hot a smartphone chipset can get.

For instance, in hot and humid surroundings, the ambient temperature is higher than most regions, causing the Dimensity 9300 to thermal throttle significantly faster. It is likely that under normal use, MediaTek’s flagship SoC will perform just fine, but the Taiwanese firm may want to rethink its approach on re-using a similar ‘performance-only’ CPU cluster for the Dimensity 9400 next year.

News Source: Sahil Karoul