Xiaomi XRING 01 Die Shot Analysis: SoC Lacks SLC Cache, Impacting Performance Yet Reducing Power Draw in Light Workloads

Xiaomi’s XRING 01 chipset underwent extensive development, with the company’s skilled engineering team striving to create a competitive alternative to the leading silicon in the market. A key aspect of this strategy involved utilizing TSMC’s advanced second-generation 3nm manufacturing process. However, a deeper examination suggests that the choice of foundry was not the only factor influencing performance. Notably, the XRING 01 does not incorporate SLC (Synchronous Level Cache), which brings both advantages and disadvantages, as we will explore below.

Enhancing Performance with Increased Cache Space

To mitigate the potential performance impact from the absence of SLC cache, Xiaomi made strategic improvements to the CPU, GPU, and NPU cache configurations of the XRING 01. This chipset features a 10-core CPU cluster, complete with a substantial 16MB of L3 cache. It’s important to note that the die size of the XRING 01 is smaller than that of its competitors, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Dimensity 9400, and A18 Pro, a design choice aimed at minimizing costs while maximizing efficiency. Each Cortex-X925 core is allocated 2MB of L2 cache, with the Cortex-A725 and Cortex-A520 cores receiving 1MB and 512KB, respectively.

The XRING 01 also boasts a powerful 16-core ARM Immortalis-G925 GPU, which is equipped with 4MB of L2 cache, alongside Xiaomi’s custom 6-core NPU that has an impressive 10MB of cache. Analysis from the YouTube channel Geekerwan highlighted the absence of SLC cache in the XRING 01, implying that this omission could lead to some sacrificed performance. Alternatively, it is possible that Xiaomi’s decision stemmed from a desire to optimize power efficiency during less demanding tasks, as implementing SLC cache might increase power consumption when the chipset is not under heavy load.

By refraining from incorporating SLC cache, Xiaomi seems to have prioritized efficiency over maximum potential performance, instead enhancing the overall cache resources of the CPU, GPU, and NPU. This strategic choice also reflects in the decision to implement a 10-core architecture, departing from the conventional 8-core design. As a result of these decisions, performance benchmarks indicate that the XRING 01 performs comparably to the Snapdragon 8 Elite in multi-core tests, according to data from Geekbench 6.

Despite Xiaomi’s assertion that the XRING 01 would reach an AnTuTu score of 3 million, independent tests revealed a performance score that is 13 percent lower than predicted. It remains speculative whether the absence of SLC cache is a contributing factor. However, in head-to-head comparisons with Google’s Tensor and Huawei’s Kirin, the XRING 01 clearly outperforms these custom chipsets, marking a commendable achievement for Xiaomi.

Source: Geekerwan

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