The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 uses an 8-core CPU cluster, and it has substantial upgrades to the clock speeds, prime core, GPU, and more. It drops one of the efficiency cores for an extra mid-performance core, granting it better overall CPU stress test scores. The most notable improvements are to the AI capabilities of the chip and the ISP.
The Adreno 750 supports hardware ray tracing and has a 770 MHz GPU clock speed. The Prime core has the highest clock speed (Cortex-X4) and is 3.3 GHz. There are three mid-tier performance cores at 3.15 GHz (Cortex-A720). Finally, there are 2 Cortex-A520 cores at 2.26 GHz, the small (efficiency) cores. This 8-core cluster yields positive results on Geekbench, hitting 2200 points in the single-core test and scoring over 7200 in the multi-core rounds.
This puts the CPU and GPU on par with Apple’s A17 Pro SOC. However, problems begin with companies using large vapor chambers to try and subvert heat. Apple only uses a 6-core CPU cluster and manages to score just as much. iPhones do not use any form of passive cooling, yet they sustain performance better. This opens a debate on whether the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has heating issues.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Thermal Performance:
The 8 Gen 3 scores between 1.9 Million and 2 Million on Antutu with proper tuning. Phones like the OnePlus 12 are tuned more for efficiency, and they do not utilize the full performance of the chipset unless a performance mode is turned on. The S24 Ultra suffers GOS limitations, which cap the phone’s performance, and these two phones struggle to hit 2 million normally. It’s even more disappointing that Samsung has an 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy with higher clock speeds. It doesn’t make sense if an obvious performance limiter is in place.
Two ways to measure the stability of a chipset are with the CPU throttle test app and the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress test. The S24 Ultra scores between 65% and 70% on this test, less than the ideal of above 80%. Reports are conflicting, and in some cases, they reach nearly 80%. This proves that the surrounding temperatures matter.
The 8 Gen 3 scores 5000 as the best loop score of the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme stress test and returns 3000 as the worst loop score. The stability is 60%, which is not impressive for a phone with such a large cooling system. Other phones, like the OnePlus 12, score only 50%, and the iQOO 12, score 55%. This proves that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has thermal throttling problems when you push it.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Hot or Not?
A 3D Mark test comparing the 8 Gen 3, Dimensity 9300, and the A17 Pro (via @t3mporarybl1p on X) also displays the temperature gains of these chips. The 8 Gen 3 outperforms the A17 Pro in peak performance, but the 8 Gen 3 stays under 40C in temperatures.
While the 8 Gen 3 has throttling issues, we can say that the heat is controlled very well, thanks to the cooling systems that most phones use. The chip doesn’t cross 40C in most tests and only sometimes reaches around 44C. We do not think you will face heating issues if you’re not pushing it to the extremes for several hours with intense gaming.
Regular users who use a phone with the 8 Gen 3 will not have any noticeable issues either.
