Qualcomm SD X Adreno X1-85 4.6 TFLOPS vs Qualcomm SD X Adreno X1-45 1.7 TFLOPS

Qualcomm SD X Adreno X1-85 4.6 TFLOPS

The 4.6 TFLOPS Adreno X1-85 is a relatively powerful integrated graphics adapter that the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 and the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-00-1DE chips feature, as of Sep 2024. It has 1,536 unified shaders running at up to 1,500 MHz. The slower 3.8 TFLOPS Adreno X1-85 used in the more affordable flavors of the Snapdragon X computing platform runs at lower clock speeds while delivering the same features and having the same hardware configuration as what the luckier 4.6 TFLOPS model offers.

Architecture

The underlying architecture is reportedly (Chips and Cheese) in many respects the same as what was used in the Adreno 730, rendering the iGPU DirectX 12-compatible but not DirectX 12 Ultimate-compatible. Ray tracing is only supported via Vulcan 1.3. The highest OpenGL version supported is ES 3.2. The iGPU enjoys access to fast enough RAM but has comparatively small and slow caches to work with. AVC, HEVC and AV1 video codecs can be both hardware-decoded and hardware-encoded; with VP9, only decoding is possible.

The highest monitor resolution supported is UHD 2160p rather than SUHD 4320p.

Performance

The 4.6 TFLOPS of peak performance that the X1-85 delivers pale in comparison with the slowest professional current-generation Nvidia Ada graphics card for laptops, the RTX 500 Ada, that is good for up to 9.2 TFLOPS.

If our Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 review is any indication, the 4.6 TFLOPS model is in many use cases almost as good as the Intel Arc 8, allowing the former to deliver playable experience in many 2023 and 2024 games such as Baldur's Gate 3 at 1080p on low graphics settings. Just like it is with AMD, Intel and Nvidia products, a lot depends on the power targets of a specific system.

It is worth mentioning that Qualcomm's graphics drivers aren't quite as polished as what AMD, Intel and especially Nvidia have to offer, leading to severe visual artifacts in certain games. A lot of games wont start at all.

Power consumption

As the most powerful Qualcomm chips for laptops, the X Elite X1E-84-100 as well as the X Elite X1E-00-1DE can consume up to 80 W (including the on-package RAM) depending on the system and the power profile chosen. That means the iGPU actually has a chance to show its full might by eating up to 50 W.

Considering TSMC's N4P process is employed, it's reasonable to say power efficiency is going to be better than average with this iGPU, as of late 2024. Apple is still king in this area with its M-series CPUs and GPUs, of course.

Qualcomm SD X Adreno X1-45 1.7 TFLOPS

The 1.7 TFLOPS Adreno X1-45 is an integrated graphics adapter that the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core X1P-42-100 SoC features. Compared to the faster 3.8 TFLOPS and 4.6 TFLOPS X1-85 iGPUs, this little guy does not just run at lower clock speeds but also has fewer unified shaders at its disposal, with 768 being the most likely number. The 2.1 TFLOPS X1-45 variant on the other hand only differs in clock speeds.

Architecture

The underlying architecture is reportedly (ChipsAndCheese) in many respects the same as what was used in the Adreno 730, rendering the iGPU DirectX 12-compatible but not DirectX 12 Ultimate-compatible. Ray tracing is only supported via Vulcan 1.3. The highest OpenGL version supported is ES 3.2. The iGPU enjoys access to fast enough RAM but has comparatively small and slow caches to work with. AVC, HEVC and AV1 video codecs can be both hardware-decoded and hardware-encoded; with VP9, only decoding is possible.

The highest monitor resolution supported is UHD 2160p rather than SUHD 4320p.

Performance

A lot depends on the power targets of a specific system, just like it is with AMD, Intel and Nvidia products. That being said, the 1.7 TFLOPS model is on par with the GeForce GTX 950M and significantly behind the Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80 EUs) in synthetic benchmarks. Games put it really close to the GeForce MX350 which is a lot better; still, this kind of performance is only just sufficient for pre-2020 games and resolutions such as HD 720p.

It is also worth mentioning that Qualcomm's graphics drivers aren't quite as polished as what AMD, Intel and especially Nvidia have to offer, leading to severe visual artefacts in certain games. A lot of games won't start at all.

Power consumption

Snapdragon X Plus 8-core chips normally consume no more than 30 W, including the on-package RAM. This makes it highly unlikely that the iGPU will ever get to eat more than 20 W.

Since TSMC's N4P process is employed, it's safe to say power efficiency is going to be better than average with this iGPU, as of late 2024. It's still far behind Apple's M-series chips of course as our in-depth analysis article shows.