No, the Pixel 10’s GPU isn’t underclocked. Here’s the proof

When switching to any new technology, there’s always a subset of techies curious about how things work—myself included. One of the biggest changes in the Pixel 10 series is the Tensor G5 processor’s new PowerVR GPU, built by Imagination Technologies.

Browsing through the graphics chip’s specs, a few things stand out. The core can support ray-tracing, but Google seems to have left this unimplemented. The peak GPU clock is reported at 1.1GHz; however, corners of the web suggest that the core is significantly downclocked to just 400MHz. Some have even suggested that driver issues could be to blame for its less-than-stellar benchmark results. Others point out that it could just be an app reporting issue. Naturally, I felt compelled to investigate.

To test, I grabbed my Pixel 10 Pro XL, made sure I was running the latest updates (I’m on build BD3A.250721.001.E1, if you’re curious), and ran system tracing to profile the SoC and see what the GPU was doing during a round of COD Mobile’s Battle Royale (with the 90Hz high refresh rate setting enabled).

In this just over four-minute snippet of the round, we can see a few interesting things. First, the GPU clock spent a lot of time at 396MHz — just like the reports suggest. I imagine this corresponds to areas with little rendering activity, such as running around in the open. Importantly, performance felt rock solid at all times.

Towards the end of the test, with more buildings and action on screen, the GPU hits its peak of 1.1 GHz far more often. However, the activity is clearly burst-like. There’s no gradual ramp-up from 400 MHz to 1.1 GHz; the GPU scheduling seems designed to stay near its baseline clock and only boost when necessary.

Looking more closely at finer time frames, the GPU briefly clocks at 512 MHz, 576 MHz, and 633 MHz, but these frequencies are sustained for only fractions of a second. Essentially, the Tensor G5 GPU operates in two modes: 396 MHz or 1.1 GHz — a textbook “race-to-idle” approach.

This raises the question: Is the Tensor G5 leaving potential graphics performance on the table? In theory, yes; in practice, no. The most obvious reason for such aggressive clock gating is thermal and power management for a smartphone form factor. Burst graphics workloads can often be handled efficiently this way, whereas keeping the GPU at a constant 1.1 GHz or even 800MHz would burn through power for minimal practical performance gain.

The software trace shows that peak GPU power draw nearly doubles, from around 275 mW to 480 mW, during sustained high clock periods — and that doesn’t even include CPU or memory power. Locking the GPU to 1.1 GHz for longer stretches would drastically increase power consumption and heat. In other words, these bursts are an active strategy to manage temperatures and energy.

Anecdotally, the Pixel 10 Pro XL became noticeably warm after about 10 minutes of gaming. This illustrates why constant 1.1 GHz operation isn’t feasible on a mobile device — at least not with this GPU.

Burst clock speeds and the “race-to-idle” approach are now common in CPUs, GPUs, and other processor components, particularly in mobile devices where battery life and thermal constraints are critical. The same principle is applied in many laptops as well: completing tasks quickly and returning to a low-power state can be more efficient than running at a constant mid-level frequency.

The PowerVR GPU behavior observed in our tests reinforces this principle. Sustained peak performance is rarely necessary, and energy-aware burst operation often delivers the best overall experience. Spending long periods at a low clock speed doesn’t indicate a performance deficit — it simply saves power, allowing the device to operate longer and cooler.

For the Tensor G5, this strategy appears to strike a careful balance between performance, thermals, and power. How it compares in practice to alternatives like Qualcomm’s Adreno or ARM’s Mali, particularly in terms of delivering the performance and battery life that are important to mobile gamers, will require further investigation. But the good news is, the Pixel 10’s GPU isn’t underclocked.