Samsung Exynos SoC with AMD RDNA2 Graphics Coming Next Month

[Uskompuf]

The partnership between Samsung and AMD began in 2019 when the two companies announced that they would work together to integrate Radeon graphics IP in Samsung Exynos processors. We can see the results of this partnership with Dr. Lisa Su confirming at Computex that RDNA2 graphics will be integrated into the next flagship Samsung Exynos SoC. The RDNA2 GPU found in the upcoming mobile chip will include support for raytracing and variable-rate shading with a strong possibility that it will power the next Galaxy S series flagship. Samsung was initially expected to announce this new chipset in June however the event was postponed until July where the complete details and performance numbers will be unveiled.

Update Jun 22nd: The upcoming GPU is expected to be 30% faster than the current Mali-G78 GPU present in Galaxy S21 Ultra which should give it a comfortable lead of ~10% against the next generation Mali GPU. The GPU does appear to suffer from quite severe thermal throttling with a 20% performance drop after the second run and 30% on the third run. Samsung seems pleased with the collaboration and has engaged in talks with AMD to extend the contract for future GPU architectures.



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[Space Lynx]

ray tracing on a phone... gg battery life. have fun with that I guess. dumb.

 

[ratirt]

ray tracing on a phone... gg battery life. have fun with that I guess. dumb.

I don't think it's dumb. It depends, what sort of implementation this RT will bring. If they manage the power usage somehow (they will, since it won't be RX 6900XT power level usage) It would bring some RT into the game. Like RT light version. (Shadows for instance).
Besides, just because you use RT it doesn't mean the chip will use a lot of power. It would use the same amount of power it was designed for.

 

[BorisDG]

Nintendo Switch needs something similar. Probably nVidia is cooking something behind the scenes already.

 

[nguyen]

oh boy, I wonder why the RT gimmick is getting adopted industry wide , Nvidia must be paying everyone to adopt RT...

 

[LTUGamer]

When I see AMD name, I expect higher performance boost than 10% compared with Mali graphics from the same generation.

 

[LemmingOverlord]

If the GPU is anywhere near the 5G modem, that is a problem. That block diagram only raises more questions. I would love to see phone performance measured with 5G on and off (i.e. switch to 4G). The amount of heat 5G modems are giving out continues to be unacceptable. I am sure that thermal throttling only gets worse if 5G is active (not a lot, but a measurable amount).

 

[persondb]

When I see AMD name, I expect higher performance boost than 10% compared with Mali graphics from the same generation.

To be fair, I think it's the first time that AMD ever did a phone GPU?

RDNA 2 is very efficient, but that's speaking relative to desktop class GPUs where TDPs are above 100W.

However phones are incredibly constrained in that, having a maximum TDP for their SOC like 2.5 W to 3.5 W?

 

[LemmingOverlord]

To be fair, I think it's the first time that AMD ever did a phone GPU?

RDNA 2 is very efficient, but that's speaking relative to desktop class GPUs where TDPs are above 100W.

However phones are incredibly constrained in that, having a maximum TDP for their SOC like 2.5 W to 3.5 W?

Closest thing was pre-AMD acquisition, when ATI developed the Imageon GPUs that were ultimately sold to Qualcomm.

So AMD now developing GPUs for Samsung is a bit like pitting two branches of human evolution against each other.

 

[watzupken]

I think this will be the first time we see RDNA/ RDNA2 that is not manufactured on TSMC 7nm. I suspect this will be manufactured on Samsung's 5nm and not sure how well it will run.