The traditional CPU cluster seen in this year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was deviated from by the Dimensity 9300. The most obvious difference is that MediaTek's flagship SoC does not have efficiency cores.

With this configuration, the Dimensity 9300 achieves exceptional overall performance-it even outperforms Apple's A17 Pro GPU-but at the expense of increased power consumption.

A recent stress test on the CPU found a silicon vulnerability, even when it was running in an Android flagship with an effective cooling system.

Dimensity 9300 Still has Thermal Issues

Even though Vivo's X100 Pro has a vapor chamber designed to dissipate heat, the Dimensity 9300 still has thermal issues.

Unlike many Android flagships with vapor chambers, the lack of low-power CPUs in the Dimensity 9300 causes this model to struggle.

Despite being produced using TSMC's energy-efficient N4P technology, this SoC operates more power than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and A17 Pro.

In a mere two minutes, Sahil Karoul saw thermal throttling during the CPU Throttling Test, indicating notable clock speed decreases in the Dimensity 9300's cores.

From the default limit of 3.25GHz for the Cortex-X4, clock rates plunged to 0.60GHz on one core and 1.20GHz and 1.50GHz on the others.

These findings demonstrated a 46% decline in performance during stress testing.

It's important to remember that the CPU Throttling Test is designed to put even the most thermally efficient chipsets to the test, even though these results suggest that MediaTek's move to a performance-only core cluster may not be the best one.

The A17 Pro or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 may perform better, but a chipset's thermal behavior is dependent on more than just its processing power.

About the MediaTek Dimensity 9300

The Dimensity 9300, the first flagship chip to use an all-big-core configuration with four Cortex-X4 and four Cortex-A720 processors, is said to have impressive features by MediaTek.

A 15% single-core and 40% multi-core performance boost is promised by this arrangement, with individual core clock speeds of up to 3.25GHz (X4) and 2.0GHz (A720).

Using advanced chip fabrication and thermal design, MediaTek's precision power control aims for higher efficiency, providing up to 33% multi-core power savings.

The chipset offers 8% efficiency improvement when it is partnered with high quality memory storage component.

Besides, it comes with UFS 4.0+ MCQ for faster data processing.

The Dimensity 9300's hardware generative AI engine that allows faster processing, lower power consumption and supports LoRA Fusion ensures quick application launch, smooth multi-tasking and real-life AI experience.

MediaTek's HyperEngine^TM adaptive gaming technology provides popular game titles with flagship-level performance, no lag, and enhanced power efficiency.

Camera experience is also revamped through use of AI-powered cinematic video capture, third microphone HDR audio recording module and enhanced display controller with support for foldable devices as well as QHD+ resolutions.

It includes improved wireless latency for Bluetooth audio, higher sub-6GHz 5G support, enhanced wifi 4G techs, ultra-long span, in-built AI-driven "depth engine" solutions.

The Dimensity 9300 gives high-performance, reliable, and protected package for the top class of smartphones with upgraded 5G ultraSave, GNSS, low power display tech, and strong security functions.

With all these thermal throttling issues, how can MediaTek resolve the situation?