At the Snapdragon X2 Elite architecture deep dive, I was able to get my hands on engineering samples of Windows 11 laptops running on Qualcomm’s upcoming AI PC chip – specifically the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme variant, with 5-GHz of single core performance.
Not only did most AAA titles run smoothly above 60 fps on 1080p medium game settings, without any perceptible issues during my time spent on these Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme-powered Windows 11 gaming laptops, I’m happy to report that almost all of these machines were a far cry from the thick and heavy stereotypical mould of a traditional Intel or AMD-based gaming laptop. These Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme based laptops also didn’t overheat to an uncomfortable degree, while the games were running on them.
Here are some observations on gaming benchmarks I ran and how the Adreno X2 GPU – the main gaming engine inside the Snapdragon X2 Elite (Extreme) – performed during these sessions.
Who hasn’t heard about this smash hit from 2024, which officially launched on Xbox earlier this year? It has fast become a measure of a laptop or desktop PC’s graphical prowess, if it dares to label itself a gaming rig. On the 18-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme laptops running on 32GB of RAM and Windows 11 Enterprise, the onboard Adreno X2 GPU came out with flying colours, handling Wukong’s gameplay with relative ease.
I noticed frame rates never dropped below 60 frames at any given time of the game run, with Black Myth Wukong hovering between 76-82 fps for almost of the 10 mins I played the game, while trying to run through forests, attacking minor enemies, and failing to defeat a giant boss. It was fun playing on the Xbox controller, as I didn’t encounter any frame drops, freeze frames, dithering or stuttering of any kind.
Next up was Cyberpunk 2077, with all its glorious ray tracing elements that makes it such a visual treat. While playing this game for a good 5 mins or so, again I noticed the frame rate never fell below 60 frames throughout – but it never crossed 70 fps either.
Also read: Snapdragon X2 Elite chip: Qualcomm is serious about AI PC domination!
I recorded a steady 63-68 fps average performance on the Cyberpunk 2077, with the Adreno X2 GPU on the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme delivering very good ray tracing performance. The test laptop didn’t overheat along its edges or the keyboard, which is good to know.
Although I haven’t played much of Overwatch 2, it’s a popular battle royale and therefore important to gauge its performance on the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip. Compared to Black Myth Wukong and Cyberpunk 2077, it has significantly lower graphical load on the GPU.
Frame rates were in line with this expectation, minimum I saw was 97-98 fps with average around 105-110 fps, with peaks of 120 fps on Overwatch 2 gameplay run. I didn’t encounter any jaggies or motion blur of any kind during the fast-paced manoeuvring of the in-game gun and while quickly switching directions. The Adreno X2 GPU handled this game with a yawn to be honest, without breaking any sweat!
Qualcomm ran a whole battery of benchmarks on three variants of Snapdragon X2 Elite chips on engineering sample laptops which they gave me access to – the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite and 12-core Snapdragon X2 Elite.
I ran Cinebench 2024, Geekbench 6.5 and Procyon AI benchmarks on predominantly the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme laptop variant running on Windows 11 and with 48GB of RAM. It posted multi-core scores that were higher than the 20-core Apple M1 Ultra, 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper and 24-core Intel Xeon W-3265M chip.
Across plugged-in, best-performance conditions, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) posts 4024–4077 in Geekbench single-core and 23408–24200 in multi-core, while the X2 Elite 18-core follows with 3805–3842 in single-core and 20079–20709 in multi-core, while the X2 Elite 12-core (X2E-84-100) delivers 3825–3849 in single-core and 15895–16222 in multi-core.
GPU performance of the Adreno X2 in UL 3DMark Solar Bay ranges from 84.2–89.4 for the Extreme, 84-85.1 for the 18-core, and 65.5-68.5 for the 12-core. In Steel Nomad Light, the Extreme sits at 39.4–41.3, the 18-core at 35.9–36.3, and the 12-core at 30.2–30.9. On the AI front, Procyon AI Computer Vision scores 4312–4347 on the Extreme, 4125–4183 on the 18-core and 12-core. Geekbench AI shows the Extreme at 88k-91k, the 18-core and 12-core between 81k-87k, respectively.
In app-level productivity tests, Speedometer 3.1 on Microsoft Edge ranges from 51.9–54.1 across the three chips. Procyon Office Productivity lands between 7942-9326, with the Extreme posting the highest values and the 12-core anchoring the lower end.
Qualcomm announced key updates for the Windows on Snapdragon gaming ecosystem. The core of this initiative revolves around the general availability of the Snapdragon Control Panel, which is a new tool that automatically detects installed games, including those from a user’s Steam library, and allows for direct optimization of quality and performance using an application profile manager with fine-tuning options like super resolution and framerate caps. Support for 100+ PC games on Windows 11 was also announced by Qualcomm.
Additionally, the Control Panel notifies users of new, downloadable Adreno GPU graphics drivers (UGD) and seamlessly installs them, ensuring continuous performance and stability improvements for the platform.
Crucially, the update significantly expands game compatibility. Support for AVX2 emulation is now available on Snapdragon X Series devices, achieved through improvements to Microsoft’s Prism Emulator, which satisfies a key requirement for many modern PC games. For multiplayer titles, the platform now supports Epic Online Services’ Easy Anti-Cheat, enabling popular, optimized games like Fortnite to run on the system. Qualcomm said it’s continuing to work with other leading anti-cheat service providers, such as Tencent’s ACE and BattleEye, to further improve compatibility and ensure users can access a wider range of their favourite online games.
Also read: Inside Snapdragon X2 Elite’s Oryon: The CPU challenging Intel, AMD and Apple
