Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 vs Intel Core i7-1260U
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3
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The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Compute Platform is an ARM based SoC for Windows laptops. It integrates four big ARM Cortex-X1 performance cores (up to 3 GHz) and four smaller ARM Cortex-A78 with up to 2.4 GHz.
The Compute Platform also integrates a Snapdragon X62 5G modem with up to 10 Gbps download and 316 Mbps upload. The integrated WLAN modem supports Wi-Fi 6E (2x2) and the satellite positioning system supports BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, and SBAS. The integrated video engine supports H.264, H.265, and VP9 decoding in 4K 120fps.
The performance should be around 85% faster for the CPU and 60% faster for the GPU compared to the previous generation (Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2).
The chip is produced in the modern 5nm process at Samsung (5LPE) and designed for fanless laptops (7 to 9 Watt TDP range).
Intel Core i7-1260U
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The Intel Core i7-1260U is a mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 2 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.1 to 4.7 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.8 to 3.5 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 12 MB L3 cache. The 1260U offers "Enterprise" vPro management features. Compared to the P-series (28W) or H-series (45W), or even the 15W U-series, the 9W TDP will limit the sustained performance.
Performance
Compared to the old 7 Watt Comet Lake-Y series (like the i7-10510Y), the performance should be clearly better thanks to the 10 cores and the improved architecture of the P-cores. Compared to the 15 W U-series (like the similar specified Core i7-1265U) the sustained performance will be clearly limited by the 9 Watt TDP. As always, the performance will also greatly depend on the cooling solution, especially for fanless laptops and tablets.
Features
The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).
The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers all 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 0.95 GHz.
Power consumption
This 12th gen Core i7 processor has a Base power consumption of 9 W, with 29 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption. It is built with Intel's 2nd gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for decent energy efficiency.
Model | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 | Intel Core i7-1260U | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Cortex-X1 / A78 | Alder Lake-U | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Qualcomm Snapdragon | Intel Alder Lake-M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clock | 2400 - 2995 MHz | 800 - 4700 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 768 KB | 928 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 6 MB | 9.5 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 8 MB | 12 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 8 / 8 | 10 / 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 7 Watt | 9 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 5 nm | 10 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | FastConnect 6900 2x2 Wi-Fi, Adreno 690 GPU | LPDDR4x-4266/LPDDR5-5200 RAM, PCIe 4, Thr. Director, DL B., GNA, vPro Ent., RPE, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, EIST, TM1, TM2, HT, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, TME | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Qualcomm Adreno 690 | Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs ( - 950 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | ARM | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | www.qualcomm.com | ark.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Alder Lake-M Alder Lake-U |
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max. Temp. | 100 °C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | BGA1781 |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 → 100% n=24
Average Benchmarks Intel Core i7-1260U → 215% n=24

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation