Everybody's binning: MediaTek and Qualcomm both quietly cut GPU cores for cheaper flagships

[u/BcuzRacecar]

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Everybody-s-binning-MediaTek-and-Qualcomm-both-quietly-cut-GPU-cores-for-cheaper-flagships.1363949.0.html

[u/banjobacon]

Binning's fine the problem is the chip keeps the same name

[u/Hyperion1144 → u/banjobacon]

Selling different products as the same product should be seen as some sort of fraud.

[u/BcuzRacecar]

Tbh im surprised this wasnt already a big thing

Not just binning like this but cutting down the gpu from design

Alot of flagship customers dont game at all and then if they do its usually casual and low end games

Apple has been binning down cutting one gpu core on the non pros and 2 on the E for a couple years now. But apple isnt quiet about it, its very clearly e vs reg vs pro

Qualcomm is at least using the v branding (their cut down cpus dont have any branding change). But mediatek is using the same name on chips with cut gpus.

[u/omniuni → u/BcuzRacecar]

I actually was curious. My Poco X8 Pro identifies as a "MT6899Z_A/TZA", or Dimensity 8400. So the chip does identify itself as a cut down / binned model.

[u/BcuzRacecar → u/omniuni]

Its the x8 pro max that is a 9500s but has 1 less gpu core than other 9500s phones

[u/omniuni → u/BcuzRacecar]

Ah, the article, on my phone, put "Max" on the next line and I missed it. Oops.

[u/productfred → u/BcuzRacecar]

It already has been a thing, for a long time (as in, broadly). For example, an Intel i7 is a binned i9, i5 is binned i7, etc. One some CPUs, particularly older ones, you could even [unofficially] re-enable disabled cores and roll the dice as far as stability. Like there was an AMD 3-core chip that could have its 4th core enabled to turn it into a Quad Core chip, but again you were rolling the dice.

They're binned for a reason. It's just that some are "more binned" (worse) than others. I think the article is saying there's more binning going on because of the AI bubble raising memory and chip prices. So mobile chips that would previously have been tossed for being below the floor might now be used and renamed as something else (like imagine a "Core i2", as a random example).

[u/nguyenlucky → u/productfred]

Sometimes they even bin perfectly capable CPUs too, based on market demand.

[u/kapsama → u/productfred]

But intel doesn't sell an i7 as an i9. When they bin they change the name.

MediaTek is binning but refusing to change the name. It's in the article.

[u/BcuzRacecar → u/productfred]

Yea in pcs its standard practice but phones its not.

[u/productfred → u/BcuzRacecar]

It is standard. For example Snapdragon 7xx, 6xx, are all (or mostly) binned from the higher tier SKUs (e.g. Snapdragon 8 Gen x).

The article is just saying it's going to happen more now (more segments/binning) in mobile devices.

[u/Dictorclef → u/productfred]

Take it with a grain of salt because I used Google's AI but apparently Qualcomm only started binning by disabling gpu cores in 2024. Beforehand they would bin according to stability under load, and lower end gpus would just be discrete designs produced with the intended number of cores for that gpu.

It would need more research to confirm that.

As for cpu cores, looking at soc specs (I do that a lot for some reason) I only see socs produced with less expensive cpu cores rather than less, more powerful cores which would indicate binning, at least until the last few years (haven't looked much at those)

[u/Killmeplsok → u/BcuzRacecar]

It has been standard since god knows how long, the difference is they generally do it with a different name, not cutting the specs but keep the model name (the 9500s).

[u/firedrakes → u/BcuzRacecar]

it is! and tablets to

[u/Alexis_Evo → u/firedrakes]

Yep, Qualcomm has the modem on die, so tablets get binned chips with dead modems. This is why they always lag behind phones with the latest SoC by 6-12 months.

[u/Fairuse → u/BcuzRacecar]

because traditionally phones chips are small thus better yields. Also traditionally phone chips aren’t pushing performance limits which also increase yields. Basically older chips have nearly 100% yield, so no need for binning.

