Qualcomm has announced its Snapdragon X2 Elite processor series targeting Windows machines, promising a huge performance bump compared to last-gen chips. The brand aims to break x86 domination in this market segment by offering fast and efficient solutions that are better suited for battery-powered devices. Qualcomm is also expanding and improving its software stack, targeting frequent driver updates and much wider game support.
According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon X2 Elite series and its built-in Adreno X2 GPU will support over 90% of the most-played games at launch. This is a strong claim and an important distinction compared to its predecessor, which struggled to run many titles. The company also indicated that games protected by kernel-level anti-cheats such as Tencent’s Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE) will be supported, which opens the door for some of the most popular titles.
But that’s not all, Qualcomm also claims that the Adreno X2’s graphics performance is leagues ahead of its predecessor, putting to shame even built-in Intel and AMD solutions. Starting with last-gen’s Snapdragon X Elite, the company indicates that its new flagship X2 Elite Extreme is 2.3x faster on average, offering above 30fps at 1080p in plenty of games, including demanding ones like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong. Against Intel’s Core Ultra 9 288V (Lunar Lake) and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point), Qualcomm reports a 50% and 29% fps advantage, respectively, under the same graphics settings. That’s some claim.
This boost in graphics performance is partly thanks to the redesigned eighth-generation Adreno X2 GPU, which boasts eight shader processing (SP) units and 2,048 ALUs running up to 1.85GHz, compared to last-gen’s six SPs and 1,536 ALUs. These are backed by 21MB of on-chip memory, 2MB of cache, and 228GB/s of memory bandwidth. The design also leverages a more efficient execution model, allowing it to process two instructions per cycle to maximise ALU utilisation. Qualcomm reports 70% higher performance at the same power and 125% greater performance per watt compared to Adreno X1.
Qualcomm is acutely aware of its software shortcomings and is planning to actively release monthly driver updates, mirroring the competition’s cadence. It also plans to support the major graphics APIs, including DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenCL 3.0.
Assuming Qualcomm’s claims are accurate and not cherry-picked, the Snapdragon X2 Elite may find a place in users’ backpacks and their desks. Yep, this chip will also be offered in desktop form, increasing its reach. But as usual, cost will be the deciding factor, so we hope prices will be more affordable.
