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Qualcomm’s Gen 5 lineup has left a few questions unanswered. Benchmarks from Geekbench now clarify a major split between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and the higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — and it’s not just a marketing label.
What the benchmarks actually show
When Qualcomm announced the Elite variant it promised notable CPU and GPU gains over previous chips. But the company’s public comparisons for the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 focused on older silicon, which muddied the waters. Geekbench’s OpenCL tests help fill that gap by revealing on-device GPU clock behavior.
Real-world device tests
Geekbench data from two phones tells the story. The Moto X70 Ultra, running the vanilla Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, reports a GPU clock pegged at 384 MHz in OpenCL. By contrast, the Realme GT 8 Pro — a phone we tested with the Elite Gen 5 — shows both 384 MHz as a base and a 768 MHz boost frequency. That extra boost state is absent from the non-Elite chip’s results.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 vs. the old 8 Gen 3
Why the chips aren’t identical
Although both chips are labeled with the Adreno 840 name, they aren’t identical under the hood. The Elite SKU appears to ship with higher clock targets and extra memory optimizations that the standard Gen 5 lacks.
- CPU clocks: The vanilla Gen 5 is listed as 2x 3.8 GHz + 6x 3.32 GHz, while the Elite pushes to 2x 4.61 GHz + 6x 3.63 GHz.
- GPU frequencies: Elite devices show a boost state of 768 MHz versus a steady 384 MHz on non-Elite phones in OpenCL logs.
- High-Performance Memory: The Elite Adreno includes 18 MB of dedicated high-performance memory for improved bandwidth and lower latency. The non-Elite variant lacks this.
- Internal IDs: The Elite GPU is internally referenced as Adreno 829, while the non-Elite retains the Adreno 840 label without the extra identifier.
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So why the split?
It looks like Qualcomm carved the Gen 5 family into tiers: chips that hit the higher frequency and memory targets earned the Elite badge, and those that didn’t became the standard Gen 5. Qualcomm hasn’t publicly confirmed test thresholds, but the benchmark evidence points that way.
What this means for buyers and manufacturers
If you’re choosing a flagship and GPU-heavy workloads matter — gaming, on-device AI, or advanced graphics — the Elite Gen 5 variant will likely deliver higher sustained performance thanks to its boost lanes and dedicated memory. That said, several mainstream and flagship phones will use the standard 8 Gen 5, including early listings like the Moto X70 Ultra and the upcoming OnePlus Ace 6T. Qualcomm also named partners such as iQOO, Honor, Meizu and vivo who will ship Gen 5 devices, so more comparisons are coming.
In short: don’t assume every phone advertising “Adreno 840” delivers the same graphics performance. Check benchmarks and device-level specs — Geekbench OpenCL traces and manufacturer disclosures are now essential to tell the two apart.
Source: gsmarena
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