Dimensity 9400: A Massive Performance Boost, Low Power Consumption Reigns Supreme!

Dimensity 9400: A Massive Performance Boost, Low Power Consumption Reigns Supreme!In recent years, smartphones powered by the Dimensity platform have gained increasing popularity in the high-end market. The Dimensity 9300, with its radical all-large-core design, has delivered exceptional performance and energy efficiency, perfectly aligning with the current need for high-performance mobile devices

Dimensity 9400: A Massive Performance Boost, Low Power Consumption Reigns Supreme!

In recent years, smartphones powered by the Dimensity platform have gained increasing popularity in the high-end market. The Dimensity 9300, with its radical all-large-core design, has delivered exceptional performance and energy efficiency, perfectly aligning with the current need for high-performance mobile devices. The all-new flagship Dimensity 9400 platform, officially launched on October 9th, inherits the all-large-core configuration and is built on the cutting-edge 3nm process, promising incredible performance and energy efficiency. To gain a more tangible understanding of the Dimensity 9400's actual performance, we conducted comprehensive tests on an engineering sample.

Note: The test was conducted on an engineering sample equipped with the Dimensity 9400 processor, 16GB LPDDR5X 10667MHz memory, and 1TB UFS 4.0 flash storage.

Dimensity 9400 Specifications Breakdown

Before diving into the performance tests, let's explore the key specifications of the Dimensity 9400. It is manufactured using TSMC's second-generation 3nm process technology, a significant advancement over the previous N4P process, delivering a dual upgrade in both process and architecture.

CPU: The Dimensity 9400 continues to utilize a 4+4 all-large-core architecture, but the cores have been upgraded. The super-large core has been upgraded from Cortex-X4 to Cortex-X925, with a boost in clock speed to 3.62GHz. According to official data, the Cortex-X925's IPC performance (instructions per clock cycle) has increased by 15%. Since the introduction of Cortex-X1, each generation has only seen a 10% improvement. Simply put, IPC performance is the basic specification, and computing power is calculated by multiplying IPC with clock speed. The 15% improvement in the Cortex-X925 means that the chip delivers greater performance at the same frequency, and the Dimensity 9400's super-large core has a higher clock speed, leading to more substantial performance gains. ARM's official quantitative data shows that single-thread performance is over 35% better.

The Dimensity 9400's other core configurations have also been optimized. The 3 Cortex-X4 super-large cores see a clock speed increase from 2.85GHz to 3.3GHz, while the 4 Cortex-A720 large cores climb from 2.0GHz to 2.4GHz. Overall, the frequency increase is significant but not overly aggressive. Additionally, the L2 cache has doubled in size, and the L3 cache has been enhanced by 50%. The cache acts as an accelerator for CPU data processing, and the larger cache capacity further enhances performance.

MediaTek emphasizes that in the mobile platform, it's not just about pursuing higher clock speeds; energy efficiency must be considered alongside adequate performance. The Dimensity 9400, with its X925 super-large core and all-large-core architecture, ensures a powerful single-core and multi-core performance experience while being more energy-efficient.

Graphics Performance: The Dimensity 9400 utilizes the Immortalis-G925MC12 GPU, delivering a 41% peak performance increase compared to the previous generation while achieving a 44% reduction in power consumption. Notably, the Dimensity 9400 supports the OMM ray-tracing engine, enabling more realistic ray-tracing effects. In a live demonstration, the Dimensity 9400 engineering sample showcased remarkably realistic tree shadows, capturing the sunlight and shadows penetrating through leaves. Devices without this technology can only render trees as a single entity with regards to lighting, resulting in a significant difference in visual quality.

The OMM technology's principle involves isolating and rendering parts requiring ray-tracing calculations, not only enhancing detail but also boosting performance. For example, in "Dark and Darker," the Dimensity 9400 can deliver high-definition graphics with 90 frames per second and ultimate ray tracing, whereas current models can only achieve 60 frames per second. Equipped with the advanced OMM technology, the Dimensity 9400 brings the coveted PC-level visual fidelity to mobile devices, revolutionizing the gaming experience.

