Snapdragon X Elite: The Most Elite Mobile Processor

The world of smartphones changes very quickly. This is especially true in the current times. There was a time when Snapdragon’s 8nm processor was the talk of the town. We’re now at the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a 4nm processor, making it one of the, if not the best, mobile processors out there. However, Snapdragon has been trying to develop a new 3 nm chipset for mobile phones, foldables and Notebooks. The name of the processor is Snapdragon X Elite. According to various experts, the new Snapdragon X Elite will give Intel and AMD a run for their money. In this blog, we will take a look at the latest Snapdragon X Elite processor and what makes it so great. 

What Is Snapdragon X Elite?

In April 2024, Qualcomm announced that it would release its latest Snapdragon X Elite. It is a PC processor based on the ARM structure competing directly with Intel and AMD’s processors. This chip is based on an ARM structure, making it powerful, efficient, and affordable. Qualcomm also announced their entry-level PC processor, called the Snapdragon X Plus. However, the Snapdragon X Elite is levels above and is expected to provide top-notch real-world processing power. Moreover, the chipset has an NPU or Neural Processing Engine to handle AI applications and features.  These AI features will make complex tasks easy. This will allow you to edit your photos better and smarter, along with many other benefits. 

Snapdragon X Elite Specifications

The new Snapdragon X Elite will come in three variants and a fourth entry-level Snapdragon X Plus. Let’s examine their specifications. 

Here are the key specs of these four new Snapdragon chipsets. All the processors here support LPDDR5x RAM with a transfer rate of 8448 MT/s. As you can see, the Snapdragon X Elite is a 12-core processor with a maximum boost clock speed of 4.2 GHz, which is right up there with industry leaders like the Intels and the AMDs. 

Specifications Comparison

Let’s start with the entry-level chipset, the Snapdragon X Plus. So, it comes with 10 cores and a 42 MB cached memory. Along with this, the chipset has a maximum multithread frequency of around 3.4 GHz. Its GPU computational power is expected to be around 3.8 TFLOPS ( Trillion Floating Operations Per Second). As mentioned above, this chipset also has a Neural Processing Unit with maximum capabilities of 45 TOPS, or trillion operations per second. However, one thing we should tell you is that TFLOPS and TOPS are not good metrics to measure the real-world performance of a chipset as these metrics give a basic understanding of the chipset, and the real-world performance can depend on the complexity of the calculation and the length of the calculation. 

Now, let’s discuss the Snapdragon X Elite. It comes in three variants, each with 12 cores and 42 MB of cache memory. Where they differ is in the clock speed figures. So, the entry-level Snapdragon X Elite has a maximum clock speed of 3.4 GHz with no boost feature. However, the other two variants do have a boost feature. The next variant of the chipset has a clock speed of 3.4 GHz and can be boosted to 4 GHz. When it comes to the top variant, it has a clock speed of 3.8 GHz, boosted to 4.2 GHz. All the Snapdragon X Elite variants offer an NPU capability of 45 TOPS. The GPU computational power is the same in 2 variants except the top variant, with 3.8 TFLOPS and 4.6 TFLOPS, respectively. 

One of the most important things to know here is the structure of these chips. Although Intel and AMD use ARM structures to make their new chips, they do it on a hybrid structure. For instance, the new Intel i9 13900H processor has 14 cores in total. However, out of them, 6 are performance cores, while 8 are efficiency cores. This means that out of the total of 14 cores, 6 are high-clock speed cores. These cores will pump out ample power in case of gaming or editing. Whereas the 8 efficiency cores ensure that the chipsets are not power-hungry.

This is not the case with Snapdragon X Elite. According to Qualcomm, all 12 cores in this chipset are performance cores. It still boasts a better output than most of its competitors. This is why we will look at benchmark scores of the top chipsets worldwide, like the Intels and AMDs. 

Snapdragon X Elite Benchmark Scores

At the time when Qualcomm announced their new chipset, people thought there was no way that this teeny tiny processor would be able to stand with the big dogs. However, Qualcomm has again shut its haters up and made history with its revolutionary technology. There aren’t many laptops using the Snapdragon X Elite, so getting the right data is quite complex. For this reason, we will go with the data we have. Recently, Geekbench Browser released the Geekbench results of the Snapdragon X Elite on their website. According to the data, the chip performance is quite surreal. In single core, the chipset scored 2,427 points and a multi-core score of 14,254 points. If this same performance is translated to the real world, this chip could very well be better than the existing Intel i9s and AMD Ryzen 9s, which is a humongous feat. 

If we compare the Geekbench score of the top consumer chipsets, Snapdragon X Elite comes at the top. As shown in the table below:

                                                  Geekbench Scores

As seen in the table, in single-core scores, the Snapdragon X Elite beats the 9-13900H by 3.7%, the i7-13700HX by 5.9%, and Ryzen 9 8945HS by 2.2%. This trend continues in the multi-core scores of all four chips.  When it comes to the multi-core test, the Snapdragon beats the i9 by 25.7%, the i7 by 18.4%, and the Ryzen 9 by 18.3%.

Apple’s M3 chip is still ahead with a single-core score of 3,268 and a multi-core score of 19,508. Qualcomm says that it is aiming for an Apple crown, which is already 50% faster than previous-gen M2 chips. However, the showdown with Apple can be interesting because the new iPhone 16 may come out with an A18 chip, which will be the first Apple to have AI features ever.

If these numbers come to fruition, Intel and AMD may have to climb a long way up to make their space in the market. Although Intel still has the best high-end CPUs, when it comes to budget and efficient CPUs, it has a long way to go. Moreover, recently, Nvidia and MediaTek announced that they will be coming out with MediaTek 9300. This will also be made on a 3nm structure and will also have numerous AI features.