MediaTek unveiled 6nm Dimensity 1050, Dimensity 930 and Helio G99 processors for mid-range smartphones

Taiwan-based company MediaTek today unveiled three new mobile processors for mid-range smartphones: Dimensity 1050, Dimensity 930 and Helio G99.
All of the new products are systems-on-chip (SoC) based on a 6nm manufacturing process.
Each chip has received eight computing cores.Image source: corp.mediatek.comMediaTek Dimensity 1050 is a \"lightweight\" version of the Dimensity 1100 model.
However, at the same time, it is the company's first processor capable of connecting to 5G networks in the mmWave 5G and sub-6GHz bands.
The Dimensity 1050 uses two 2.5GHz high-performance Arm Cortex-A78 cores.
What energy efficient cores are used here - the manufacturer does not specify.
Most likely, we are talking about Arm Cortex-A55.
The chip also got a graphics core Arm Mali-610 with support for MediaTek HyperEngine 5.0.
The latter provides additional tools and optimization features to improve performance in games.
The Dimensity 1050 is announced to support UFS 3.1 flash memory, LPDDR5 standard RAM, Full HD+ resolution screens with refresh rate up to 144Hz, and AV1 decoding hardware capabilities.
In addition, the manufacturer notes HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compatibility.
Support for cameras up to 108 megapixels is also indicated.The MediaTek Dimensity 1050 offers 3CC carrier aggregation below 6 GHz (FR1) and 4CC carrier aggregation in the mmWave spectrum (FR2) and is claimed to offer up to 53% higher downlink speeds compared to LTE + mmWave aggregation.
The MediaTek Dimensity 1050 also supports Wi-Fi 6E and 2x2 MIMO antenna for ultra-fast Wi-Fi connectivity.The first devices based on the MediaTek Dimensity 1050 should hit the market between July and September this year.
The situation with the Dimensity 930 is quite strange.
Despite the higher serial number of the chip, the frequency of its cores is lower than that of the previous Dimensity 920 and Dimensity 900 models.
The new processor got two 2.2GHz Cortex-A78 cores and six 2GHz Cortex-A55 cores.
The same Dimensity 900 and Dimensity 920 have 2.4GHz and 2.5GHz high performance cores, respectively.
However, the manufacturer has equipped the Dimensity 930 with a brand new graphics subsystem.
The IMG BXM-8-256 core is used here, which has never been seen in smartphones before.
What it is capable of - still unknown.The company claims for the Dimensity 930 support for UFS 3.1 flash memory and LPDDR5 RAM, cameras with a resolution up to 108 megapixels with the ability to shoot video in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, support for 5G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2 and screens with Full HD+ resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ The Helio G99 platform does not have 5G support.
However, the company has moved the chip to a 6nm process.
The new SoC is more energy efficient than its predecessors based on 12nm process technology.The Helio G99 uses two 2.2GHz Cortex-A76 cores, six 2GHz Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G57 MC2 graphics subsystem.
The processor supports UFS 2.2 storage, LPDDR4X memory, 120Hz Full HD+ displays, and Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless standards.
In addition, support for 108-megapixel cameras is indicated, as well as sets of two 16-megapixel cameras with ZSL.The first Dimensity 930-based devices should be available in the second quarter of this year.
Helio G99-based smartphones will make their market debut in the third quarter.

Technavio: Robots and 5G will boost single-chip systems industry

The semiconductor industry segment related to the production of single-chip systems (SoC) expects significant growth by 2026, with an estimated industry turnover of $6.85 billion by the end of that period, according to the consulting company Technavio.source image: geralt/pixabay comOne-chip system (chipset) is usually a compact, versatile semiconductor solution that includes everything you need to run a \"basic\" computer - this leads to a wide spread of such solutions in the market for mobile communications, Internet of things solutions and other portable electronics.Judging by the data presented in the report Technavio, which studied the information on many leading manufacturers of chipsets - Apple, Broadcom, Intel, Nvidia, TSMC, Toshiba and others, According to the company's experts, robots are used today in almost all spheres of life, so compact, specially designed chipsets are ideal for the automotive industry, electronics in general, medical systems and defense industry.
In addition, there is already a growing demand for robots, both those designed to help people and fully autonomous models.Image source: mariananbu/pixabay.comAnother factor in the growth of the SoC market will be the 5G industry.
According to Gartner statistics, revenue from the corresponding communication infrastructure from 2020 to 2021 grew by 39%, amounting to $19.1 billion.According to Technavio, one of the main beneficiaries of this will be the industry of single-chip systems.The company predicts geographically ¾ of the growth will come from the Asia-Pacific (APAC), where many semiconductor manufacturers are already based.
Growth in the APAC is driven by both the widespread adoption of 4G LTE and the continued commercialization of 5G.
Although the report mentions that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the chip industry, the mass vaccination in APAC has enabled a return to normal production for the most part (with some exceptions).
However, the report does not have time to take into account the recent events related to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the sanitary restrictions in China, which seriously affected the production, because of which the technology giants had to seriously reduce their profitability forecasts.One of the main problems of the future the company sees the domination of large customers in the market of semiconductors - they displace smaller companies which do not have enough resources to compete, due to which the contract manufacturers by default give priority production capacity to large businesses.
As a result, smaller customers still at the beginning will lose to the giants in quality, manufacturability and production cost.
Additionally, the problem is exacerbated by disruptions in supply chains and shortages of some materials.
However, it is the big players that ensure the rapid progress of technology in the chipset market.

