Chipset for the Galaxy S24 Ultra is reportedly both overclocked and underclocked

Late last month Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the chip designer's new flagship application processor (AP) which will be powering many top-shelf Android models over the coming year. Just like it did last year, Qualcomm is expected to produce a special version of the chip for Samsung's Galaxy handsets. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy featured a faster Prime CPU core that was clocked at 3.36GHz compared to 3.19GHz for the non-Galaxy version.

While Qualcomm has yet to introduce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, tipster Yogesh Brar (via AndroidAuthority) revealed what he says are the specs for the AP along with the specs for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 so we can easily see what the difference between the two chipsets might be. Brar says that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (SM8650-AC) will have an octa-core configuration consisting of one Prime Cortex-X4 CPU core running at 3.4GHz, five Performance Cortex-A720 CPU cores with a clock speed of  3.15GHz/2.96GHz, and two Efficiency Cortex-A520 CPU cores running at 2.27GHz.

The non-Galaxy version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650-AB) features one Prime Cortex-X4 CPU core running at 3.3GHz  (compared to 3.4GHz on the "for Galaxy" chip), five Performance Cortex-A720 CPU cores clocked at 3.2GHz/3GHz (compared to 3.15GHz/2.96GHz on the "for Galaxy" variant), and two Efficiency Cortex-A520 CPU cores with a clock speed of 2.3GHz (compared to 2.27GHz on the "for Galaxy" chipset). The tipster adds that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy will include an overclocked GPU "for better AI."

So if Brar's info is legit, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy will have an overclocked Prime core and underclocked Performance and Efficiency cores. It isn't clear why Qualcomm would do this considering that last year the only difference between  the non-Galaxy and the "for Galaxy" chipset was the overclocked Prime core.

Now the question is how or even if Samsung throws its deca-core Exynos 2400 into the Galaxy S24 mix. Not that benchmark tests are the be-all and end-all, but Geekbench tests show that the non-Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC outperforms the Exynos 2400 but it is closer than you might think.

The most recent common sense rumor has Samsung equipping the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ with the Exynos 2400 everywhere but in the U.S. and China. In those markets, the phones will sport the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. And the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy everywhere.

Samsung might look for an early unveiling with a January Unpacked event so that it can get an earlier start challenging the strong-performing iPhone 15 line.