Qualcomm unveils new PC chips to take on Intel, AMD
What's the story
Qualcomm has launched its second-generation Snapdragon X2 Elite processors, the X2 Elite and the X2 Elite Extreme. The company claims these are "the fastest and most efficient processors for Windows PCs." The new 3nm chips promise up to 31% faster CPU performance than their predecessor, the Snapdragon X Elite. Alternatively, they can deliver similar performance while consuming up to 43% less power.
Tech upgrade
GPU performance per watt improved by 2.3 times
The chips also promise up to 2.3 times the GPU performance per watt, thanks to new 1.85GHz GPU. The CPU side of these chips employs a third-generation Oryon CPU with up to 18 cores, some of which can run as high as 4.4GHz or even two cores at an unprecedented speed of 5GHz (first for an Arm-based PC processor). A new 80 TOPS Hexagon NPU has been added for AI tasks, offering 37% better performance while consuming 16% less power.
Performance boost
X2 Elite Extreme to take on Intel, AMD chips
Qualcomm has touted a "legendary leap in performance" with its new chips, especially the Elite Extreme variant. The company claims it offers "up to 75% faster CPU performance" than its competitors at the same power level. Qualcomm appears to be pitting it against some of the market's most powerful (yet power-hungry) laptop chips, including Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The company also promises these chips will deliver "multi-day battery life."
Gaming edge
Chips to improve Adobe software performance significantly
The new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips also promise a dedicated 18MB of high-speed cache, dubbed "Adreno High Performance Memory," to improve gaming on Arm. Qualcomm claims Adobe creators will see significant improvements with these chips, including 28% faster photo editing in Photoshop and 43% faster exports from Lightroom. The chips will also accelerate video analysis in Adobe Premiere.
PC expansion
Qualcomm yet to confirm Android for PC plans
Qualcomm is testing X2 Elite Extreme at over 50W of power, which indicates a shift from thin and light laptops to larger PCs. This is a major step forward for the company's Snapdragon chips. However, Qualcomm has not confirmed if these new chips will be part of its rumored partnership with Google on Android for PC.