Qualcomm reveals AI-focused Adreno Matrix Cores in next Snapdragon chip
Qualcomm has detailed the GPU in its next flagship Snapdragon processor, adding AI-powered cores for frame generation and upscaling, with a 1.45GHz clock.
The company said the new Adreno GPU will include Adreno Matrix Cores, with a graphic suggesting three cores, which run AI workloads locally with lower latency and improved power consumption. The technology arrives a year after Qualcomm brought SME technology to accelerate AI workloads on the CPU.
Qualcomm said the Matrix Cores support what it calls Adreno Neural Fusion, a technology for reducing visual artifacts such as shimmering and ghosting, delivering more stable performance and sharp detail compared with previous solutions. The company also claimed up to 40% power savings compared with the previous solution, likely its Snapdragon Game Super Resolution feature. Both Unreal Engine and Unity support Adreno Neural Fusion, Qualcomm said, suggesting games built with those engines could be compatible.
Qualcomm also confirmed that the next-generation smartphone processors will have a three-slice GPU architecture, with shader cores and other hardware blocks divided into slices for more granular power control and performance balancing. The new Adreno GPU is clocked at 1.45GHz, up from 1.2GHz on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 GPU. It retains 18MB of Adreno High Performance Memory and improves efficiency by 12%, according to Qualcomm. The chip will be paired with a Qualcomm X105 modem and a FastConnect 8800 connectivity suite.
Earlier, Qualcomm confirmed that the next-generation processors include a 5GHz Oryon CPU, marking the first 5GHz smartphone chipset, along with its FlexCache architecture. The company has not said whether the Adreno Matrix Cores can be used for non-gaming tasks. The announcement follows Xiaomi's confirmation that the Arm G2-Ultra NX GPU in its XRing 03 chipset includes eight neural accelerators, a sign that AI silicon in GPUs could be a theme for next-generation chipsets.
Editor's Summary
Qualcomm's next Snapdragon flagship GPU incorporates dedicated AI cores and Neural Fusion technology to boost frame generation and upscaling in supported games. The GPU runs at 1.45GHz, with a 12% efficiency gain and a three-slice architecture. The reveal follows earlier confirmation of a 5GHz Oryon CPU.