Arm unveils new CPU cores and graphics card designs for flagship and mid-range devices

What happened? Arm made a slew of announcements this week, showing off its 2024 CPU core designs and three new GPUs for consumer devices. The company also introduced its first compute subsystems for client devices to make it easier for OEMs to develop processors for Android, Linux and Windows smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Starting with new processor designs, the company introduced a new set of Armv9 processors optimized for the 3nm process node. The new processors include the flagship Arm Cortex-X925 processor for “premium performance” and the high-end Arm Cortex-A725 processor for “superior, sustained performance.”

The latest new processor in ARM’s lineup is a refreshed version of the existing Cortex-A520 with improved power efficiency for low-intensity workloads.

Codenamed “Blackhawk,” the Cortex-X925 is Arm’s highest-end reference CPU design this year. The company claims it offers the largest year-over-year performance gains in Cortex-X history. It delivers 36 percent better single-threaded performance in Geekbench 6.2 compared to its predecessor and 46 percent better AI performance compared to the last-generation Cortex-X4 processor.

As for the other two processor designs, the Cortex-A725 is said to deliver a 35 percent improvement in performance and a 25 percent improvement in power efficiency compared to the Cortex-A720, while the refreshed Cortex-A520 is said to deliver 15 percent improvement in performance compared to older Cortex-A520. According to Arm, the performance improvements in the newer version of the Cortex-A520 are made possible by “updated implementation and advanced physical implementation on the 3nm process.”

Arm also presented new graphics processors based on the fifth generation GPU architecture. Leading the pack is the 24-core Immortalis-G925, which is a step up from the 16-core Immortalis-G720 announced last year. Arm claims the G925 is the company’s fastest and most efficient GPU ever, delivering 37 percent better performance (fps) than its predecessor. In terms of performance, the GPU consumes 30 percent less power, delivering gaming performance that is comparable to the Immortalis-G720.

In addition to the new Immortalis chip for flagship devices, Arm also announced Mali-G725 and Mali-G625 GPUs for mid-range smartphones and tablets. The new GPUs are expected to deliver improved gaming performance and artificial intelligence for a faster and more immersive visual experience.

SoCs with the new CPU cores and GPUs are expected to make their way to flagship and mid-range smartphones, tablets and laptops by the end of this year.

Finally, Arm also announced its first-ever customer compute subsystems, which are expected to deliver massive increases in performance, efficiency and scalability through physical, production-ready deployments on the 3nm process. CSS features the latest Armv9.2 processor cluster, including two Cortex-X925 cores, four Cortex-A725 cores, and Cortex-A520 cores. It also includes the Immortalis-G925 GPU.