New Snapdragon X Plus with 8 cores, 45 TOPS for AI and frequencies up to 4 GHz

Qualcomm has launched its first processors with Oryon cores during the past month of July. Processors that are divided into two categories Snapdragon Elite and Snapdragon Pluswith the difference that the first has 12 cores and different configurations, going down to 10 cores in the Plus version. Today it has added a New CPU with its ARM architecture and Oryon cores to its catalogue, presenting the new Snapdragon X Plus with 8 cores that will give life to Laptops from $799.

Qualcomm has launched a new processor to place it in the entry range, leaving the previous solutions as Premium for the Snapdragon X Elite with 12 cores (and different configurations that vary in the speed of the CPU and GPU) and the mid-range with the Snapdragon X Plus with 10 cores. Now an entry range with 8 cores is added and that has the same architecture than the previous ones, together with the Oryon cores that offer a similar performance for single core tasks.

Despite having “only” 8 cores, this Snapdragon X Plus 8-core comes with specifications like 45 TOPS for Artificial Intelligence like the rest of the Snapdragon range. Thus, these new laptops with the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core will have the Microsoft Copilot+ PC tag thanks to its included Hexagon NPU. It is built with an advanced manufacturing node of 4 nanometerswhich is complemented by LPDDR5x memory and a total cache of 30 MB.

Its strong point, like the other Snapdragons, is the battery life. With this 8-core Snapdragon it has been achieved 2 times more battery life than the competition. It has a scalable form factor and can adapt to a multitude of formats for laptops and miniPCs. I couldn’t leave behind great connectivity thanks to Qualcomm’s experience, this 8-core Snapdragon X Plus has connectivity WiFi 7 and 5G (optional)as well as other features like advanced ISP and extra security.

But these data are superficial, let’s see a little more in depth Its characteristics:

CPU

• Qualcomm® Oryon CPU

  • 64-bit architecture
  • 8 cores, up to 4.0 GHz
  • Total cache: 30 MB

• Maximum Multi Thread Frequency

  • X1P-46-100 3.4GHz
  • X1P-42-100 3.2 GHz

• Single core boost frequency

  • X1P-46-100 4.0 GHz
  • X1P-42-100 3.4GHz

GPU

• Qualcomm® Adreno GPU

  • X1P-46-100 Up to 2.1 TFLOPS
  • X1P-42-100 Up to 1.7 TFLOPS

NPU

• Qualcomm® Hexagon NPU
• TOPS: 45 TOPS
• Micro NPU: Dual Micro NPU on the Qualcomm® Sensing Hub

Memory

• Memory Type: LPDDR5x
• Speed: 8448 MT/s
• Capacity: Up to 64 GB
• Bandwidth: 135 GB/s 16-bit
• Channels: 8

Storage

• SD: SD v3.0
• SSD/NVMe Interface: NVMe SSD PCIe Gen 4
• UFS: UFS 4.0

Process

Screen

• Display Processing Unit (DPU): Qualcomm® Adreno DPU
• Maximum resolution on integrated display: eDP v1.4b, up to UHD120Hz HDR10
• Maximum resolution on external display: DP v1.4 – 3 displays, up to UHD60 Hz HDR10, 2 displays up to 5K60 or UHD120

VPU

• Video Processing Unit (VPU) Name: Qualcomm Adreno VPU
• Encoding: 4K UHD 30 fps 8-bit recording
• Decoding: 4K 30 fps 10-bit playback
• Concurrent:

  • 4K 30fps 8-bit decode + 1080p 30fps encode
  • 1080p 60 fps 10-bit decode + 1080p 30 fps encode

Camera

• Image Signal Processor Name: Qualcomm Spectra ISP
• Camera: up to 36 MP
• Video Capture: 4K HDR

Audio

• Audio Technology: Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, Qualcomm® aptX Audio

RF Modem

• Modem Snapdragon® X65 5G Modem-RF System
• Download peaks up to 10 Gbps
• Upload peaks up to 3.5 Gbps
• Cellular Modem-RF Specs: 1,000 MHz bandwidth (mmWave), 300 MHz bandwidth (sub-6 GHz)
• Performance Enhancing Technologies:

  • Qualcomm® Smart Transmit technology,
  • Qualcomm® Wideband Envelope Tracking,
  • Qualcomm® AI-Enhanced Signal Boost adaptive antenna tuning
  • Qualcomm® 5G PowerSave

• Cellular Technology: 5G NR,Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS),mmWave,sub-6 GHz, HSPA, WCDMA,LTE support for CBRS, CDMA 1x,EV-DO, GSM/EDGE

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth®

• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth System: Qualcomm® FastConnect 7800 Mobile Connectivity 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
• Bands: 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz
• Spatial Streams: up to 4
• Pico QAM: Up to 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

  • Version: Bluetooth 5.4
  • Bluetooth connection technology: Bluetooth LE

USB

• USB version: USB 4.0
• Interface: 3 x USB4 (40Gbps), 2 x USB3.2 Gen2x1, 1x eUSB2

New Snapdragon X Plus references

With the launch of this new Snapdragon X Plus range, the manufacturer has taken the opportunity to Please also expand a reference of its 10-core version. Now the Snapdragon X Plus range is made up of 4 references that you can see in the following table.

Now we have two options in each of the models of 10 and 8 cores of the Snapdragon X Plus, whose difference is in the boost speedthe power of the GPU and the memory cache total. They also retain some features of the top-of-the-range X Elite, such as a 45 TOPS NPU and great performance per watt.

Optimized for Artificial Intelligence

The new 8-core Snapdragon X Plus features Support for software for large companies those responsible for software for content creation, office automation or communications.

In terms of performance, according to the data that the manufacturer has left us for these new 8-core Snapdragon X Plus, the Competition requires up to 216% more energy to achieve the same performance with a single core. This competition is based on the Intel Meteor Lake and AMD Ryzen 8000 Seriesalthough Intel has just presented its Lunar Lake and AMD He already did it with his Ryzen AI 300 Series. It has also left multi-core performance data, with a lower consumption and more efficiency by the Snapdragon, but again comparing with the Meteor Lake and the Ryzen 8000 Series for laptops.

His NPU It has 45 TOPS, a figure that allows it to continue being part of the Copilot+ PCs, but which will soon be shared by the new solutions from Intel and AMD, with 48 and 50 TOPS respectively of performance in their NPUs.

They also highlight the battery lifea feature that is also present in the most powerful version of these processors. Although with the presentation of the Intel Lunar Lake it will have to come face to facesince the battery life It may be similar on both platforms.

The Snapdragon X Plus have great performance per watt

If you’re thinking about another ARM platform, Apple’s MacBooks, the manufacturer has also compared its new platform to the Apple M2As for Apple’s solution, this 8-core Snapdragon X Plus has more advanced versions of WiFi and Bluetooth, faster memory, greater NPU power, and the ability to encode video in AV1.

Ultimately, Snapdragon offers a cheaper alternative, with solutions starting at $799, for those who want to upgrade to the advantages offered by Qualcomm’s new CPUs for Windows. An alternative that shares many features with the top-of-the-range, but has cut back on some cores and GPU power in favor of offering a better price for this type of laptop.

All that remains is for Microsoft and Qualcomm to accelerate the updates that promise to take advantage of this entire arsenal of technology with Windows 11, including artificial intelligence options as well as being able to run applications (and games) developed for x86 more fluidly and with greater compatibility.

In development…

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