Considering a new Windows computer? You may want to pause that purchase. Qualcomm has unveiled its forthcoming Snapdragon X Elite chipsets for PCs, aiming to outperform most Intel laptops and give Apple's M2 series a run for their money, according to Stuff.
The game-changing Snapdragon X Elite
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite series is built on System-on-Chip (SoC) technology. This means all the vital components, such as the CPU and GPU, are on a single board. The outcome? Faster and more efficient performance for your computer. This isn't a new idea; Apple has been doing the same since launching its M-series chips with the 2020 MacBook Air. However, Qualcomm's new chipsets are poised to offer some serious competition.
Performance and efficiency packed into one
These new chips are designed at 4nm and feature Qualcomm's 12-core Oryon CPUs. They offer impressive speeds for work and other tasks. That's not all; these chipsets have a neural processing unit and an AI Engine. This dedicated hardware is designed to handle AI tasks on the device, providing more efficient and faster performance. According to Senior VP Don McGuire, this is “a quantum leap forward in performance and power efficiency.”
Awaiting real-world tests
Snapdragon's X Elite series promises to deliver 4.3GHz speeds and a memory bandwidth of 136 GB/s. Preliminary data suggests these chips could offer double the performance of comparable Intel chips but use 68% less power. But that's just on paper for now. The real test will come when these chips are incorporated into new devices.
As for early benchmarks, the Snapdragon X Elite has a single-core score of 1197 and a multi-core score of 9337. These numbers are close to Apple's standard M2 scores but lag behind the more powerful M2 Max. So, if you're eager to get a new machine with this chipset, you'll need to wait a bit longer. Manufacturers are yet to build new devices featuring this advanced technology but stay tuned for more updates in 2024.
