HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs HiSilicon Kirin 960

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

HiSilicon Kirin 980 or HiSilicon Kirin 980 – which processor offers superior performance? In this comparison, we examine disparities and assess which of these two CPUs outperforms the other. We delve into technical specifications and benchmark outcomes.
The HiSilicon Kirin 980 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2018 and belongs to the 7 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2016 and belongs to the 5 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
HiSilicon Kirin 980 Group HiSilicon Kirin 960
7 Generation 5
Mobile Segment Mobile
HiSilicon Kirin 980 Name HiSilicon Kirin 960
HiSilicon Kirin Family HiSilicon Kirin
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 980 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.6 GHz.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.4 GHz.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
4x Cortex-A55 Cores C None
8 Threads 8
1.92 GHz B-Core Frequency 1.8 GHz
8 CPU Cores 8
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
2x Cortex-A76 Cores A 4x Cortex-A73
No Hyperthreading No
2.6 GHz A-Core Frequency 2.4 GHz
No Overclocking No
2x Cortex-A76 Cores B 4x Cortex-A53
1.8 GHz C-Core Frequency None
 
 

Internal Graphics

The HiSilicon Kirin 980 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 980 uses the ARM Mali-G76 MP10, which has 160 texture shaders
and 10 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 960 uses the ARM Mali-G71 MP8, which has 256 texture shaders
and 8 execution units.
160 Shaders 256
Q3/2018 Release date Q2/2016
7 nm Technology 16 nm
12 Direct X 11
4.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 2.0 GB
-- Max. displays --
10 Execution units 8
0.72 GHz GPU frequency 0.9 GHz
Bifrost 3 Generation Bifrost 1
-- GPU (Turbo) --
ARM Mali-G76 MP10 GPU name ARM Mali-G71 MP8
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications --
-- AI hardware --
 
 

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.
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VC-1 No
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode AVC Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP9 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
 
 

Memory & PCIe

pci PCIe pci
No AES-NI No
LPDDR4X-2133 Memory type LPDDR4-1600
No ECC No
8.0 GB Max. Memory 6.0 GB
4 Memory channels 2
-- Bandwidth --
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 6 W watts.
TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 5 W watts.
6 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 980 is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 2.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 is manufactured using a 16 nm process.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 4.0 MB cache.
Q4/2018 Release date Q4/2016
None Virtualization None
ISA extensions
7 nm Technology 16 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
-- Release price --
Cortex-A76 / Cortex-A55 Architecture Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53
2.0 MB L3-Cache 4.0 MB
Android Operating systems Android
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
-- Part Number --
Socket
0 bytes L2-Cache 0 bytes