Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 vs Intel Core i7-1280P vs Intel Core i5-1250P

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100

The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 is a pretty fast ARM architecture processor (SoC) for use in Windows laptops. The X1E-78-100 is the least powerful member of the Snapdragon X Elite processor series, as of May 2024; as such, it has 12 Oryon CPU cores (3 clusters of equally powerful cores; 12 threads) running at no more than 3.4 GHz. Other key features include the 3.8 TFLOPS Adreno X1-85 iGPU, the 45 TOPS Hexagon NPU and an impressively fast LPDDR5x-8448 memory controller.

The top dog, known as the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100, is thought to be based on the same die with the same NPU but with higher GPU clock speeds, higher CPU clock speeds and possibly higher power targets as well.

Architecture and Features

Qualcomm Oryon cores are in part based on Nuvia IP; they most likely make use of the ARM v8.7 microarchitecture. Much like modern AMD and Intel processors, the Snapdragon chip is compatible with USB 4 and thus with Thunderbolt 4 but it remains to be seen if the X Elite is compatible with GeForce or Radeon discrete graphics cards.

The SoC is said to have 12 PCIe 4 and 4 PCIe 3 lanes for connecting various kinds of devices. NVMe SSDs are supported with a throughput of up to 7.9 GB/s; furthermore, most laptops built around the chip are expected to have 16 GB of LPDDR5X-8448 RAM. There is also a 45 TOPS NPU for accelerating AI workloads.

Performance

Our first benchmarks (featuring a 35 W X Elite X1E-78-100) revealed very decent CPU performance figures that see the X Elite going head-to-head with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U. It's also not much faster or slower than the Apple M3 chip with 10 GPU cores. While not groundbreaking, this should be good enough for the user to be able to run any applications in 2024 and 2025.

Like any other Windows on ARM platform, the Snapdragon X chip works best with applications and games compiled specifically for ARM processors. If making use of the built-in x86 to ARM emulation mode, a performance penalty of about 20% is to be expected.

Graphics

The integrated 3.8 TFLOPS Adreno X1-85 GPU is DirectX 12-enabled but not DirectX 12 Ultimate-enabled, despite featuring VRS and ray tracing support. The 3.8 TFLOPS of performance that it supposedly delivers pale in comparison to the slowest current-generation professional Nvidia Ada graphics card for laptops, the RTX 500 Ada, that's good for up to 9.2 TFLOPS.

Its gaming performance is rather underwhelming according to our in-house testing results. While slightly faster than the aging Iris Xe (96 EUs), the Adreno fails to outgun the Radeon 780M meaning there is little point in comparing it with full-fat discrete graphics cards. Baldur's Gate 3, a triple-A title released in 2023, is pretty much unplayable at 1080p / Low. GTA V, a game that saw the light of day in 2015, is playable at 1080p / High.

The Qualcomm iGPU will let you use up to 3 UHD 2160p monitors simultaneously. 2160p120 integrated displays are supported, as are the popular AV1, HEVC and AVC video codecs (both decoding and encoding). The hardware does not support the VVC codec; that feature remains a Lunar Lake exclusive for now.

Power consumption

The X1E-78-100 is set to be slightly less power-hungry than its more powerful brothers. Expect to see anything between 20 W and 45 W under long-term workloads depending on the system and on the performance profile chosen. That's exactly what Ryzen HS chips normally consume.

The SoC is built with a 4 nm TSMC process for decent, as of H1 2024, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i7-1280P

The Intel Core i7-1280P is the flagship Alder Lake-P CPU, which is to say, an expensive 28 W part meant for use in ultra-light (yet actively cooled) laptops. This CPU was announced in early 2022 and it has 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) mated to 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for whopping 20 threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock speeds range from 1.8 GHz to 4.8 GHz for the performance cluster and 1.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz for the efficiency cluster. This is the only hexa-core 28 W Alder Lake CPU as of February 2022, trumping what the more affordable i7-1270P and i7-1260P have in store. Full vPro feature set is supported by this Core i7 ("Enterprise" tier, allowing for remote device management).