Real-World Tests: Stunning Full-Frame Gaming with Low Power Consumption

From a specifications standpoint, the Dimensity 9400 doesn't offer the same disruptive advancements in architecture and core upgrades as the Dimensity 9300. However, the progress made in the manufacturing process is quite promising. So, how does it perform in real-world scenarios?

It's crucial to note that the engineering sample used for these tests has the configuration detailed in the introduction. It has a very high LPDDR5X 10667MHz memory specification, which may not be available in the final production models. Therefore, there might be differences in results between the engineering sample and the mass-produced versions.

Antutu Benchmark: The Dimensity 9400 engineering sample scored 2831906 points in the Antutu benchmark, a nearly 600,000-point improvement over the Dimensity 9300 engineering sample at 2.15 million points, representing a significant leap. In sub-score categories, the CPU scored 617061 points, over 100,000 points higher, a 20% increase. The GPU scored 1272950 points, nearly 300,000 points higher, a staggering 33% improvement. These numerical results are truly impressive. The temperature ranged from 22 degrees Celsius to 33 degrees Celsius during the test, a 11-degree rise, which is 1-4 degrees lower than current commercially available models. This excellent temperature control is even more encouraging than the performance gains, suggesting a smoother gaming experience.

GeekBench 6.2: As a benchmark software focused on CPU performance, the Dimensity 9400 demonstrates a massive improvement on GeekBench 6.2. It achieved a single-core score of 2949 points and a multi-core score of 9104 points. The single-core score saw an increase of over 700 points, representing a 30% improvement, showcasing the reliability of the X925 super-large core. The multi-core performance is as expected, with this year's second-generation all-large-core chips delivering exceptionally strong performance.

GFXBench: As a benchmark software primarily focused on GPU performance, the Dimensity 9400 engineering sample scored 386 frames in the 1080P Manhattan 3.1 off-screen test and 127 frames in the 1440P Aztec Ruins Scene Vulkan off-screen test. The Manhattan scene performance is already surplus, but the Aztec scene score is more noteworthy. The previous generation scored 98 frames, now it's 127 frames, translating to a difference between smooth 90fps and smooth 120fps in games. The Dimensity 9400's robust GPU graphics performance enables more games to support higher resolutions, catering to gamers' demand for enhanced visuals.

3DMark Steel Nomad Light: 1440P rendering is quite demanding for mobile platforms. The Dimensity 9400 engineering sample scored 2556 points, showcasing its superiority over previous-generation phones (Dimensity 9300 models scored 2000 points, A17Pro models scored 1800 points).

Beyond the significant performance improvements, MediaTek particularly highlights the power consumption reductions, stating that the Dimensity 9400 reduced it by up to 44%. This claim will be substantiated in the game tests.

Game Tests:

• Genshin Impact Fontain Run Test: With the highest graphics settings enabled, a 15-minute run test demonstrated smooth 60 frames per second, showcasing the Dimensity 9400's ample power. The most noteworthy aspect is the power consumption, which was only 4.38W, incredibly low. If placed on PChome's 2024 charts, this would be the lowest power consumption for a full-frame Genshin Impact run, highlighting the Dimensity 9400's enhanced gaming performance this year.

• Honkai: Star Rail Chang Le Tian Scene Run Test: This scene imposes a massive load, with most 2024 high-end phones unable to maintain a consistent full frame rate. The Dimensity 9400, during a 15-minute test, experienced no stuttering, delivering an average frame rate of 59.7 frames per second, while consuming only 4.55W of power. To achieve full frames in this scene with current models, power consumption exceeds 6.1W.

• Tower of Fantasy Extreme Graphics Light-Reflecting Square Run Test: With an average frame rate of 59.9 frames per second