Samsung's Exynos 2600 chipset delivers 2x compute performance using a customized AMD RDNA 4 architecture, marking the company's first in-house GPU design. The 2nm processor will power Galaxy S26 models early next year.
The Xclipse 960 graphics processor features Samsung's proprietary MGFX4 architecture, a scaled-down variant of AMD's RDNA 4 technology. Samsung developed the GPU independently while maintaining AMD's underlying framework, according to reports from Yonhap News Agency and Hankyung.
Ray tracing performance improved 50 percent over the previous Exynos 2500, which used AMD's older MGFX3 architecture. The Exynos 2600 includes 8 Work Group Processors operating at 980MHz maximum clock speed.
Samsung's shift to in-house GPU development aims to position the company more competitively against Apple and Qualcomm in graphics hardware design, according to industry analysts. The move follows Samsung's hiring of former AMD Vice President John Rayfield as Senior Vice President of its Austin research centers, where he will oversee Exynos innovation.
The Exynos 2600 arrives without an integrated modem, a strategic change from previous designs. Samsung separately announced the Exynos Modem 5410, a standalone 4nm connectivity chip supporting satellite communication.
The modem integrates LTE Direct-to-Cell, NB-IoT NTN, and NR-NTN technologies on a single chip. This enables voice calls, text messaging, and location sharing in areas without terrestrial network coverage.
Samsung plans to develop a completely in-house GPU architecture by 2027 for the Exynos 2800 processor. The company aims to eliminate AMD licensing fees and expand custom graphics technology into robotics and autonomous vehicles.
The Galaxy S26 series, expected to launch in March 2026, will feature both the Exynos 2600 processor and Exynos Modem 5410. Samsung implemented "Heat Pass Block" technology to address overheating concerns, reducing thermal resistance by 16 percent.
Early benchmark tests show the Xclipse 960 GPU trails Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Adreno 840 by 10-20 percent in Geekbench 6 OpenCL and Vulkan tests. The Snapdragon chip features 12 Compute Units with 1,200MHz maximum clock speed.
Samsung's graphics independence strategy mirrors Apple's approach with custom silicon development. Both companies seek to reduce reliance on third-party suppliers and optimize hardware-software integration across their product ecosystems.
