Samsung tackles Exynos overheating with PC cooling solution

Samsung may have found a solution to prevent Exynos chips from overheating. According to the Korean media, the firm is developing the heat path block (HPB) packaging technology for its smartphone SoCs. It’s a type of heatsink used on servers and PC processors.

Samsung Exynos chips may use PC cooling tech to prevent overheating

Samsung’s Exynos chips are notorious for their overheating issues. The situation isn’t as bad as it was a few years ago, but the company still has work to do. Its latest Exynos 2400 is widely documented to be running a little hotter than Qualcomm’s equivalent, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It appears the Korean firm has finally found a solution.

A new report from The Elec says Samsung is working on a new chip package technology that attaches a heatsink on top of the chipset. Called FOWLP-HPB (fan-out wafer-level package-heat path block), this technology can effectively prevent chips from overheating. PC and server processors already implement this solution. Chipmakers didn’t use it for smartphone SoCs due to their tiny size. Existing solutions like vapor chambers have been proving enough to keep the temperature in check.

Perhaps minimalizing the HPB solution for smartphone chips was also a challenge. Samsung is seemingly ready to take up the challenge. As the publication notes, the rapid expansion of mobile AI technologies has increased overheating concerns for smartphone processors. On-device AI features often push the chips to their limits, producing more heat. Samsung plans to address this problem with its Exynos chips with the HPB packaging technology derived from PC processors.

The company’s Advanced Package (AVP) team under the chip division is working on this technology. It expects to complete the development by the fourth quarter of 2024 and begin mass production immediately. Samsung aims to use the solution on future Exynos chips to prevent them from overheating. It’s unclear if it will be ready in time for the Exynos 2500. The new chip will power the Galaxy S25 series in some markets. It will also enter mass production sometime in the fourth quarter.

Samsung has another chip packaging technology in the works

Samsung, one of the leading companies in the semiconductor industry, has one more new chip packaging technology in the works, The Elec’s report reveals. Dubbed FOWLP-SIP (system-in-package), it allows mounting multiple dies as a follow-up. The same team is developing this advanced chip technology. It expects to complete the development sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, possibly in time for the Galaxy S26’s Exynos 2600. More details are awaited.