Snapdragon X Elite: Qualcomm's Powerful New Chip Challenges Apple and Intel

Snapdragon X Elite Benchmarks: Geekbench, Cinebench, 3DMark & More

The Adreno X1 GPU is a bit underwhelming and stays behind integrated GPUs from Intel, AMD, and Apple. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite has been released and laptop makers have finally launched several Copilot+ PCs in the market. We recently got our hands on the Asus Vivobook S15, which features the new Snapdragon X Elite chipset. To test out its performance, power consumption, clock speeds, and more, I have extensively benchmarked the Snapdragon X Elite chipset (X1E-78-100) using a variety of tools. On that note, let's begin. Testing Methodology Geekbench 6 CPU We ran the Geekbench 6 CPU test on the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-78-100), both on power and battery. And there was almost no difference in CPU performance, while plugged in or on battery. Keep in mind that all of the tests were done on Best Performance mode and Full-speed mode turned on in the MyASUS app. On power, Snapdragon X Elite achieved a single-core score of 2,441 points and a multi-core score of 14,050 points. Whereas, the X Elite scored 2,406 and 14,044 on single-core and multi-core tests on battery, respectively. If we talk about Snapdragon X Elite's thermals, well, the CPU temperature at idle was 41 degrees Celsius before the Geekbench test, and during the test, it peaked at 75 degrees Celsius. The surface temperature around the keyboard was 29.7 degrees Celsius at idle, rising to 35.5 degrees Celsius during the intense workload. The Snapdragon X Elite's peak power draw during the Geekbench CPU test was 47.6 watts. As for the peak frequency, the Snapdragon X Elite sustained clock speeds of 3400 MHz (3.4 GHz) for an extended period. It means that the Oryon cores didn't throttle down the frequency and sustained the CPU performance for much longer. While the CPU power consumption is notably high, especially compared to Apple's M-series chips, the credit goes to Asus for keeping thermals in check. The company integrates its IceCool thermal technology featuring two fans and two heat pipes for better heat dissipation. Overall, the CPU performance of the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-78-100) is top-notch, both on battery and power. However, to squeeze the best performance out of the chipset, you will have to change the performance profile both in Windows Settings and MyASUS app. Note that this will result in higher battery drain and louder fan noise, but the fan noise is still much quieter than any x86 processor. Cinebench 2024 Next, we move to the Cinebench 2024 benchmark which evaluates both the CPU and GPU. In the Cinebench 2024 test, the Snapdragon X Elite scored 108 points in single-core and 1100 points in multi-core, while plugged in. On battery too, the performance remained almost similar, achieving 104 and 1024 points in single and multi-core tests, respectively. During this test, the Snapdragon X Elite's CPU temperature reached 95 degrees Celsius which is quite high and power consumption peaked at 88.7 watts -- pretty high for a mobile SoC, designed for thin and light laptops. Under maximum load, the surface temperature above the keyboard rose to 41.1 degrees Celsius which is noticeably warm. The frequency ranged between 2.5GHz to 3.4GHz, and occasionally, it even crossed the rated peak frequency of 3.4GHz, operating at 3.6GHz. While we didn't notice performance degradation in full power mode, it's worth noting that Snapdragon X Elite's power consumption under maximum load is significantly higher than expected. As this is the first PC chipset from Qualcomm featuring the new Oryon cores, we anticipate the next iteration of Snapdragon X Elite prioritizes efficiency, aiming to match the efficiency figures of Apple M-series chipsets. Geekbench 6 GPU To test the integrated Adreno X1 GPU on the X Elite, we ran the Geekbench GPU test, based on OpenCL and Vulkan APIs. On the OpenCL API, the Adreno X1 GPU achieved a decent score of 20,543 points while plugged in and 20,417 points on battery. On Vulkan API, the GPU performed notably better. It scored 23,635 points on power and 24,227 on battery. The Adreno X1 GPU on this X Elite SKU (X1E-78-100) runs at 1.25GHz. Admittedly, the GPU on the Snapdragon X Elite is underwhelming at best. Even an 8-core Apple M2 GPU scores north of 24,000 points in the Geekbench OpenCL test. That's not to say that the Adreno X1 GPU is not usable or performant enough for light gaming, but compared to its competitors, there is definitely a performance gap. There is also much work to be done on the software and driver side to improve the gaming performance. 