Samsung Exynos 990 vs HiSilicon Kirin 980

Comparisons 11-03-2021

Well, which processor or chip is better? Comprehensive compare data of benchmarks Samsung Exynos 990 vs HiSilicon Kirin 980, speed examination of GPUs Mali-G77 MP11 and Mali-G76 MP18.

This performance comparison involves two processors: Exynos 990 is octa-core (Exynos M5 Mongoose) and Kirin 980 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A76). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A step-by-step analysis of all the specifications of the CPUs, to make it easier to understand, is summarized in the table.

From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in synthetic type tests like WebXPRT 3, PassMark, 3DMark, AnTuTu 8, Quadrant, PCMark, Mozilla Kraken, Vellamo, Neocore, Octane V2, GFXBench, Geekbench, and how good the SoCs are in games Sniper 3D, Real Racing 3, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Fortnite, PUBG, Minecraft Bedrock, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty: Mobile etc.

After reading the results of joint benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which chip is better to buy Exynos 990 or Kirin 980 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

Exynos 990

37%

Kirin 980

25%

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

Exynos 990

74%

Kirin 980

71%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Exynos 990

35%

Kirin 980

22%

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Exynos 990	Kirin 980
Total score	520426	354810
CPU	145729	99354
GPU	197752	134833
MEM	83272	56759
UX	93686	63863

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Exynos 990	Kirin 980
Single-Core	1108	765
Multi-Core	3435	2602

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Exynos 990	Kirin 980
Frequency	3300 MHz	2600 MHz
Cores	8	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	7 nm	7 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	2x2.93 GHz Exynos M5 Mongoose 2x2.56 GHz ARM Cortex-A76 4x2.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A55	2x2.6 GHz ARM Cortex-A76 2x2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A76 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A55
Power consumption (TDP)	9 W	6 W
Memory type	LPDDR5	LPDDR4x
Max. Memory	16 Gb	8 Gb
Memory Frequency	1866	1600
Memory bandwidth	44	31.78
Neural Processor (NPU)	Yes	Yes
L1 cache		512 KB
L2 cache		512 KB
L3 cache		4 MB
Instruction set architecture (ISA)	ARMv8.2-A	ARMv8-A

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Exynos 990 is 21% better than Kirin 980 in terms of CPU frequency. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-G77 MP11	Mali-G76 MP18
GPU Frequency	800 MHz	950 MHz
GFloPS	786	581.14
# of Cores	11	18
# of Shader Units
Display	4096 x 2160 pixels	2560 x 1600 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	61.6	27.3
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	55.2	54.2
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	61.5	58.2
Call of Duty: Mobile	61.7	40.1
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	49.3	46.2
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	75.3	74.3
Real Racing 3	123	87.3
Sniper 3D	116.9	93.1
Need for Speed No Limits	86.1	93.1
Mortal Kombat X	80	66.9
CSR Racing 2	80	69.8

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	108 MP	32 MP
Dual Camera resolution	25 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)
Video Encoding FPS	120	60
Video Encoding resolution	8K, 4K (Ultra HD), 2K, FullHD	4K, 2K, FullHD
Codec support	H.264, 10-bit H.265/HEVC, VP9	H.264, H.265/HEVC

Networks and Navigation

Modem	Exynos Modem 5123	21
Download speed	7350 MBit/s.	1400 MBit/s.
Upload speed	3486 MBit/s.	900 MBit/s.
Navigation	SBAS, QZSS, Galileo, GPS, Glonass, Beidou	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which Samsung Exynos 990 is better: 32
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 980 is better: 7
You need to understand that you should not blindly trust the software comparison of the table. You can watch benchmark video from beginning to end of parallel comparison and listen to what those who really appreciated the capabilities of both SoCs think, as well as read the test results at the links below.

Exynos 990 SoC - all data

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

• Exynos 990 specs and review.

Kirin 980 SoC - all data

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

• Kirin 980 specs and review.