Intel Atom x5-Z8550 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659

Comparisons   11-03-2021
   So, which processor or chip is better? Detailed comparison data of benchmarks Intel Atom x5-Z8550 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659, speed testing of GPUs Mali-T830 MP2 and Intel HD Graphics 400 (Braswell).
   This performance comparison includes two processors: Atom x5-Z8550 is quad-core (SoFIA) and Kirin 659 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A53). Both processors went through battery life test and power consumption test. A careful review of all the specifications, so that it can be easier to understand, is made by the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in synthetic type tests such as PCMark, 3DMark, Neocore, PassMark, GFXBench, Vellamo, Quadrant, Mozilla Kraken, AnTuTu, WebXPRT 3, GeekBench 6, 5, Octane V2, and how good the chipsets are in games Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Sniper 3D, PUBG, Real Racing 3, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Call of Duty: Mobile etc.
   After reading the results of joint benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which SoCs is better to buy Atom x5-Z8550 or Kirin 659 and which chip is better for gaming: Madout2, Need for Speed No Limits, CSR Racing 2, Asphalt 9.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
CPU Benchmark
Based on Antutu and Geekbench score

Atom x5-Z8550

Kirin 659

Battery life test
Power Consumption efficiency (how quickly the processor reduces the battery charge)

Atom x5-Z8550

56%

Kirin 659

52%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Atom x5-Z8550

Kirin 659

Antutu v10, 9

Antutu benchmark separately tests the performance of the CPU, GPU, and memory speed

	Atom x5-Z8550	Kirin 659
Total score	73756	75358
CPU	20655	21107
GPU	28035	28630
MEM	11795	12052
UX	13276	13572

GeekBench 6, 5.2

This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	Atom x5-Z8550	Kirin 659
Single-Core	190	195
Multi-Core	859	877

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Atom x5-Z8550	Kirin 659
Frequency	1440 MHz	2360 MHz
Cores	4	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	14 nm	16 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x1.44-2.4 GHz SoFIA	4x2.3 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 4x2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	5 W	5 W
Memory type	LPDDR3	LPDDR3x
Max. Memory	8 Gb	6 Gb
Memory Frequency	1600	933
Memory bandwidth	24	28
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	256 KB	64 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	4 MB
L3 cache	8 MB	4 MB
Instruction set architecture (ISA)	ARMv8-A	ARMv8-A

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Kirin 659 is 38% better than Atom x5-Z8550 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Atom x5-Z8550 has 4 more core than Kirin 659. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Intel HD Graphics 400 (Braswell)	Mali-T830 MP2
GPU Frequency	600 MHz	900 MHz
GFloPS	134	61.2
# of Cores	16	2
# of Shader Units
Display	2560 x 1600 pixels	1920 x 1080 pixels

The frequency of the GPU does not always directly indicate its performance. To fully evaluate all the capabilities of a graphics chip, you should take into account the number of Shader Units and Cores, as well as how many GFlops it has.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite Mobile
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	16.3	17.1
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	27.7	28.6
Call of Duty: Mobile	18.8	19.5
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	13.6	14.6
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	17.8	18.2
Real Racing 3	55.4	50.1
Sniper 3D	44.3	62.9
Need for Speed No Limits	49.9	40
Mortal Kombat X	44.3	41.5
CSR Racing 2	36	34.3

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the gadget and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Antutu v10, 9 and GeekBench 6, 5.2 becnmarks.

Cameras

Camera resolution	16 MP	16 MP
Dual Camera resolution		8 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	FullHD
Codec support	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC	H.264

Networks and Navigation

Modem
Download speed	21 MBit/s.	300 MBit/s.
Upload speed	6 MBit/s.	150 MBit/s.
Navigation		GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which Intel Atom x5-Z8550 is better: 14
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 659 is better: 22
You need to know that you should not blindly trust the software comparison on the table. It is better to just watch the full benchmark video of parallel testing and listen to what people say who really appreciated the capabilities of both chipsets Atom x5-Z8550 and Kirin 659, and also read the test results on the links under the article.

Atom x5-Z8550 SoC - all data

• Devices lists
• Benchmarks
• PUBG mobile
• Fortnite Mobile
• GeekBench 6, 5 mobile
• Antutu v10
• 3DMark

• Atom x5-Z8550 specs and review.

Kirin 659 SoC - all data

• Devices lists
• Benchmarks
• PUBG mobile
• Fortnite Mobile
• 3DMark
• GeekBench 6, 5 mobile
• Antutu v10

• Kirin 659 specs and review.