MediaTek MT6738 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC

Comparisons   11-03-2021
   Well, which processor or chip is better? Detailed data of speed tests and benchmarks MediaTek MT6738 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, compare of GPUs Mali-T860 MP2 and Adreno 330.
   This performance comparison includes two processors: MT6738 is quad-core (ARM Cortex-A53) and Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC is quad-core (Krait 400). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A step-by-step analysis of all the specifications, to make it easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in synthetic type tests like PCMark, Vellamo, 3DMark, Quadrant, Mozilla Kraken, AnTuTu 8, PassMark, WebXPRT 3, Octane V2, GeekBench 6, 5, Neocore, GFXBench, and how good the processors are in games Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Sniper 3D, Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, Real Racing 3, PUBG, Minecraft Bedrock, Call of Duty: Mobile etc.
   After looking at the data these benchmarks and videos, you already be able to know which CPU is better to buy MT6738 or Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC and which chip is better for gaming: CSR Racing 2, Need for Speed No Limits, Madout2, 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

MT6738

Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC

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

MT6738

27%

Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC

19%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

MT6738

Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC

Antutu v10, 9

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

	MT6738	Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC
Total score	39237	47809
CPU	10985	13387
GPU	14902	18163
MEM	6267	7650
UX	7072	8603

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	MT6738	Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC
Single-Core	104	127
Multi-Core	479	584

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	MT6738	Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC
Frequency	1500 MHz	2500 MHz
Cores	4	4
Bit	64	32
Lithography	28 nm	28 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.5 GHz Krait 400
Power consumption (TDP)	7 W	6 W
Memory type	LPDDR3	LPDDR3
Max. Memory	4 Gb	4 Gb
Memory Frequency	667	800
Memory bandwidth	4	14.9
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	32 KB	128 KB
L2 cache	1 MB	2 MB
L3 cache	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 Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC is 40% better than MT6738 in terms of CPU frequency. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-T860 MP2	Adreno 330
GPU Frequency	350 MHz	578 MHz
GFloPS	23.76	166.46
# of Cores	2
# of Shader Units		128
Display	1280 x 720 pixels	2560 x 2048 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	15.5
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	31.3	39.9
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	21.2	26.6
Call of Duty: Mobile	18.3	23.9
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	27.5	33.3
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	40.7	50.6
Real Racing 3	42.4	33.3
Sniper 3D	46.6	34.6
Need for Speed No Limits	25.4	42.6
Mortal Kombat X	30.7	30.6
CSR Racing 2	29.7	31.9

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	28 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)		Qualcomm Spectra
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	4K (Ultra HD), 2K, FullHD
Codec support	H.264	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC

Networks and Navigation

Modem		Qualcomm Snapdragon X4 LTE modem
Download speed	300 MBit/s.	150 MBit/s.
Upload speed	50 MBit/s.	50 MBit/s.
Navigation	GPS, Glonass, Beidou	GPS, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which MediaTek MT6738 is better: 9
The number of parameters for which Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC is better: 26
You need to understand that you should not sightlessly trust the automatic comparison of the table. It is better to just watch the full benchmark video of joint comparison and hear what people say who really appreciated the capabilities of both processors MT6738 and Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC, 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 801 MSM8974AC SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC specs and review.