The OG Steam Deck (7nm, comparable to the Series S) has a die size of ~162mm2. In there, it packs an 4 core, 8 threads CPU and a 8 CU GPU.
On the other hand, the Xbox Series S packs an 8 core 16 threads CPU with 20CU GPU of the same architecture in ~197mm2 die.
This is a technical question, how come the Series S packs much more in just 25% more size? I’m not saying the Steam Deck should be as powerful as a Series S (that’d never happen, the power constraints would not make it possible), but I wonder if the CPU in the Series S is cut-back or if there’s anything in the Steam Deck’s SoC that could have been removed to get a lower cost.
Interesting question. According to techpowerup Van Gogh has a transistor density of 14.7M / mm². Series S chip is at 40.6M / mm² though.
That is a huge difference for the same? process node. And TSMC’s low power (high density) cells are actually smaller.
I think we’d need a die shot to see what is going on there.