Architecture

The i7 is a continuation of Intel's efforts to use the ARM-developed big.LITTLE technology for its own benefit. A single "little" Alder Lake core is supposed to be just as fast as a Skylake core (as found in the venerable Core i7-6700HQ among other options) which is six years old at this point. All of a Core i7-1280P's CPU cores enjoy access to 24 MB of L3 cache. The integrated memory controller supports up to 64 GB of LPDDR5-5200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR4x-4267 or DDR4-3200 RAM. Just like the other 12th Gen Intel Core processors, Core i7-1280P comes with Thread Director which is a new functionality designed to help Windows 11 decide which cores to use for what workload for best performance and efficiency possible. Hardware acceleration of AI algorithms is supported via GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). PCI-Express 5.0 support has not found its way into Alder Lake P processors, so users will have to be content with PCI-Express 4.0 for the time being. Four PCI-Express 4 lanes allow for a read/write rate of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (BGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

The average 1280P in our database delivers multi-thread benchmarks scores that are most similar to those of the Ryzen 9 5900HS, Ryzen 9 PRO 6950HS and also the Core i9-11980HK.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 80 W, the MSI Summit E16 Flip A12UDT-031 is among the fastest laptops built around the 1280P that we know of. It can be roughly 60% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 96 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.45 GHz has seen no change from what was built into the 11th Gen Tiger Lake-UP3 processors, like a i7-1165G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features such as AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support. An Iris Xe Graphics G7 will let you use up to 4 monitors simultaneously, provided the laptop has the ports required.

The graphics adapter will let you play most games at 1080p / Medium settings to be very close to NVIDIA's MX350.

That being said, the Xe's gaming performance is bound to be tied to how high the Power Limits and how competent the cooling solution of a laptop are. Fast RAM is a prerequisite for decent performance as well (the Iris Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory).

Last but not the least, we discovered that the GPU utilization when playing YouTube UHD 2160p60 videos is higher than it was with Tiger Lake chips.

Power consumption

The i7's base power consumption (also known as the default TDP value or the PL1) is 28 W, with 64 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption (also known as the PL2). The "Minimum Assured" power consumption is fairly high at 20 watts. All in all, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The i7-1280P is built with Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency. This is still a rather power-hungry CPU; a single P-core will happily eat more than 20 W and even ask for more when under heavy load. A couple of higher-end 7 nm U-class AMD Ryzen 5000 chips are noticeably more modest than the i7 while delivering the same or higher performance levels.

Intel Core i5-1250P

The Intel Core i5-1250P is a mid-range Alder Lake-P family SoC designed for use in ultra-light, ultra-thin (yet actively cooled) laptops. It was announced in early 2022 and it has 4 performance cores, as opposed to the 6 cores of the top-of-the-line i7-1280P (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) mated to 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The i5's P-cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for a total of 16 threads when combined with its E-cores. The clock speeds range from 1.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz for the performance cluster and 1.2 GHz to 3.3 GHz for the efficient cluster. The shortcomings of this processor as compared with the slightly faster Core i5-1260P include the smaller L3 cache, slower iGPU model, lower clock speeds. Full vPro feature set is enabled in the case of this i5, though ("Enterprise" tier, allowing for remote device management).

Architecture

The i5 is a continuation of Intel's efforts to use the ARM-developed big.LITTLE technology for its own benefit. A single "little" Alder Lake core is supposed to be as fast as a Skylake core (as found in the venerable Core i7-6700HQ among other options) which is six years old at this point. All of Core i5-1250P's CPU cores enjoy access to 12 MB of L3 cache. The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to LPDDR5-5200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR4x-4267 or DDR4-3200; Intel recommends using no more than 64 GB, for reference. Just like the other 12th Gen Intel Core processors, this Core i5 comes with the Thread Director which is a new functionality designed to help Windows 11 decide which cores to use for what workload for best performance and efficiency possible. Hardware acceleration of AI algorithms is supported via GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). The alluringly fast PCI-Express 5.0 spec has not found its way into Alder Lake P processors, so users will have to be content with PCI-Express 4.0 for the time being. Four PCI-Express 4 lanes allow for a read/write rate of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It gets permanently soldered on to the motherboard (FCBGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

The average 1250P in our database nearly matches the Ryzen 5 5500U and the Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U in multi-thread performance, trailing behind the Core i5-1240P just slightly. This is a great CPU for nearly all tasks imaginable, as long as one does not expect it to be as fast as the mighty Core i7-12700H.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your system is. The latter is really important as a single Golden Cove core can eat more than 20 W when under heavy load.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 80 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.4 GHz has seen little change from what was built into certain 11th Gen Tiger Lake UP3 processors, like a Core i5-1135G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features, AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support included. The Xe isn't a stranger to a bit of casual gaming; that said, your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how capable the cooling solution of a laptop is. Expect something close to NVIDIA's MX250 or in other words, acceptable framerates in most games when playing at 1080p / Low settings. Fast RAM is a prerequisite for decent performance as the Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory.

Power consumption

The i5's base power consumption (also known as the default TDP or Power Limit 1) is 28 W; its maximum Turbo power consumption (also known as the PL2) is not supposed to exceed 64 W. As for the "Minimum Assured" power consumption, Intel's guidelines mention 20 W. All in all, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The i5-1250P is built with Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm manufacturing process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency. Despite that, the i5 is more power-hungry than certain 7 nm U-class AMD Ryzen 5000 chips delivering similar, or even higher, performance.