Snapdragon 810 Overheating? Samsung Gearing Up for War? LG Might Sue Qualcomm?

[dgstorm]

There has been a great deal of movement in the media lately regarding the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 overheating rumors which were supposedly started by Samsung (although that was never confirmed). In fact, over the last few days, the press been worked up pooping out speculation like an old man eating prunes and laxatives.

Just yesterday we posted a story that Qualcomm may be creating a special version of the Snapdragon 810 just for Samsung. In that story we posited the theory that Samsung might actually have made up the overheating rumor in order to discredit Qualcomm just before starting a chipset war in the mobile sector. Apparently, we weren't the only ones thinking that. A new report just hit the web from Korea suggesting exactly this idea.

Supposedly, Samsung is so confident in the production levels of their new Exynos 7420, they plan to take on Qualcomm at an International level, and the "overheating rumors" are just the first strategic (and unscrupulous) shot fired. There are two other things which supposedly make Samsung consider kicking off a mobile chipset war now too.

First, their new Exynos 7420 is made on a 14nm manufacturing process, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 is behind that at a 20nm process (smaller is better for those who didn't know). Second, the new Exynos 7420 has a Cat 9 LTE Modem built-in. Not only is this LTE modem superior to what is found in Qualcomm's chips, it also marks the first time that Samsung's Exynos chips have had an LTE modem included in their chipsets. This was the final hurdle that Samsung needed to overcome to be able to use their own Exynos chipsets in North American devices. Interesting and a bit shady, if this speculation turns out to be true.

That's not all though. There is also another report suggesting that the Qualcomm overheating issue is real, but only with Samsung's phones because of their design. This is supposedly the reason that Qualcomm is considering making a new version of the chip just for Samsung.

However, if Qualcomm does this, it is entirely possible that LG will sue Qualcomm. LG's argument would be that if Qualcomm knew about this overheating issue and didn't share it with LG before it released the G Flex 2, then it would be a breach of contract. Heavy stuff!

Despite this whirlwind of speculation, here at DroidForums HQ, we are still reserving our judgment on the issue. We aren't sure we buy that there is an overheating issue at all. There have been no official reports from Samsung on the subject, Qualcomm has denied there is a problem, and LG defended them as well.

What do you think of this brouhaha?

 

[Ollie]

LG can't do anything if Qualcomm redesigns a better chip for Samsung. LG has already been on record stating that their phone has no problems with the current 810.

 

[cybertec69]

LG can't do anything if Qualcomm redesigns a better chip for Samsung. LG has already been on record stating that their phone has no problems with the current 810.

If Qualcomm are redesigning a different version of the 810 chip "and I said IF", it does not meant that it is a BETTER chip, where did you get the information that it will be a better chip, the 810 silicon is what it is, redesigning it do to heat issues does not change the power of the chip.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I kinda hope that there's some truth to the rumor. If Samsung's chip really has the specs listed above, it should sell itself. Will they have to prove themselves a bit? Sure, but if you're ahead of the competition, even by a small margin, don't reduce yourself to slander Sammy.

Having owned an s4, I can attest that Samsung is good at making phones that heat up more than what I think they should when doing tasks that I feel they should be able to accomplish, so I'm inclined to believe that the issue could be Samsung-specific.

If Qualcomm are redesigning a different version of the 810 chip "and I said IF", it does not meant that it is a BETTER chip, where did you get the information that it will be a better chip, the 810 silicon is what it is, redesigning it do to heat issues does not change the power of the chip.

IMO, if they redesign it so it doesn't heat up as much, that's a better chip.

 

[Ollie]

If Qualcomm are redesigning a different version of the 810 chip "and I said IF", it does not meant that it is a BETTER chip, where did you get the information that it will be a better chip, the 810 silicon is what it is, redesigning it do to heat issues does not change the power of the chip.

An 810 that doesn't overheat versus an 810 that does overheat is a better chip. The rumor says the chip is being redesigned. That would mean... they are changing something.

If the SoC is over heating I'm betting that LG is under clocking it on the Flex 2 to side step that problem.

Qualcomm's SoCs have always been run at a higher clock rate compared to the Exynos. Even then the Exynos has always out paced it.

 

[Jeffrey]

LG can't do anything if Qualcomm redesigns a better chip for Samsung. LG has already been on record stating that their phone has no problems with the current 810.

I read that LG is aware of the 810 overheating issue and has implemented a work around.

 

[cybertec69]

An 810 that doesn't overheat versus an 810 that does overheat is a better chip. The rumor says the chip is being redesigned. That would mean... they are changing something.

If the SoC is over heating I'm betting that LG is under clocking it on the Flex 2 to side step that problem.

Qualcomm's SoCs have always been run at a higher clock rate compared to the Exynos. Even then the Exynos has always out paced it.

So what makes it BETTER, please explain, less heat does not make it BETTER, which again is only a RUMOR, not FACT. In the END it's the same chip, and I doubt there will be a redesign, as this takes years, you think chip manufacturers just design a new chip in a month or two.

 

[Ollie]

So what makes it BETTER, please explain, less heat does not make it BETTER, which again is only a RUMOR, not FACT. In the END it's the same chip, and I doubt there will be a redesign, as this takes years, you think chip manufacturers just design a new chip in a month or two.

Less heat is infinitely better. Heat kills electronics. Whether in a laptop, desktop, or mobile device the worst thing for SoCs/GPUs is damage due to extreme heat. How can a lower temperature not be better?

I don't pretend to know what it takes to redesign an SoC. I do know that if Samsung and Qualcomm want it to happen then it will happen. They are the premier chipset designers in the world.