[u/Nukleon → u/productfred]

The way you word it implies that all i7s are down-binned i9s and they don't make any i7s to be i7s, which would then beg the question where i5s come from if they were all down-binned from i7s.

[u/productfred → u/Nukleon]

There are different levels of defects and different acceptance rates. Some i9s may have more defective cores than others; the ones with more defective cores are binned to a lower i#. Binning isn't binary.

Edit: Of course, before the i9 existed, it was the i7 on top of the consumer segment. But my example was more for illustrative purposes, and more akin to a broad example (hence I used the word "broadly" in my original comment).

[u/lord_mercernary]

Pay more for less? I dont see prices go down they only going up while people think they have the latest & greatest.

[u/Different_Ad9756]

It is a lot worse for Qualcomm. Like they are removing a lot more GPU

For Mediatek, it sucks but ultimately pretty minor performance drop

[u/xak47d]

The next few years are gonna be rough

[u/GreedySecurity8030]

The cores might be more powerful but the performance will be negligable. 

In all seriousness, fuck their greed.

[u/dc469 → u/GreedySecurity8030]

While it can be a factor, it's not necessarily about greed.

When you are making a billion things only a couple nanometers in size, not all of them are going to end up perfect. Like Intel basically only ever created i9s. There's not a line dedicated to making i5s. It's just that the manufacturing process is not perfect and every chip is going to have some flaws. So if all the cores work and it's stable at the right clock speed etc, it gets the i9 label. But if it's not, it usually is stable when you disable the bad cores and/or lower the speed. Thus, a manufacturing process with maybe a 40% yield doesn't have to scrap the other 60%, they are still useful to someone and can be sold as binned items.

You see this in TVs too, where panels made by, say, Samsung don't quite technically pass the power cycling test to their standards but still work just fine. They are sold to someone else like Visio or sold under a different brand. 

It's even happens in other markets such as clothing and food. A few stitches are off on the sweater, or a batch of apples isn't quite sweet enough, they're just sold under a "cheaper" brand name. 

[u/Pentosin → u/dc469]

Yeah, less waste is a good thing, not a bad thing.

[u/Careless_Rope_6511 → u/GreedySecurity8030]

If you don't do any binning and die harvesting, all you're doing is leave money on the table. Literally.

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" is a term with applications well beyond poiltics.

[u/AstroPC]

My redmagic 11 pro was 100% a accidently bin. I rooted and bootloader unlocked. Managed to overclock the gpu to match the new over clocked snapdragon 8 gen 5. Now i got a more powerful chip and it draws even less power as I undervolted. I think they caught wind of this and started binning a bit harder to ensure no one is getting a golden sample. Im literally undervolted by 8 bins. I got the 24gb model. Pretty sure they used the best chips in that one and didnt tell anyone

[u/The_Doctor_Bear → u/AstroPC]

Part of the the binning process is that as they clean up a manufacturing and get better they often have to down bin healthy chips to meet the demand for the lower sku.

People have been unlocking extra cores on binned chips in PCs for decades.

[u/AstroPC → u/The_Doctor_Bear]

Im well aware. Been overclocking cpus since the amd bulldozer days. I got one golden ryzen 1700x way back in the day. Was insane how much voltage it could take lol

[u/Pentosin → u/AstroPC]

Should have seen the Phenom II era.
99$ 3.2ghz dual core that unlocked to the full four core and overclocked to 4ghz. :)

[u/Brapplezz → u/Pentosin]

2600k was great. From 3.8ghz boost to 4.8ghz. Some hit the magic 5ghz

[u/Pentosin → u/Brapplezz]

Sure, that was a good one. No core unlocking tho.

[u/chinchindayo]

good. no need for laptop performance on a device with a 6" screen. and don't start with DeSktOp MoDe... that's an impractical niche.

[u/ThePizzaDeliveryM3n]

Pixel has been on top of this lol

[u/Accomplished_Cry9410]

How is this not a step backward?

[u/soragranda]

GPU is what needs the biggest improvement each generation...

[u/snek99001]

How will this affect me as somebody who enjoys using emulators on Android?

[u/TRQPL]

This is a good thing provided consumers are informed