Systems on discarded "console" AMD 4700S processors may appear in Russia

AMD has registered several models of AMD 4700S platform in the base of Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). This fact may mean that some desktop systems based on the lquo;console» chip, currently available only through Chinese OEMs, will appear in other markets, including Russia, in the near future.

To recap, the AMD 4700S processor comes as part of a Mini-ITX form factor motherboard and is based on the Zen 2 architecture. It has eight cores with a frequency up to 3.2 GHz, capable of handling up to 16 virtual threads. The chip has 8 MB of L3 cache memory and 4 MB of L2 cache memory. The graphics core integrated into the processor is disabled. 

There is one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, but only with four dedicated lines. In other words, it is not possible to use high-performance graphics cards here. AMD itself recommends using with Radeon 550, Radeon RX 550, Radeon RX 560, Radeon RX 570, Radeon RX 580 and Radeon RX 590 graphics cards, as well as models of GeForce GT 710, GeForce GT 1030, GeForce GTX 1050, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and GeForce GTX 1060 from NVIDIA. 

The AMD 4700S platform is available in two configurations: with 8GB or 16GB of GDDR6 memory from SK Hynix. The AMD 4700S processor is mated to the AMD A77E Fusion Controller Hub (FCH) chipset. On the one hand, the registration of the AMD 4700S platform in the EEC database could mean that the company has accumulated enough defective PlayStation 5 processors to sell systems based on them outside of China. 

On the other hand, the mere registration in this database does not necessarily indicate that the registered product will be on sale at all, as has been proven many times in the past.

 Besides, one should take into account the fact that sales of various models of AMD 4700S-based desktop systems in China have only recently started. Totally, there are four AMD 4700S platform models registered in EEC database: 100-900000004, 100-190000004BOX, 100-900000005 and 100-190000005BOX. It is unknown at this time what the differences between them are. It is quite possible that versions 100-900000004 are equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and variants 100-900000005 received 16 GB of memory of the same standard.

More than 80 models of desktop systems will be offered based on the AMD 4700S "console" chip

First mentions about AMD 4700S mystery processor appeared at the end of April, by the beginning of May it was shown in photos as a part of ready motherboard, and by the beginning of July the first test results appeared. The closest thing the mysterious processor was to the chip underlying Sony's PlayStation 5 game console. AMD now claims that partners will build more than 80 different PC models based on the 4700S.

Tom’s Hardware resource continues to move at the forefront of covering the lifecycle of this unusual platform, publishing rare comments from AMD representatives on the fate of the unique product going forward. First, they report that sales of the respective systems will begin on June 24 of this year. Secondly, the number of models of desktop systems, using AMD 4700S as the basis, should exceed 80 pieces. It should be recalled that AMD 4700S is a highly integrated processor, it combines eight Zen 2 generation computing cores with support for 16 threads, and as system memory uses from 8 to 16 GB of GDDR6 type memory, capable of running at speeds up to 14 GHz. AMD 4700S chip has no built-in graphics core, so it may rely solely on discrete graphics in ready-made systems, and using PCI Express x4 2.0 interface. Openly to answer the question about the kinship of the AMD 4700S and PS5 game console chip, the company's representatives refused, but called it a unique solution, trying to avoid any mention of the Ryzen trademark. Since the set of systems based on the AMD 4700S will be determined by the company's partners, then the pricing policy will be formed by them. In the Asian market these systems are already priced from $320 to $700. How soon they will reach other regions, the source is not ready to predict.