Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Series: Pioneering the Next Generation of Computing

In a recent press event, Qualcomm, the tech ARM giant, showcased its new demo systems that highlighted various tasks, including benchmarks and AI tests, all running on the Windows 11 operating system. The systems were set apart by their different Snapdragon X Elite SKUs. The most powerful variant, the XIE84100, boasted 12 Oryon cores and was paired with 64GB of memory. Meanwhile, the XIE80100 systems were equipped with either 16GB or 32GB of memory.

Tom’s Hardware provided insights into the performance of these variants, noting that the XIE84100 variant could boost up to 3.8 GHz, while the XIE80100 reached up to 3.4 GHz. However, neither Qualcomm nor the media disclosed the specific TDP settings used during the demonstrations.

As the launch of the Snapdragon X series approaches, Qualcomm has not yet mentioned the X Plus models. These models have not been showcased in any public demos and have not appeared on benchmarking sites like Geekbench. Consequently, details regarding the configuration and clock speeds of the X Plus series remain uncertain, though rumors suggest they may feature 10 cores instead of 12.

The Snapdragon X Elite (XIE) Series SC8380 includes:

Snapdragon X Elite XIE84100: 12 Cores up to 3.8 GHz
Snapdragon X Elite XIE80100: 12 Cores, up to 3.4 GHz
Snapdragon X Elite XIE78100: 12 Cores
Snapdragon X Elite XIE76100: 12 Cores

The Snapdragon X Plus (XIP) Series SC8350 is rumored to include:

Snapdragon X Plus XIP62100: 10 Cores?
Snapdragon X Plus XIP64100: 10 Cores?
Snapdragon X Plus XIP56100: 10 Cores?
Snapdragon X Plus XIP46100: 10 Cores?
Snapdragon X Plus XIP44100: 10 Cores?
Snapdragon X Plus XIP40100: 10 Cores?

Reports from WinFuture suggest that Qualcomm is preparing to introduce the XIP46100 and XIP44100 models, expanding the lineup of X Plus variants to six, surpassing both the officially announced X Elite variants and those identified unofficially.

At the event, Qualcomm presented new performance benchmarks, demonstrating that their X Elite chip outperforms Apple’s M3 in Geekbench 6 multi-threaded tests. The X Elite scored 15,610 points, surpassing the M3, which achieved 12,154 points. Qualcomm did not provide details on single-threaded performance nor compare it with Max/Pro versions.

Qualcomm also compared single-threaded performance with Intel Meteor Lake (Core Ultra 7155H) and AMD Phoenix (Ryzen 9 7940HS), claiming up to a 54% increase in performance at ISO power, while achieving 65% better power efficiency. In multi-threaded tests, these figures translated to a 52% performance boost with 60% less power consumption.

Qualcomm asserts that the X Elite chips will deliver a 36% increase in GPU performance compared to the Core Ultra 7155H, which is equipped with an Arc GPU featuring 8 Xe-Cores. This performance comes with a 50% reduction in power consumption, making it a worthwhile alternative for users who prioritize both performance and energy efficiency.

It is highly likely that Qualcomm will soon unveil more details about the X Plus series, hopefully accompanied by independent benchmarks derived from actual products rather than Qualcomm-supplied test units. These benchmarks are expected to provide a more accurate representation of the performance of the Snapdragon X chips.

2024 PC Platforms Comparison:

QUALCOMM Snapdragon X Elite
- CPU Architecture: ARM
- CPU Process: 4nm
- Max CPU Cores: 12 Cores
- NPU Architecture: Hexagon NPU
- AI TOPs (up to): 75 TOPs
- GPU Architecture: Adreno GPU
- Max GPU Cores: TBD
- GPU TFLOPs: 4.6 TFLOPs
- Memory Support (Max): LPDDR5X-8533
- Availability: Mid-2024
APPLE M3
- CPU Architecture: ARM
- CPU Process: 3nm
- Max CPU Cores: 16 Cores (MAX)
- NPU Architecture: In-House
- AI TOPs (up to):18 TOPs NPU
- GPU Architecture In-House
- Max GPU Cores :40 Cores
- GPU TFLOPs :TBD
- Memory Support(Max) :LPDDR5–6400
- Availability :Q4 2024