I attempted gaming on Snapdragon’s greatest rival

I used to be fairly impressed after I benchmarked MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 processor inside the brand new OPPO Discover X8 Professional. Whereas it won’t fairly prime the tables, it’s definitely no slouch, and our stress check outcomes recommend loads of thermal headroom to make it an excellent alternative for these protracted gaming classes. However can it sustain with the mighty Snapdragon on the subject of real-world video games? I grabbed the brand new flagship and a bunch of the preferred Android titles to see how the telephone festivals in the actual world.

I’ve the high-performing ASUS ROG Telephone 9 Professional gaming telephone, which packs a powerhouse Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, to match in opposition to, together with the  Google Pixel 8 Professional — with a significantly extra mid-range GPU implementation. I’ve additionally included the ASUS Zenfone 11 Extremely with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor for example of last-gen efficiency. Earlier than we get into the outcomes, nonetheless, let’s check out some benchmarks to see the place we’d count on issues to face.

With its customized Phoenix-L and -M somewhat than Arm Cortex CPU cores, the Snapdragon 8 Elite has a big benefit in Geekbench 6. Nevertheless, few cell video games are CPU sure so this lead most likely received’t rely for a lot on this gaming check. Our 3DMark Wild Life Excessive and Photo voltaic Bay assessments are extra telling. Each chipsets and handsets provide nearly equivalent peak scores, suggesting related body charges. Nevertheless, the Dimensity 9400 makes it via the stress assessments with cheap sustained efficiency for about 9 or 10 runs and fairly low temperatures. To beat it, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite has to run considerably hotter, however will this discrepancy present up in precise video games, that are usually much less demanding than these stress assessments? Let’s soar in

Dimensity 9400 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming efficiency

We’ll begin with a few in style FPS titles: COD Cell to see if the telephones can maintain a demanding 120fps body charge and PUBG Cell to throw in HDR graphics and 4x AA necessities at 60fps. Neither of those two ageing video games could be thought-about the top of cell graphics, however their gameplay kinds demand excessive and constant body charges.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 hammers dwelling stable body charges right here. Whereas it’s not fairly as locked tight to 120fps because the Snapdragon 8 Elite is in COD Cell, the majority of the time it’s above 117fps, and also you’re unlikely to note the uncommon dips to a nonetheless wholesome 112fps that I noticed throughout two rounds. However as we’re being choosy, this outcome is just not fairly as buttery easy as final era’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 both, which scores marginally higher prime 90% and minimal body charge outcomes on this sport.

The roles reverse just a little in PUBG Cell, the place the OPPO Discover X8 Professional and its MediaTek chip are a bit extra constant than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 when it comes to minimums. Once more, although, it’s not fairly as tightly locked to 60fps because the 8 Elite, however you’ll be hard-pressed to note or really feel that sub-1fps common distinction. Whereas clearly, neither of those video games is massively demanding for a flagship chip; we must always notice the minor improve in minimal FPS over final yr’s Google Pixel 8 Professional, pointing to a marginal profit to springing for these extra efficiency chips, at the very least for critical avid gamers.

Subsequent, we flip to Genshin Affect. Though 4 years outdated at this level, its open-world landscapes are nonetheless a few of the extra demanding graphical vistas within the cell gaming house, particularly when working the sport maxed out with a 60fps goal. The Dimensity 9400 meets that concentrate on firmly, for essentially the most half, with 90% of frames counted sitting above 59fps and a minimal fps that’s truly a body higher than the newest ROG. Likewise, the telephone gives a greater minimal than the last-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so when it not often dips, it’s not as perceivable.

Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 8 Elite once more has a touch tighter grip on precisely 60fps, although neither telephone struggles right here. Whereas the MediaTek chip presents the common odd jank and missed body, they’re beneath 22ms and, due to this fact, shouldn’t be noticeable. Our 8 Elite truly noticed a extra noticeable jank in direction of the tip of our five-minute stint, however that appears to be an anomaly.

Lastly, we come to our emulator check with the fast-paced FZero GX. Whereas menus proceed to current janky-ness for each telephone I’ve ever examined, the Dimensity 9400 handles these sections marginally smoother than the 8 Elite. The OPPO Discover X8 Professional and its MediaTek chip additionally match and even exceed Qualcomm’s biggest for common and tenth percentile frames, surpassing the last-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 whereas it’s at it. As we’ve seen earlier than, nonetheless, Arm’s Mali structure does fairly effectively right here, and even the weaker Pixel 8 Professional manages stable body charges in-game. Talking of, the MediaTek chip seems just a little extra erratic, with common minor dips beneath 60fps, whereas ASUS’ gaming telephone locks this in at a largely constant worth. Nonetheless, with minimal janks detected on both handset, each really feel very easy when enjoying.

Primarily based on these 4 in-game assessments, there’s little or no to inform between the efficiency of the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. Their benchmarking similarities are equally effectively mirrored within the real-world video games, making both an excellent decide for these wanting to make sure rock-solid body charges at present and within the foreseeable future. That is additionally a stable outcome for Arm’s Immortalis G925, which has beforehand been (maybe unfairly) thought-about a slower GPU than Qualcomm’s Adreno.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite might need a slight fps edge in some cases and appears to stay to 60fps just a little tighter, however that’s not sufficient to earn it a win right here. The large caveat is the 8 Elite’s stress check temperature outcomes and our hands-on expertise with hotter Snapdragon telephones than the well-cooled ASUS ROG Telephone 9.

Whereas actual video games don’t change into anyplace close to that heat, at the very least not within the 20 minutes or so I might afford to play, a lot larger temperatures level to the potential for extra aggressive throttling if enjoying for longer, charging whereas enjoying, or just residing in a a lot hotter nation than soggy outdated Blighty. There are additionally future video games to contemplate, which can ultimately stress telephone {hardware} extra and trigger temperatures to rise. The 8 Elite won’t deal with video games as effectively in a number of yr’s time. I’ve no such issues concerning the Dimensity 9400, at the very least not within the implementation I’ve examined within the OPPO Discover X8 Professional. We’ve additionally benchmarked the vivo X200 Professional which is hotter, however nothing approaching the warmth we’ve seen from some 8 Elite telephones.

After all, there’s availability too. Most flagship MediaTek-powered telephones, just like the OPPO Discover X8 Professional and vivo X200 Professional, aren’t out there within the US. I definitely wouldn’t undergo the trouble and provider hoops to import one, particularly as there’s no clear efficiency benefit for the Taiwanese chipset. Nonetheless, if these telephones are on sale in your nation, avid gamers shouldn’t hesitate to choose one up.