3DMark The Adreno X1 GPU on the Snapdragon X Elite does support Microsoft's DirectX 12 API which means you can play games like Cyberpunk 2077 on low settings. So we ran the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test on the DX12 API and it did perform well. It scored 37.82 FPS and 6,316 points while plugged in. Next, in the 3DMark Solar Bay test on Vulkan API, the Snapdragon X Elite GPU did fairly well, achieving 10,239 points and 42.81 FPS in Solar Bay Section 1. That said, in the same test, Intel GPUs score around 49 FPS and over 11,000 points. To conclude, the Adreno X1 GPU is powerful, but can't beat the integrated GPUs from Intel, AMD, and Apple. Geekbench ML To test the AI capability of the Snapdragon X Elite chipset, we ran the Geekbench ML test. While using the ONNX DirectML API (using the GPU), it scored 2,350 points, and with the ONNX CPU API, it got the inference score of 2,885 points -- all while plugged in. The NPU support for X Elite has not been added to Geekbench ML yet. If we compare the CPU score, Apple's M3 chipset scores above 4,000 in the same test, with its own Core ML CPU API. With the Apple M3 GPU for AI inference, it achieves around 7,800 points. I would say that for AI inference using the CPU or GPU, Snapdragon X Elite does not perform well, at least when compared to Apple's M3 chipsets. That said, it might be the case of an unoptimized framework or lack of proper hardware acceleration for ML tasks. We will re-run the test after a few months to check whether things have improved on this front. AI Inference Test After the Geekbench ML benchmark, let's check out how well the X Elite performs in practical AI applications. We installed the beta version of LM Studio for Snapdragon X Elite and loaded the Phi 3 Mini 3B model. Keep in mind that LM Studio only supports CPU inferencing on the Snapdragon X Elite right now. In our test, Snapdragon X Elite's CPU generated response at 24 tokens per second which is amazing for on-device inferencing. In another test, it generated a response at 21 tokens per second. Keep in mind, this speed is based on the 3 billion model. If we run a larger model, the token generation speed will get slower. Nevertheless, to run 3B and 7B models, even on the CPU, Snapdragon X Elite does a splendid job. With support for GPU and NPU offloading in the future, the experience might get even better. Speedometer and JetStream Finally, we move to the browser benchmark test. We ran Speedometer 3.0 and JetStream 2.0 tests on the native ARM64 version of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Surprisingly, Google Chrome performed better than Edge in the Speedometer test. Chrome got a score of 27.2 whereas Edge managed to get 22.5 points. For context, the Apple M3 MacBook Air gets around 32 points in the Speedometer 3.0 test. In the JetStream test, Chrome performed marginally better than Edge. Chrome achieved 303.016 points whereas Edge got 295.690 points. So if you want a faster web browsing experience on Snapdragon X Elite laptops, it seems Chrome will be a better pick than Edge. The Verdict The Snapdragon X Elite, in this case, the X1E-78-100 SKU, is undoubtedly a powerful processor, especially when compared to x86 chipsets. However, its high power draw is disheartening as the low power consumption is a key advantage of ARM processors. While the new Oryon cores are performant, they draw more power than Apple's M-series CPU cores. Laptops powered by the Snapdragon X Elite will surely offer better battery life than Intel and AMD-powered laptops. However, it's worth noting that these devices still require active cooling, similar to their x86 counterparts. The Asus Vivobook S 15 is a compelling product, but from a chipset perspective, we expected X Elite from Qualcomm to match Apple's performance-per-watt figures more closely. Notably, Qualcomm has to significantly improve its Adreno GPU for PCs. Currently, it seems like a scaled-up version of the mobile Adreno GPU. Streamlined driver support and gaming compatibility will be key to enticing long-time Windows users to jump on the ARM platform. Finally, framework support for the NPU is crucial for enabling efficient AI processing on the device.

Snapdragon X Elite vs. Apple M3 vs. Intel: What's Powering Your Next Laptop?

