The reason behind the Snapdragon 801 processor is to make sure you get to enjoy the fastest SoC currently on the market at point of publishing. With an additional 200MHz over 2.3GHz SoC, it would be able to deliver more overall speed and an increased experience where the user is concerned. Not only that, there is also a higher GPU clock of 578MHz compared to 450MHz that translates to less time spent waiting for games and other graphics to load.
Using the newer eMMC 5.0 standard too, will do its bit to improve the interface speed by some, helping lower the amount of time needed to copy, move, open, modify, and save almost everything that you carry on your device. As for the RAM, we now know that it will feature 3GB RAM, which ought to keep industry watchers on their toes.