Qualcomm’s much-hyped Snapdragon X Elite processor is seemingly less performant than expected in 3D tasks. First reviews indicate that the so-called x86 killer doesn’t deliver enough graphics horsepower.
According to NotebookCheck, who reviewed an Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED laptop, the Snapdragon X Elite chip inside was only able to deliver 51.1fps in Dota 2 Reborn at 1080p Ultra and 15.6fps in Final Fantasy XV at 1080p High. This puts it behind many machines rocking AMD’s 780M and Intel’s Iris Xe G7 iGPUs.
However, there is a beacon of hope that this could relate to early drivers and firmware, as the chip managed to beat some of its competitors in GTA V. In the nine-year-old sandbox, Snapdragon’s Adreno GPU managed to process 20.4fps at 1080p on the highest settings. Of course, this is far from an acceptable frame rate, but lowering the graphics options could push performance into playable territories. The important thing to note from this game is that the Snapdragon X Elite beats Intel’s Iris Xe and Arc iGPUs, even getting close to AMD’s Radeon 780M.
Looking at another review from Dave2D, we see Helldivers 2 pumping 41fps, Palworld at 39fps, Overwatch 2 at 83fps, Baldur’s Gate 3 at 35fps, and Cyberpunk 2077 at 34fps. If you think these are nice and totally playable, the catch is that they were run at 1080p low settings. That said, if graphics aren’t important to you, then congrats – you can game on an ARM-powered Windows machine.
Unfortunately, lacklustre gaming performance isn’t the only issue this processor faces. Some games crash constantly, some can’t deliver a smooth experience no matter the settings, and some won’t even launch. Though Qualcomm could iron out some bugs, overall performance won’t magically double. All of this explains why the brand didn’t focus on gaming during its announcement.
Meanwhile, if you are wondering about its AI capabilities, specifically Microsoft’s Copilot+, reviews for the latter have been delayed due to the recent Recall feature debacle. Early benchmarks for general performance don’t paint a fantastic picture, though.
Hopefully, updates and optimisations could lead to better performance on ARM chips, as the promised battery life is very enticing. Playing for more than two hours on battery would be great. So, fingers crossed for the future.