Demonstration of a Snapdragon X Elite system at a Microsoft Build 2024 session provides insight into actual performance of Snapdragon Oryon CPU

The demonstration of a Snapdragon X Elite system during a Microsoft Build 2024 session has provided insight into the actual performance of the Snapdragon Oryon CPU powering some Windows on ARM laptops launched this year. The Oryon CPU was developed at Nuvia, a startup founded by former Apple M1 CPU designers and acquired by Qualcomm for $1.4 billion in 2021.

Qualcomm is a major designer of system-on-chips using ARM-based CPUs under its Snapdragon brand for smartphones. These SoCs are used in top models such as the Samsung Galaxy series. Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm in 2019 to launch the Surface Pro X with a Microsoft SQ1 ARM-based CPU in an attempt to establish an alternative to current AMD and Intel-based systems. Three models later, the performance and runtime of the Surface Pro 9 ARM remained subpar even versus the Intel-CPU Surface Pro 9.

Earlier in May, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and major laptop manufacturers tried once again with the launch of several CoPilot+ branded laptops with the latest Snapdragon X Elite and Plus SoCs. Detailed performance benchmarks remain scant and are kept to Apple launch-like boasts (e.g. 2x faster – conveniently round numbers trigger fake news thoughts).

The Blender Classroom demo was run on the 12-core Oryon CPU during the “Introducing the Next Generation of Windows on Arm” session (20:25 on). Blender was ported to run natively on the X Elite, so a direct comparison with Intel and AMD systems can’t be made due to code and settings differences. However, a guestimate based on published numbers on Openbenchmarking can be made.

Blender Classroom benchmarks:
(Note: Code, settings, and other differences prevent a direct comparison)
Blender 4.2 Alpha native port for Oryon.
Blender 4.1 for AMD/Intel benchmarks.
Blender 4.0 for GPU benchmarks.

Seconds - Platform
8 – 4090 GPU OptiX
11 – 4090 GPU CUDA
15 – 3090 GPU OptiX
16 – 3080 GPU Ti OptiX
26 – 3080 GPU CUDA
36 - 2x Xeon 9490H CPU
37 – AMD RX3800 GPU
38 – Oryon
100 – Intel Ultra 7 155 CPU
153 - i9-14900K CPU

The benchmarks suggest that the Snapdragon X Elite will be faster than the Surface Pro 9 ARM, but it is within the same performance range as a typical MacBook Air. Still, CoPilot+ laptops will be slower than a mid-range AMD gaming laptop like the Asus G14.

Readers itching to get some serious 3D, AR, VR, XR, gaming, and work done without waiting on a slow system should look into picking up a mid-range gaming laptop like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 on BestBuy (review) or a top-end gaming monster like the Asus Strix Scar 17 on Amazon (review).

The actual number of native applications remains small, and details on the new Prism x64 emulator remain scant. Unless the emulator is able to greatly expand Windows on ARM compatibility and performance of x64 apps and drivers, the latest CoPilot+ laptops will likely remain a niche product for the office worker who isn’t using much more than Microsoft Office, Outlook, and Teams for their daily tasks.