Amlogic S905X2 vs S905X3 – Features Comparison

Despite Arm claiming Cortex-A55 core would bring some performance improvements, we’ve recently seen actual Amlogic S905X3 benchmarks show the performance compared to Amlogic S905X2 Arm Cortex-A53 is almost identical (3% improvement for S905X3 CPU, 9% for the GPU).

So Amlogic S905X3 TV box processor must differentiate itself from its predecessor by its additional features, and while we published the detailed specifications of Amlogic S905X3 processor a few months ago, we did not provide a side-by-side comparison table just yet. So here’s one courtesy of SDMC (with some corrections).

Amlogic S905X2 vs S905X3

SoC Amlogic S905X2 Amlogic S905X3
CPU 4x Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.80 GHz 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.91 GHz
Neural Network Accelerator N/A

Optional 1.2 TOPS NNA

GPU Mali-G31 MP2 with OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0, and OpenCL 2.0
Always-on MCU Cortex-M3 & Cortex-M4 (Optional ) Cortex-M3 & Cortex-M4
DDR DDR3-2133 /DDR3L-2133 /
DDR4-2666 /LPDDR3-2133 /LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM up to 4G
DDR3-2133 /DDR3L-2133 /
DDR4-3200 /LPDDR3-2133 /
LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM up to 4G
Video
Decoding
H.265, VP9, AVS2 up to 4Kp75 10bit H.264 4Kp30
HDMI Tx HDMI 2.1  HDCP2.2
HDR HLG/HDR10/ 10+  Dolby vison,TCH PRIME
Process 12nm
Mic Input 8 x PDM
USB3.0/PCIE USB3.0/PCI-E V2 (multiplexed)
Package 14 x 14mm BGA
Embedded Temperature Sensor Yes

The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) / Neural Network Accelerator (NNA) is probably the most important change, as it should allow for better support for voice commands, language processing, or other workloads that would benefit from AI acceleration.

The higher maximum frequency for DDR4 memory (3,200 MHz vs 2,666 MHz) may explain the slightly better 3D graphics performance since I’ve noticed such benchmarks are sensitive to memory bandwidth, e.g. systems with dual-channel memory will have better graphics performance than the ones with single-channel memory. It may also help with some 4K HDR content (TBC).

But all-in-all Amlogic S905X2 and S905X3 are not that different.

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11 Comments
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blu
blu
4 years ago

CA55 — hallelujah!

tkaiser
tkaiser
4 years ago
blu
blu
4 years ago

Excited about Amlogic doing the switched to CA55 finally. I don’t plan on acquiring any S905 equipment any time soon.

Da Xue
Da Xue
4 years ago

The one to watch out for is S905X4 with AV1 support. Fundamentally everything after S905X is nearly the same with slightly higher CPU performance and more bugs.

Redneckerz
Redneckerz
4 years ago

I just realized the post i made at the Beelink GT1 Mini-2 is better pushed here: The rise of S905X2/G31 MP2 setups has had some interesting developments in the market: – Embrace to OpenGLES3. The Allwinner H6, prior to the S905X2 a more ”mid-field” SOC (With the S905 variants being overly common) has now taken its place, and its one of the cheapest OpenGLES 3 capable devices out there. – Embrace for 4 GB ram. On the aforementioned H6, a 4 GB DDR3 machine with 32 GB NAND is between 35 and 45 bucks. These were normally features reserved for… Read more »

blu
blu
4 years ago

That’s a good point, actually. The advent of truly entry-level GLES 3.1/3.2 devices might do more for the proliferation of the standard than things like Jetson Nano et al, generally considered GPU-centric SBC.

Adrian johnson
Adrian johnson
4 years ago

Does anyone know what the safe operating temp of the S905x3 is? I have a X96 max plus box and the temp can get up as high as 77 degree C.

willy
willy
4 years ago

What I’m seeing in the very similar S905D3 datasheet for the Khadas VIM3L is that it supports 105°C junction temp and 70°C ambient. Assuming you’re reading the temperature from the internal sensor, you’re subject to the 105°C limit so you’re pretty fine.

e97
e97
4 years ago

Does your X96 Max Plus have DDR3 or DDR4 ?

MikeG
1 year ago

Anyone flash an s905x3 firmware on a s905x2 box or is that not a good idea..lol

Khadas VIM4 SBC