Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite ARM SoC for PCs leaks out, 12 Oryon Cores and 4.6 TF Adreno GPU
The full disclosure of Qualcomm’s most powerful chip.
As previously announced earlier this month, Qualcomm is set to make a renewed entry into the Windows-based ecosystem with the introduction of a fresh Snapdragon X series. Leading the charge is the Snapdragon X Elite, the new chip under new banner, which places an emphasis on high-performance Orion Cores and new graphics capabilities.
The X-Elite 4nm SoC places a strong focus on supporting generative AI through its potent Hexagon NPU (Neural Processing Unit), capable of delivering 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second). This performance is a noteworthy 55% increase compared to its predecessor, the 8cx Gen3 SoC.
For PC users seeking alternatives to the x86 architecture, power efficiency becomes an important consideration. Here, Qualcomm claims that their new SoC will deliver similar performance at 1/3 of the required power compared to the competition. The report does not confirm what exactly is being compared, so these numbers should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Snapdragon X Elite, Source: Qualcomm
The Snapdragon X Elite’s graphics processor, simply referred to as the Adreno GPU, is poised to deliver an impressive 4.6 TFLOPs of computing power, presumably in FP32 (single-precision) operations. This level of performance hints at even greater computational capabilities than the Xbox Series S, which is based on the AMD RDNA2 architecture. Just like its predecessor, the 8cx Gen3, the Adreno GPU will also provide support for DirectX 12.
Snapdragon X Elite (GPU), Source: Qualcomm
In terms of memory, the SoC will offer compatibility with LPDDR5X-8533, which supports up to 8 channels of 16-bit width. This translates to a maximum bandwidth of 136GB/s and the capacity to support up to 64GB of memory. This represents an upgrade over the LPDDR4x-4266 specifications found in the previous generation. Connectivity options have also been enhanced, as the new chip will support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 specifications, marking an upgrade from the Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 capabilities in the current-generation chip. Additionally, it’s noteworthy that the Video Processing Unit will now provide support for AV1 encoding and decoding, a feature that was absent in the 8cx Gen3.
Snapdragon X Elite (CPU), Source: Qualcomm
According to the report, the X-Elite SoC will be launched in mid-2024. By that time, one should expect a full disclosure of Intel’s Meteor Lake and AMD Strix Point processors for next-gen mobile systems.
Specifications | |
---|---|
Snapdragon X Elite | |
CPU | Qualcomm® Oryon™ CPU 64-bit Architecture 12 cores, up to 3.8 GHz Single and Dual-Core Boost, up to 4.3 GHz |
GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU Up to 4.6 TFLOPs API Support: DX12 |
Memory | Memory: LPDDR5x-8533 Capacity: Up to 64 GB Bandwidth: 136 GB/s Bit Width: 16-bit Number of Channels: 8 |
Storage | SD: SD v3.0 SSD/NVMe Interface: NVMe SSD over PCIe Gen 4 UFS: UFS 4.0 |
Display | Qualcomm® Adreno™ DPU Max. On-Device Display Resolution: eDP v1.4b, up to UHD120 HDR10 Max. External Display Resolution: DP v1.4 – 3 displays, up to UHD60 HDR10, 2 displays 5K60 |
VPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ VPU Encode: 4K60 10-bit encode – H.264, HEVC (H.265), AV1 Decode: 4K120 10-bit decode – H.264, HEVC (H.265), VP9, AV1 Concurrency: 4K60 decode – H.264, HEVC (H.265), VP9, AV1 / 2x 4K30 encode – H.264, HEVC (H.265), AV1 |
Camera | Qualcomm Spectra™ ISP Dual 18-bit ISPs Always-sensing ISP Dual Camera: 2x 36 MP Single Camera: Up to 64 MP Video Capture: 4K HDR |
WiFi/Bluetooth | Qualcomm® FastConnect™ 7800 System Generations: Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 Standards: 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a Spectral Bands: 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz Spatial Streams: Up to 4 Peak QAM: 4K QAM Features: Passpoint, 8×8 Sounding, TDLS, Wi-Fi, QoS Management, Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity, Wi-Fi Location, OFDMA (UL/DL), Miracast, Target, Wake Time, Voice-Enterprise, MU-MIMO (UL/DL), Multi-Link Operation (MLO), High-band Simultaneous (HBS) Bluetooth Specification Version: Bluetooth 5.4 Bluetooth Connection Technology: Bluetooth LE M.2. Interface: WiFi M.2. card over PCIe Gen 3 |
USB | USB Specification Version: USB 4.0 Interface Type: 3x USB-C 3x USB4, 2x USB3.2 Gen2, 1x eUSB2 |
Source: Windows Report