Qualcomm has recently revealed comprehensive information and performance benchmarks for its forthcoming Snapdragon X Elite processor, specifically engineered for Windows PCs. This chip aims to compete with both Intel and AMD in the Windows PC market, as well as challenge Apple’s Arm-based laptop offerings. Qualcomm is asserting impressive performance and efficiency metrics for Oryon and the resulting Snapdragon X Elite processors.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Specifications
Qualcomm’s X Elite processor introduces the all-new Oryon core, built on the TSMC 4nm node, boasting a total of 12 cores that can reach impressive clock speeds of up to 4.3 GHz for single and dual-core performance, or 3.8 GHz for all-core operations. These cores are organized in clusters of four, and the X Elite chips employ three clusters, providing a collective cache size of 42 MB.
In addition to the powerful CPU, the X Elite features a Qualcomm Adreno GPU with a remarkable rating of up to 4.6 TFLOPs. It’s equipped with a Qualcomm Hexagon AI accelerator, offering a substantial 75 TOPs of performance as a Micro nPU. Notable specifications include support for up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x-8533 memory, PCIe Gen 4.0 NVMe SSDs, and compatibility with the latest Snapdragon X65 5G modem, complemented by Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, facilitated by the FastConnect 7800 controller.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU Performance
Regarding performance, Qualcomm provided various statistics, beginning with single-threaded performance in Geekbench 6. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite achieves an impressive single-core score of 3227 points, outpacing the Apple M2 Max by 14% (2841 points) while being 30% more power-efficient. Furthermore, the Snapdragon X Elite CPU surpasses the Intel Core i9-13980HX, albeit with a slight 1% advantage (3192 points) but with a remarkable 70% reduction in power consumption.
Shifting the focus to multi-threaded benchmarks, Qualcomm places the Snapdragon X Elite CPUs with their 12 Oryon cores in direct comparison to Intel’s 13th Gen offerings with 12 and 10 cores. It’s claimed that the Snapdragon X Elite CPU can achieve up to twice the multi-threaded performance in Geekbench 6 while maintaining the same power consumption and matching the peak performance of the competition, all while being remarkably efficient, consuming 68% less power.
A similar scenario unfolds when comparing the X Elite CPU to Intel’s 14-core Intel Core i7-13800H CPU. The 12-core X Elite demonstrates a 60% increase in performance at the same power level, matching the peak performance of the competition, all while drawing 65% less power. Additionally, the Snapdragon X Elite is reported to deliver a 50% performance improvement over the M2 in multi-threaded tasks, although it’s essential to note that this specific test pertains to the non-Max variant of the M2 chip.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite GPU Performance
Finally, Qualcomm delves into the integrated GPU performance, pitting it against Intel’s Core i7-13800H and AMD’s Ryzen 9 7940HS. Notably, the 13th Gen CPUs sport relatively weaker integrated graphics, resulting in a significant 2x performance gain at the same power consumption level, and even delivering peak performance of the Intel chip while sipping only 26% of the power. In comparison to the more powerful AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS with its RDNA 3 architecture, the Snapdragon X Elite CPU remains 80% faster while consuming just 20% of the power, all while maintaining peak performance parity.
These performance assessments were conducted using 3DMark’s Wildlife Extreme graphics benchmark. It’s worth noting that the differences between Intel and AMD integrated GPUs in terms of performance and efficiency can vary significantly, which may not be fully reflected here. For instance, the Intel Iris Xe (13th Gen) and Radeon 780M (RDNA 3) integrated GPUs exhibit a performance gap of only 36% in the Wild Life benchmark, but this gap widens to 79% in the more graphics-intensive 3DMark Time Spy. This discrepancy is due in part to the differences in the APIs used, with Wild Life based on Vulkan, and Time Spy on DX12. It’s also important to mention that Wild Life is primarily designed for entry-level notebooks, tablets, and smartphones, whereas the Intel Core i9-13900H and Ryzen 9 7940HS are not aimed at the entry-level notebook market.
Availability
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPUs, featuring the Oryon cores, are scheduled for release in mid-2024, and the company plans to disclose more details in the coming days. It’s worth noting that by the time these chips hit the market, Intel’s Meteor Lake (1st Gen Core Ultra) and AMD’s Strix Point (Ryzen 8000) CPUs will also be competing in the consumer space, making the competition fierce.