Samsung’s Exynos chipsets have typically been viewed as inferior compared to Qualcomm’s flagships. The company is slowly closing that gap, and we expect to see a huge leap in the coming years. This is according to a recent report from Schrodinger Intel, which has revealed interesting details about the Exynos 2800 GPU, including the possible presence of path tracing.
Exynos 2800 GPUs may feature path tracing instead of ray tracing
One of the interesting details revealed in the report is how the Exynos 2800 will feature the Xclipse 980 GPU. Apparently, this GPU will support path tracing instead of standard ray tracing.
For those wondering what the difference is, Schrodinger Intel explained it by saying, “Path tracing is an advanced form of ray tracing that simulates realistic light interaction by tracing numerous, randomly bounced rays, resulting in superior photorealism but higher computational demands. Ray tracing (often hybrid) is faster, using fewer, targeted bounces for real-time applications like games, while path tracing is used for offline, high-quality rendering (movies, VFX).”
However, it should be noted that path tracing can be more demanding as it follows realistic light and shadow physics. This is versus standard ray tracing, which uses shortcuts to reduce the load. The upside is that you will end up with a GPU capable of rendering more realistic graphics. Of course, the onus is on developers to actually take advantage of this. But at the very least, Samsung is providing developers with options.
One thing to note, though, the report does mention that this chipset might be designed for Chromebooks. This means that the version for mobile devices could be different. This is apparently Samsung’s way of trying to challenge Apple’s upcoming M7 chipset.
When can we expect it?
Samsung hasn’t said anything about the Exynos 2800 yet, and it’s not surprising. Based on Samsung’s release schedule, there’s a good chance the chipset will only make its debut in 2028. This is because the Exynos 2700 is expected to arrive in 2027 to power the company’s flagships. This leaves 2028 as the bigger possibility of the Exynos 2800’s release.
What’s interesting and slightly conflicting is how there were earlier reports that it could arrive in 2027. Also, Samsung might not go with the 1.4nm process for the chipset. It would make sense to do so in 2028, but a report from last month suggested Samsung might stick with 2nm. But until Samsung says otherwise, take it with a grain of salt.
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