Quick LinksSoC Design SoC Benchmark and Comparison Which Processor Should Power Your Next Laptop? The Snapdragon X Elite, Apple M3, and the Intel Core Ultra series of processors are the most advanced SoCs currently available. So, which processor should power your next laptop? SoC Design Qualcomm, Intel, and Apple use an SoC (System on Chip) design to integrate all major processing hardware into one chip, including the CPU, GPU, and the NPU (neural processing unit). However, while each company uses an SoC design, they're not one and the same. Snapdragon X Elite Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite is a powerful ARM-based SoC designed for Windows. Its ARM architecture allows the X Elite to be significantly more power efficient than its x86 counterparts from Intel and AMD. However, the common problem with ARM-based Windows processors is that they often lack the performance to compete with said x86 offerings -- up until the X Elite was released. The Snapdragon X Elite uses a 12-core ARM v8 Oryon CPU, Adreno X1 GPU, and its Hexagon NPU (which delivers up to 45 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second)). Its powerful NPU (and other specs) are why Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm for the launch of its Copilot+ PC specs. Intel Core Ultra Intel's first generation of Core Ultra SoCs (codenamed Meteor Lake) uses an x86 processor that provides great gaming performance with its 8-core Intel Iris Xe GPU and its 16-core/22 threads CPU with 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores for better battery life. Using a "multi-chip modular" construction, Intel uses its in-house 7nm process node (for CPU) and TSMC's 5nm process (for GPU) on one chip. This allowed Intel's Core Ultra SoCs some flexibility in production cost, power efficiency, and performance. An NPU was also added to the Core Ultra SoC, making it capable of running machine learning models for AI applications like face detection, speech recognition, and text translation. Apple M3 The Apple M3 is another ARM-based processor with great performance and high power efficiency. The M3 line of SoCs includes the standard M3, the enhanced M3 Pro, and the high-performance M3 Max, and the flagship M3 Ultra, with each successive model offering increased capabilities. What makes the M3 special is its use of TSMC's 3nm process node and unified memory architecture, which directly improves performance and power efficiency. Apple's standard M3 is powered by an 8-core/8thread CPU, a 10-core Apple M3 iGPU, and a 16-core Apple Neural Engine NPU. Although its numbers may seem less impressive than offerings from Intel and Qualcomm, the seamless integration of Apple hardware and software ensures that the M3 processor is utilized to its full potential, reducing bloat and requiring no emulation. SoC Benchmark and Comparison Now, let's check SoC specifications for Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H, Apple's M3, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite to see which processor is better for specific tasks. Feature Intel Core Ultra 7 155H Apple M3 Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 Architecture x86 ARM ARM Process Node 7nm(CPU) 5nm(GPU) 3nm 4nm CPU Up to 4.8 GHz (16-Core/22-Threads Redwood Cove and Crestmont) Up to 4.00GHz (8-Core/8-Threads ARMv9) Up to 4.2 GHz (12-Core/12-Threads Oryon) iGPU Up to 2.25 GHz (8-Core Intel Arc graphics) Up to 1.40 GHz (10-Core Apple GPU) Up to 1.50 GHz 6-Core Qualcomm Adreno X1) NPU 11.5 TOPS INT8 18 TOPS INT8 45 TOPS INT8 Thermal Design Power (TDP) 28 W 22W 23 W Media Processing For media processing tasks such as video editing, rendering, and streaming, the Snapdragon X Elite, Apple M3, and Intel Core Ultra each offer unique strengths. The Snapdragon X Elite shines in AI-enhanced media processing thanks to its Hexagon NPU, which can perform 45 TOPS. This makes it particularly effective for tasks that involve real-time video enhancement and AI-based editing tools. However, its GPU performance, while solid, isn't as robust as its competitors when it comes to high-end gaming or 3D rendering, often lagging behind in real-world tests for such applications. The Apple M3 utilizes the advanced 3nm process node from TSMC, allowing the SoC to deliver more performance per watt compared to offerings from Intel and Qualcomm. This level of power efficiency, combined with the M3's hardware codec support for AV1, AVC, h265 (8bit and 10bit), VP8, VP9, and JPEG, makes the M3 a capable media processor with a long battery life. The Intel Core Ultra series, with its x86 architecture, offers strong media processing capabilities, especially for applications optimized for this architecture. Its Intel Arc GPU, while powerful, doesn't match the power efficiency of Apple's M3. However, it does provide excellent performance in traditional media processing applications that are heavily used in the Windows environment. Web Performance Web performance is crucial for tasks ranging from browsing to running