Qualcomm has shared even more performance numbers of its upcoming Snapdragon X Elite PC CPUs, now showcased to be over 50% faster than Intel’s fastest Core Ultra chips in Geekbench 6 benchmark tests.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite CPUs Now Compared Against Intel’s Core Ultra Chips, Over 50% Faster & Much More Efficient As Per Official Claims
The latest numbers were shared by Qualcomm with PCWorld, who managed to get numbers of the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite CPUs, powered by the Oryon core architecture, against Intel’s very recent Core Ultra “Meteor Lake” CPUs. Previously, Qualcomm has shared official numbers which compared the X Elite chips against Intel’s Raptor Lake, AMD’s Phoenix and Apple’s M2 chips, but it now compares its upcoming chips to the latest from its competitors.
The benchmark tests include the top 12-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip against an ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED which features the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU & the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 laptop which features the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU. For benchmarking, Qualcomm used the very popular Geekbench 6.2 test suite and the results are quite a thing. Qualcomm had also previously showcased strong AI performance against the Intel Core Ultra chips, but now they are comparing the single and multi-threaded gains over those parts.
First up is the single-core comparison in which the Snapdragon X Elite CPU offers up to 51% faster performance at full power (~15W vs 30W) and 65% lower power at the same performance against the Core Ultra 9 185H. The lead is up to 54% at full power (~12W vs 20W) and the same 65% lower performance with the same performance of the Core Ultra 7 155H.
The multi-threaded benchmarks show a solid 41% lead over the Core Ultra 9 185H (40W vs 80W) & 52% over the Core Ultra 7 155H (40W vs 60W) at ISO power & 58-60% lower power when matching the performance of its competitors. The GPU side shows a similar story, with the iGPU offering 36% better performance at ISO (30W vs 45W) and 50% less power when matching its competitor.
- Snapdragon X Elite vs Core Ultra 9 185H (ST): +51% (~15W vs 30W) / 65% Lower Power (Same Perf)
- Snapdragon X Elite vs Core Ultra 7 155H (ST): +54% (~12W vs 20W) / 65% Lower Power (Same Perf)
- Snapdragon X Elite vs Core Ultra 9 185H (MT): +41% (~40W vs 80W) / 58% Lower Power (Same Perf)
- Snapdragon X Elite vs Core Ultra 7 155H (MT): +52% (~40W vs 60W) / 60% Lower Power (Same Perf)
Now the GPU side was tested using the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark on Windows 11 and here, you can see the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS trailing behind the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, which isn’t the exact case as we have noticed in our tests. The RDNA 3 iGPU architecture is very well optimized for games and is neck-on-neck with the fastest Core Ultra iGPU offering with 8 Xe-Cores, so while the Snapdragon X Elite CPU may perform better in synthetic tests, it doesn’t necessarily have to be true for gaming.
- Snapdragon X Elite vs Core Ultra 7 155H (GPU): +36% (~30W vs 45W) / 50% Lower Power (Same Perf)
Qualcomm has stated that Snapdragon X Elite CPUs will support gaming just like any other Windows device, and they are working to ensure a smooth gaming experience. We recently saw a demo of the X Elite CPUs running Baldur’s Gate 3 at around 30 FPS (1080p), which matches the Ryzen 9 7940HS’s performance, though we don’t know the whole picture in regard to what settings the game was tested at.
The first chips are already showing up in OEM systems, such as last month’s entry of a Lenovo-based system which has now been benchmarked, and we covered the first benchmarks here. We have also covered benchmarks of the same chips in Geekbench 6 which show competitive figures but not the 50%+ gains that Qualcomm is reporting here. So what we would suggest for now is that while the numbers look great from an official standpoint, there’s still a good reason to wait for 3rd party and independt reviews of the first Snapdragon X Elite PCs which are expected to arrive in the second half of this year.
2024 AI PC Platforms
| Brand Name | Apple | Qualcomm | AMD | Intel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Name | M3 | Snapdragon X Elite | Ryzen 8040 “Hawk Point” | Meteor Lake “Core Ultra” |
| CPU Architecture | ARM | ARM | x86 | x86 |
| CPU Process | 3nm | 4nm | 4nm | 7nm (Intel 4) |
| Max CPU Cores | 16 Cores (MAX) | 12 Cores | 8 Cores | 16 Cores |
| NPU Architecture | In-House | Hexagon NPU | XDNA 1 NPU | Movidius NPU |
| Total AI TOPS | 18 TOPS | 75 TOPS (Peak) | 38 TOPS (16 TOPS NPU) | 34 TOPS (11 TOPS NPU) |
| GPU Architecture | In-House | Adreno GPU | RDNA 3 | Alchemist Arc Xe-LPG |
| Max GPU Cores | 40 Cores | TBD | 12 Compute Units | 8 Xe-Cores |
| GPU TFLOPs | TBD | 4.6 TFLOPS | 8.9 TFLOPS | ~4.5 TFLOPS |
| Memory Support (Max) | LPDDR5-6400 | LPDDR5X-8533 | LPDDR5X-7500 | LPDDR5X-7467 |
| Availability | Q4 2024 | Mid-2024 | Q1 2024 | Q4 2023 |
News Source: PCWorld
Michael Johnson is a tech enthusiast with a passion for all things digital. His articles cover the latest technological innovations, from artificial intelligence to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
