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Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx vs Microsoft SQ1

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx

► remove from comparison Qualcomm SD 8cx

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Compute Platform (or SD8cx) is a ARM based SoC for Windows laptops. It integrates a similar CPU part as the Snapdragon 855 (same cores but without the Prime Core feature) and is manufactured in 7nm at TSMC. The 4 Kryo 495 Gold cores are based on the ARM Cortex-A76 architecture (for performance) and clocked at 2.84 GHz under load (no single core Turbo). The 4 Kryo 495 Silver cores are small ARM Cortex-A55 cores for power efficiency and clocked at 1.9 GHz under load. According to Qualcomm, the clock speed should not be reduced under constant load with typical (fanless) cooling. The integrated X24 LTE modem supports up to 2 Gbps download speeds. Furthermore, the SoC integrates ac-Wifi and a dual-channel 32-bit 1866 MHz LPDDR4x memory controller.

The processor performance should be similar to a Intel Core i5 8th gen U-series (e.g. i5-8250U) according to Qualcomm. However, this is only the case for native ARM64 compiled Windows apps which are not that many (in mid 2019). 32 bit applications and games for AMD/Intel run in a rather slow emulation and 64 bit apps wont start at all (but an emulator should come in Windows in 2021).

The integrated Adreno 680 graphics card is a beefier version of the Adreno 640 in the Snapdragon 855 and should be twice as fast as the old Adreno 630 (in Windows laptops) and offer a 60% higher efficiency.

The chip is very power efficient as its produced at Samsung in the modern 7 nm process (7LPP). Therefore, laptops using the Snapdragon 8cx can be passively cooled (no fan) and should not throttle under constant load.

Microsoft SQ1

► remove from comparison Qualcomm SQ1

The Microsoft SQ1 is a ARM based SoC for Windows tablets (Surface Pro X). It is based on the Snapdragon 8cx but with higher clocked CPU and GPU cores. The CPU cores clock with up to 3 GHz. The 4 Kryo 495 Gold cores are based on the ARM Cortex-A76 architecture (for performance) and clocked at up to 3 GHz (2.84 GHz  for the 8cx) under load (no single core Turbo). The 4 Kryo 495 Silver cores are small ARM Cortex-A55 cores for power efficiency and clocked at 1.9 GHz (unverified) under load. The integrated X24 LTE modem supports up to 2 Gbps download speeds. Furthermore, the SoC integrates ac-Wifi and a dual-channel 32-bit 1866 MHz LPDDR4x memory controller.

The processor performance should be similar to a Intel Core i5 8th gen U-series (e.g. i5-8250U) according to Qualcomm. However, this is only the case for native ARM64 compiled Windows apps which are not that many (in mid 2019). 32 bit applications and games for AMD/Intel run in a rather slow emulation and 65 bit apps wont start at all.

The integrated Adreno 685 graphics card is a higher clocked version of the Adreno 680 in the Snapdragon 8cx. Microsoft claims 2 TFlops theoretical performance compared to the 1.8 for the Adreno 680 (+11%).

The chip is very power efficient as its produced at TSMC in the modern 7 process. Therefore, laptops using the Snapdragon 8cx can be passively cooled (no fan) and should not throttle under constant load.

ModelQualcomm Snapdragon 8cxMicrosoft SQ1
SeriesQualcomm SnapdragonQualcomm Snapdragon
CodenameCortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Series: Snapdragon Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G compare3.15 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Microsoft SQ13 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx « 2.84 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G compare3.15 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Microsoft SQ1 « 3 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx2.84 GHz8 / 8 cores2 MB L3 Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495)
Clock2840 MHz3000 MHz
L3 Cache2 MB2 MB
Cores / Threads8 / 88 / 8
TDP7 Watt
Technology7 nm7 nm
FeaturesX24 LTE Modem, Adreno 680 GPUX24 LTE Modem, Adreno 685 GPU
iGPUQualcomm Adreno 680Qualcomm Adreno 685
ArchitectureARMARM
Announced
Manufacturerwww.qualcomm.comwww.microsoft.com

Benchmarks

Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (32bit)
591 Points (4%)
91%
SQ1 +
537 Points (3%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
4187 Points (3%)
102%
SQ1 +
4276 Points (3%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 1024m *
442.1 s (5%)
100%
SQ1 +
429.3 s (5%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 32m *
14.6 s (3%)
100%
SQ1 +
14.2 s (3%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M *
10.9 s (2%)
98%
SQ1 +
21.2 s (5%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M *
100%
1 SQ1 +
46.7 s (2%)
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 32M *
564 s (3%)
98%
SQ1 +
1095 s (5%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Physics
3095 Points (8%)
104%
SQ1 +
3210 Points (9%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
700 Points (30%)
106%
SQ1 +
739 Points (31%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
2760 Points (5%)
104%
SQ1 +
2875 Points (5%)
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Single-Core
100%
1 SQ1 +
728 Points (3%)
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
100%
1 SQ1 +
2785 Points (9%)
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Single-Core
3313 Points (33%)
25%
SQ1 +
830 Points (8%)
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
11047 Points (12%)
24%
SQ1 +
2597 Points (3%)
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
1464 ms (2%)
100%
SQ1 +
1408 ms (2%)
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
29364 Points (26%)
106%
SQ1 +
31099 Points (28%)
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
116 Points (24%)
100%
SQ1 +
116 Points (24%)

Average Benchmarks Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx → 100% n=14

Average Benchmarks Microsoft SQ1 → 90% n=14

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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v1.26
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#3 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Thu, 28 Mar 2024 05:35:32 +0100 +0.001s ... 0.001s

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#11 min, max, avg, median took s +0.089s ... 0.129s

#12 return log +0.022s ... 0.151s

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)