complex web applications. The Snapdragon X Elite offers robust web performance, particularly with AI-driven enhancements. Its power efficiency allows for extended battery life during web-intensive tasks, making it a good choice for those who prioritize mobile browsing and light computing on the go. The Apple M3 is designed to excel in web performance, leveraging its efficient CPU and GPU to provide a smooth and fast browsing experience. Its integration with macOS ensures that web applications run efficiently, making it a top choice for users who spend significant time online. The Intel Core Ultra provides excellent web performance, particularly for Windows users. Its architecture is well-suited for running complex web applications and multitasking, making it a reliable option for users who typically use more complex web apps such as browser-based photo editors and games. Productivity and Day-to-Day All three SoCs are capable performers in day-to-day productivity tasks such as office applications, email, and general multitasking, but they each have unique advantages. The Snapdragon X Elite excels in battery life and efficiency, making it a great option for users who need a portable device for everyday tasks. Its powerful NPU and support for Windows Copilot+ also enhance productivity applications, offering features like real-time translation and voice recognition. The Apple M3 offers seamless performance in productivity applications thanks to its tight integration with macOS and other Apple software. Its efficiency ensures that tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations are handled smoothly, and its excellent battery life supports all-day usage. The Intel Core Ultra is a powerhouse for productivity tasks on Windows, offering high performance and compatibility with a wide range of x86 applications. Its powerful multi-thread capabilities allow smooth multitasking and quick performance in demanding productivity applications. Gaming Performance Gaming performance is an important factor for many users, and here, the differences between the SoCs have become more pronounced. The Snapdragon X Elite offers decent gaming performance, especially with its support for AI-enhanced graphics. However, it struggles with the latest AAA games, often requiring settings to be lowered for smooth gameplay. Thanks to its power efficiency, it excels in mobile gaming and lighter titles. Overall, we currently don't recommend the Snapdragon X Elite for gaming since its games are primarily emulated from x86 to ARM. This emulation reduces game performance and is known to introduce frame drops even if the machine should theoretically have no problem running the game. Furthermore, some games just won't run in emulation mode. For this reason, it's not worth getting a Snapdragon X Elite PC if you plan to use it solely for gaming. The Apple M3 provides a solid gaming experience, particularly for games available on macOS. Based on reviews, the M3 seems to be handling 1080p gaming at low to mid-graphic settings pretty well. While it doesn't match dedicated gaming laptops, its GPU handles a variety of games well, and the overall system efficiency ensures longer play sessions without significant heat buildup. But for more serious gamers wanting a Mac, we recommend the M3 Pro or even the M3 Max, which are significantly more capable with better cooling systems. Lastly, the Intel Core Ultra series is the top gaming option among the three. It provides the best performance when it comes to single-threaded and multithreaded games. Its Intel Arc GPU also provides the best GPU performance with clock speeds of up to 2.25 GHz and support for Direct X12, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 3.0, and hardware ray tracing. Unlike the Snapdragon X Elite, Intel's Core Ultra SoCs provide native support for most PC games without losing performance on emulation. Furthermore, Intel's Core Ultra SoCs are often found in laptops with active cooling systems, allowing the SoC to perform at its boosted state for longer periods. Which Processor Should Power Your Next Laptop? Choosing the right processor depends on your specific needs and preferences: Snapdragon X Elite: Best for users who prioritize battery life, efficiency, and AI performance. Ideal for portable devices and productivity on the go. Apple M3: Perfect for those who want a balanced performance with excellent integration between hardware and software. Great for media processing, day-to-day tasks, and web performance. Intel Core Ultra: Suitable for users who need gaming performance, traditional productivity applications, and prefer the Windows ecosystem. Each System on a Chip (SoC) has strengths, and the best choice depends on your specific needs and preferred ecosystem. However, remember that SoCs are just one factor to consider when buying a new laptop. The actual performance of an SoC can vary based on the laptop's design. Factors like cooling, battery life, heat management, and software all impact performance.

