MediaTek MT6738 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8937

Comparisons   11-03-2021
   Well, which chip or processor is better? Comprehensive comparison data of benchmarks MediaTek MT6738 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8937, speed examination of GPUs Adreno 505 and Mali-T860 MP2.
   This performance comparison involves two processors: MT6738 is quad-core (ARM Cortex-A53) and Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A53). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A thorough review of all the specifications of the CPUs, to make it easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of parallel benchmarking in synthetic type tests like Geekbench, GFXBench, Vellamo, Quadrant, PassMark, Octane V2, 3DMark, WebXPRT 3, Mozilla Kraken, AnTuTu 8, Neocore, PCMark, even the gaming performance of chips in Mortal Kombat, Minecraft Bedrock, Real Racing 3, Sniper 3D, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG, Fortnite, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra etc.
   After looking at the data these benchmarks and videos, you already be able to understand which processors is better to buy MT6738 or Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 and which chip is better for gaming: CSR Racing 2, Asphalt 9, Madout2, Need for Speed No Limits.

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

MT6738

Snapdragon 430 MSM8937

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

MT6738

27%

Snapdragon 430 MSM8937

28%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

MT6738

Snapdragon 430 MSM8937

Antutu v10, 9

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

	MT6738	Snapdragon 430 MSM8937
Total score	39237	44606
CPU	10985	12489
GPU	14902	16947
MEM	6267	7130
UX	7072	8020

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	MT6738	Snapdragon 430 MSM8937
Single-Core	104	118
Multi-Core	479	545

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	MT6738	Snapdragon 430 MSM8937
Frequency	1500 MHz	1400 MHz
Cores	4	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	28 nm	28 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	8x1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	7 W	4 W
Memory type	LPDDR3	LPDDR4x (Dual Channel)
Max. Memory	4 Gb	6 Gb
Memory Frequency	667	1600
Memory bandwidth	4	6
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	32 KB	128 KB
L2 cache	1 MB	2 MB
L3 cache	1 MB	1 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 MT6738 is 6% better than Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that MT6738 has 4 more core than Snapdragon 430 MSM8937. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-T860 MP2	Adreno 505
GPU Frequency	350 MHz	500 MHz
GFloPS	23.76	48
# of Cores	2
# of Shader Units		48
Display	1280 x 720 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	12.2	13.1
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	31.3	36.9
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	21.2	24.1
Call of Duty: Mobile	18.3	21.9
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	27.5	30.7
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	40.7	45.4
Real Racing 3	42.4	36.2
Sniper 3D	46.6	31.3
Need for Speed No Limits	25.4	38.6
Mortal Kombat X	30.7	34.9
CSR Racing 2	29.7	33.7

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	13 MP	21 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	FullHD
Codec support	H.264	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC

Networks and Navigation

Modem		Qualcomm Snapdragon X6 LTE modem
Download speed	300 MBit/s.	150 MBit/s.
Upload speed	50 MBit/s.	50 MBit/s.
Navigation	GPS, Glonass, Beidou	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which MediaTek MT6738 is better: 7
The number of parameters for which Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 is better: 29
Please note that you do not need to sightlessly trust the automatic comparison of the table. It is better to just watch the full benchmark video of parallel comparison and hear what people say who really appreciated the capabilities of both processors MT6738 and Snapdragon 430 MSM8937, and also read the test results on the links under the article.

MT6738 SoC - all data

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

• MT6738 specs and review.

Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 specs and review.