Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100

The 8-core Snapdragon X (X1-26-100) is an affordable ARM architecture processor for use in Windows laptops. Unveiled in Jan 2025, this Qualcomm SoC features 8 Oryon CPU cores running at up to 2.98 GHz, along with the 1.7 TFLOPS X1-45 iGPU and the 45 TOPS Hexagon NPU. The super-fast LPDDR5x-8448 memory controller, USB 4.0 support, TB 4 support and PCIe 4 support are all onboard as well.

Architecture and Features

The Oryon cores (2 clusters of essentially identical cores; 8 threads) are mostly based on Nuvia IP and reportedly 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 (with no eGPU support).

The X1-26-100 is based on the smaller die codenamed Purwa, unlike most X Elite and some X Plus processors. It is believed to have at least 8 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 present for accelerating AI workloads.

Performance

The CPU should be about 10% slower than its faster brother named X1P-42 due to the latter's higher CPU clock speeds. Generally speaking, a performance level similar to recent U-class Intel Core 5 chips is to be expected.

Graphics

The X1-45 used here delivers up to 1.7 TFLOPS of performance. Unlike the much faster 3.8 TFLOPS and 4.6 TFLOPS X1-85 iGPUs, this little guy here has much fewer unified shaders and runs at lower clock speeds, too. Games put it a little behind the GeForce MX350; this kind of performance is sufficient for older games and sub-900p resolutions only.

AVC, HEVC and AV1 video codecs can be both hardware-decoded and hardware-encoded whereas with VP9, only decoding is possible. The highest monitor resolution supported is UHD 2160p.

Power consumption

Expect to see anything between 15 W and 30 W under long-term workloads depending on the system and the power profile chosen. The number includes RAM power consumption.

The SoC is built with TSMC's N4P process for decent power efficiency, as of H1 2025.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

The Snapdragon 8 Elite (SM8750-AB) is a high-end SoC for flagship smartphones and tablets in 2025 and the top product from the US manufacturer.

For the first time, Qualcomm is using CPU cores in smartphone SoCs that are not adapted ARM designs, but have their own ARM-based architecture: The manufacturer calls the processor part a second-generation Oryon CPU.

The previously used efficiency cores are no longer required and their task is taken over by the performance cores which, according to the manufacturer, are now flexible and efficient enough for this purpose.

There are a total of 2 prime cores with up to 4.32 GHz for complex tasks, which according to Qualcomm can also be overclocked at times. there are also 6 performance cores for less demanding tasks, which clock at up to 3.53 GHz.

Both processor clusters have 12 MB of L2 cache, which should offer low latency despite its size. Next up in the cache hirachy is a 8 MB SLC L3 cache and finally four 16 Bit LPDDR5x memory controllers to the main memory.

A new Adreno 830, which has also been redesigned, is used as the GPU. Thanks to the so-called "sliced architecture", it now offers three processing cores with a clock speed of up to 1.1 GHz.

Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen. 3, Qualcomm promises a processor speed advantage of up to 45% and similar efficiency gains. With the GPU, performance gains of up to 40% should be possible.

The focus for the 2025 flagship smartphones is also on AI. The new Hexagon NPU should offer 45% more performance compared to its predecessor and also work 45% more efficiently. There is also broad support for multimodal generative AI models.

The three ISPs have also been revised and are now called Spectra AI ISP. They can handle data from up to 3 48-megapixel cameras simultaneously. A resolution of up to 320 megapixels is possible with a single camera. Unlimited semantic segmentation is possible with 4K images, meaning that as many different layers and objects can be distinguished as there are in the image. This allows automatic photo optimization to be improved. In addition, the NPU now has direct access to the RAW data from the sensors for the first time.

The integrated Snapdragon X80 Modem-RF 5G system allows simultaneous transfers of 5G-mmWave and 5G-Sub6, enabling data rates of up to 10 GBit/s in download and up to 3.5 GBit/s in upload. The modem is also able to support all globally known 5G bands. Qualcomm's FastConnect 7900, which supports Bluetooth 6.0 and Wi-Fi 7, is responsible for local communication.

The SoC is manufactured at TSMC using the state of the art 3 nm process.