10 ways Snapdragon AI PCs are just like Chromebooks

In some ways, Microsoft finally has a serious Chromebook competitor on its hands. Microsoft has dreamed of competing with Chromebooks for many years, having previously pushed products like Windows 10 S (a limited version of Windows that powered the first Surface Laptop) and Windows 10X (some interesting ideas but was canceled and never released). Today, Snapdragon X Elite PCs run a "full version of Windows" in many ways -- but in using one myself, I'm noticing all kinds of similarities between them and Chromebooks. While Microsoft wants to talk up its AI-focused Copilot+ PC branding, these PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips run Windows on Arm -- and they bring serious improvements that feel a lot like Chromebooks in various ways. Thanks to Prism, Windows 11 on Arm can run most -- but not all -- traditional Windows applications that are coded for x86 processors. In other words, most applications will install and "just work." Prism's emulation offers impressive performance -- especially for more lightweight applications -- and Snapdragon X processors offer snappy performance for day-to-day desktop use. But there's no denying one important thing: native Arm apps perform much better and use less power, and the big web browsers (including Edge, Chrome, and Firefox) all run natively on Windows 11 on Arm. That means I've found myself turning to web apps quite often. I use applications like Notion and Trello for running my Windows Intelligence newsletter, and their desktop apps feel a bit slow on these PCs... so I access them in my browser instead. That means better performance and longer battery life for me. Plus, I can even turn each web app into its own dedicated window and treat it like a desktop app, just like I might on a Chromebook. Some people have been disappointed by the battery life on Copilot+ PCs. To be fair, battery life can be surprisingly low on the first day when you're setting up a Snapdragon X PC for the first time because you have to run a lot of updates, install a lot of apps, etc. The good news is that battery life does improve. After you're done setting up the laptop, you immediately start getting longer battery life. The bad news is that long battery life only comes if you use these PCs for light workloads, like web browsing, email, Microsoft Office, workplace chat apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams, video meetings, and so on. For truly getting the long battery life these machines promise, that's the kind of workload you want -- and fortunately for many, that's the extent of what we do day-to-day. But if you tax your CPU with heavy apps, your battery life will be much lower than expected. And that feels a lot like a Chromebook, which works best when it's used for lightweight tasks. (Of course, I'm just talking about battery life here. You can always plug it in whenever you need to perform heavy tasks without battery life being a concern.) When you switch from Windows to Chromebook, you can't trust that your Windows applications will all work on your new laptop. The same is true when you switch to Windows on Arm. Yes, most applications do work... but not all of them. For example, do you use Google Drive? The Google Drive sync client doesn't support Windows on Arm, so you can't use it. Many VPNs and other security applications don't work, either. If you have to use an in-house business app, it may not run. And even if an application does work on Windows on Arm, it may not work well -- and that can be just as frustrating. For the first few days after the release of Copilot+ PCs, users installed the x86 version of Adobe Premiere Pro and found it extremely slow. So, while it could run, it wasn't very usable. (Adobe has since blocked it from running on these PCs and signaled that their apps may be ported to run natively on Windows on Arm.) But that's the point: this isn't like buying a typical new Windows PC. You need to do some research to determine whether your critical applications will run on it -- just as if you were switching to a Chromebook, a Linux PC, or some other computing platform. Hardware compatibility isn't perfect on Copilot+ PCs. That's because many older devices have drivers that were specifically written for x86 versions of Windows with no intention to run on Arm. So, your old printer or scanner might not work properly. Other peripherals you plug into your PC might not work, either. Microsoft has been moving towards universal print drivers to improve this situation, but it's a real problem right now. And it's just like a Chromebook: modern devices designed to work universally across many different platforms may work, but older ones that need hardware drivers to work on Windows probably won't work. Thanks to a combination of Snapdragon X's hardware performance, Microsoft's improved Prism translation layer, and the Automatic Super Resolution feature that uses the neural processing unit (NPU) to upscale games, many PC games are somewhat playable on Copilot+ laptops. But games don't "just work" in the same way they would on a traditional x86 PC. Many games don't run at all. Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world, yet it doesn't run on Copilot+ PCs thanks to its anti-cheat not supporting Windows on Arm. Digital storefronts like Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store offer no way for developers to distribute native Windows on Arm games, so we're mostly stuck with traditional x86 games run through Prism -- and that doesn't work perfectly. Far from it. In a way, it's similar to running Steam on a Chromebook. Chromebooks can run the Linux version of Steam, which plays Window games via Valve's Proton. (Proton works surprisingly well these days thanks to the success of the Linux-based Steam Deck.) Whether you're running Steam on a Windows on Arm PC, a Chromebook, or a Steam Deck, you aren't getting the complete native experience that you'd get on a traditional Windows PC with an Intel or AMD CPU. There's a compatibility layer that may cause compatibility problems. So, even if you can play some games in a pinch, we recommend against buying a Snapdragon X Elite PC for gaming. Microsoft doesn't seem completely confident in native gaming for Windows on Arm, either. If you have Xbox Game Pass, you'll be surprised when you launch the Xbox app on a Snapdragon X Elite-powered PC and see absolutely no way to install games on your PC. Yes, that's right: on a Windows on Arm PC, the Xbox app actually pushes Xbox Cloud Gaming... and that's it. Perhaps this is something that will change in the future, but for now it's surprising. But it's also just like a Chromebook, since you can't play native games on a Chromebook yet you can access Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you go by the marketing, Microsoft wants everyone to believe that the future is all about AI PCs with powerful neural processing units (NPUs) that can run all kinds of AI features right on the machine -- but first-generation Copilot+ PCs don't deliver on that promise. Truth is, Windows doesn't include many AI features that work offline yet. Microsoft's Copilot chatbot still requires an internet connection -- it's just a web app in a window pinned to the taskbar, and PC integration features (like "Turn on dark mode") have been removed. Not only that, but all the AI image editing features powered by the NPU also need a connection to Microsoft's online services to check your generated images for "AI safety." In the end, the out-of-the-box experience isn't much different from using a bunch of AI features in a web browser on a Chromebook. As usual, Microsoft is trying hard to ensure backwards compatibility with Copilot+ PCs. Many traditional Windows applications do just work -- and that's why it's surprising and notable when one doesn't. Not only will you have to do some research to ensure your needed software and hardware will run on these PCs, but application developers should ideally also do the legwork to ensure their applications run as well as possible on these PCs. This is a big philosophical shift for the Windows experience -- and it's one of the biggest ways in which Windows on a Snapdragon PC feels like using a Chromebook, Linux PC, or Android tablet. This isn't just a tweaked Windows PC -- it's a different computing platform altogether. It might look like Windows and it might have good-but-not-full compatibility with Windows software, but Windows on Arm is a big step away from conventional x86 Windows. It's something else. And that's fine. I'm impressed. Even if you don't use these Copilot+ PCs yourself, the competition has at least lit a fire under Intel to push x86 to new limits. Just look at the big strides Intel is making with its Lunar Lake hardware, which will arrive later this year. That's a win for everyone, whether you want an Arm-powered Windows PC or not. As ChromeOS expanded and became mainstream, PC makers were faced with an alternative to Windows that actually mattered. Microsoft was forced to compete, and that competition benefited everyone. Similarly, with these modern Arm chips, Microsoft and PC makers have a credible alternative to traditional Intel and AMD CPUs. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips are just the first ones -- in the future, we're going to see more Arm hardware from other companies. So, Intel and AMD CPUs will have to compete. We're already seeing the results of that with Intel's upcoming Lunar Lake hardware and AMD's almost-here Strix Point hardware. The future of PC hardware looks bright and Windows on Arm will only get better (probably). We're still in the early stages and no one can fully predict where all of this is going to lead in five, ten, twenty years. For now, though, a Snapdragon X Elite-powered Windows PC simply isn't the right choice for everyone. It might be perfect for certain use cases, but wrong for others -- and in that way, they're very much like Chromebooks, which serve well for very specific needs.