What just happened? Arm made a slew of announcements this week, unveiling its 2024 CPU core designs and three new GPUs for consumer devices. The company also introduced its first compute subsystems for client devices to make it easier for OEMs to develop processors for smartphones, tablets, and PCs running Android, Linux and Windows.
Starting with the new CPU designs, the company introduced a new set of Armv9 CPUs optimized for the 3nm process node. The new CPUs include the flagship Arm Cortex-X925 for “ultimate performance” and the premium Arm Cortex-A725 for “superior sustained performance.”
The final new CPU in Arm’s portfolio is a refreshed version of the existing Cortex-A520 with better energy efficiency for low-intensity workloads.
Codenamed “Blackhawk,” Cortex-X925 is the top-of-the-line reference CPU design from Arm this year. The company claims that it offers the largest year-over-year performance uplift in the history of Cortex-X. It delivers 36 percent single-threaded performance improvements in Geekbench 6.2 compared to its predecessor, and 46 percent better AI performance compared to the last-gen Cortex-X4 CPU.
As for the other two CPU designs, the Cortex-A725 is said to deliver a 35 percent improvement in performance efficiency and 25 percent improvement in power efficiency compared to Cortex-A720, while the refreshed Cortex-A520 reportedly provides 15 percent better efficiency compared to the older Cortex-A520. According to Arm, the efficiency improvements in the newer version of Cortex-A520 are made possible by “an updated implementation and advanced 3nm physical implementation.”
Arm also debuted new GPUs built on its 5th-gen GPU architecture. The leader of the pack is the 24-core Immortalis-G925, which is a step up from the 16-core Immortalis-G720 announced last year. Arm claims that the G925 is the fastest and most efficient GPU from the company ever, delivering 37 percent better performance (fps) than its predecessor. On the efficiency side, the GPU uses 30 percent less power when providing gaming performance, which is on par with the Immortalis-G720.
In addition to the new Immortalis chip for flagship devices, Arm also announced the Mali-G725 and Mali-G625 GPUs for mid-range smartphones and tablets. The new GPUs are expected to deliver improved gaming and AI performance for faster and more immersive visual experiences.
SoCs with the new CPU cores and GPUs are expected to find their way to flagship and mid-range smartphones, tablets, and laptops by the end of this year.
Finally, Arm also announced its first-ever Compute Subsystems for Client that’s said to deliver a massive uplift in performance, efficiency, and scalability, with production-ready physical implementations on the 3nm process. The CSS features the latest Armv9.2 CPU cluster, including two Cortex-X925 cores, four Cortex-A725 cores, and Cortex-A520 cores. It also incorporates the Immortalis-G925 GPU.
