Note that the Snapdragon S4 MSM8974 came in 5 different versions. This page only covers version 1 of the chipset which had been changed in the other versions. This version fell under the Snapdragon S4 Prime version which was released in 2013 as a multi-core Application Processor with Modem.
The MSM8974 supported the ARMv7 instruction set with dual channel LPDDR3 SDRAM running at 800 MHz. This is all being pushed by a 4x Qualcomm Krait 400 processor at up to 2.3 Ghz with a large 2,048 KB/Core L2 cache on-board. This makes for a powerful mobile phone which should be good at multimedia applications.
The graphics and video is processed by a Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU and signal processing is done with a 600 MHz Hexagon QDSP6V5A. The chipset is powerful enough to accommodate a 55 MP camera as well as the ability to do video encoding at 2,160 pixels. The chipset has been used in many phones such as those which are listed below:
- Nokia Lumia 930
- Nokia Lumia 1520
- Sony Xperia J1 Compact
- LG G Flex
- Sony Xperia Z1S
- Sony Z Ultra
Note that there is a difference in the versions of this chipset. You will note some of the difference as follows being mainly maximum speed on the CPU, GPU as well as the memory.
Chipset |
CPU Speed |
GPU Speed |
Memory Speed |
| MSM8974 v1 | 2150 MHz max | 450 MHz | 800 MHz |
| MSM8974AB v2 | 2265 MHz max | 550 MHz | 933 MHz |
| MSM8974AC v3 | 2500 MHz max | 578 MHz | |
| MSM8974AA v2 | 2265 MHz max | 450 MHz | 800 MHz |
| MSM8974AB v3 | 2265 MHz max | 578 MHz | 933 MHz |
| MSM8974AA v3 | 2265 MHz max | 450 MHz | 800 MHz |
These are the main specs compared to the different versions of this chipset. The difference is mainly speed on the CPU, GPU and also the memory speed. Always speak to the salesman before you buy a mobile phone with a specific chipset to verify that you are getting what you want.
