Qualcomm has recently unveiled some exciting details about the gaming performance of its new Arm chip, Snapdragon X. According to Qualcomm, the chip competes with Intel’s Meteor Lake laptop CPUs, sometimes even outperforming them in various games. The company has committed to monthly driver releases for the Adreno integrated GPU of Snapdragon X. Additionally, Qualcomm has introduced an Nvidia GeForce Experience-style app for the chip, providing pre-baked optimizations and settings for a range of Windows game titles.
The latest performance numbers released by Qualcomm showcase the Snapdragon X’s Adreno GPU trading blows with Intel’s Core Ultra 155H in a suite of nine games running at 1080p resolution. While Qualcomm’s benchmarks position the Adreno GPU slightly behind Intel in some games, it excels in several others. However, there are lingering questions regarding the benchmark settings, such as whether they are running natively or with emulation for the CPU side of the equation, which need clarification.
Apart from the promise of monthly driver releases for the GPU, Qualcomm has introduced the Adreno Control Panel companion app. This app ensures that drivers are updated regularly and automatically optimizes settings on a per-game basis, resembling the offerings of Nvidia and AMD for their gaming GPUs. These features mark Qualcomm’s foray into the gaming market with a strong focus on delivering a competitive gaming experience.
The Adreno GPU in Snapdragon X can be traced back to Qualcomm’s acquisition of mobile graphics assets from AMD, with the name Adreno being intentionally derived from Radeon. While Qualcomm historically kept details about its Adreno GPUs under wraps, the shift towards a PC-focused environment with Snapdragon X has prompted the company to provide more transparency and openness about its inner workings. The Adreno X1 architecture, featured in Snapdragon X, while not cutting-edge, supports DX12.1 but lacks the latest DX12.2 features like full hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders. The GPU does, however, incorporate features akin to Nvidia’s Tensor cores, hinting at potential advancements in deep-learning technologies like DLSS.
As Qualcomm gears up to compete in the PC gaming market, the world of gaming is poised for exciting advancements in the near future. With new GPU architectures expected from major players like Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, the landscape of PC gaming is set to evolve rapidly in the coming months. Whether Snapdragon X emerges as a budget-friendly gaming option, an ideal choice for handheld devices, or faces stiff competition from upcoming releases like Intel’s Lunar Lake or AMD’s Strix Point remains to be seen. The gaming industry is on the brink of major innovations, and the Snapdragon X’s gaming prowess may play a pivotal role in shaping the future of gaming technologies.
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