At the final session of the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2024, Qualcomm also included a performance test session for its computing platform products. The session highlighted the performance gap between the Snapdragon X Elite computing platform, unveiled at the event and used in commercially available laptops, and the performance gap compared to the actual models released by Intel and AMD at IFA 2024 using their processors. This emphasized that Qualcomm's computing platform still holds a firm position in real-world performance scenarios.
On the other hand, Qualcomm also used an engineering machine equipped with the newly unveiled Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile computing platform to boast about its actual performance leading Intel and AMD laptops through cross-species comparison.
Emphasize that the Snapdragon X Elite computing platform still performs well when running on battery power without being plugged in.
Although Qualcomm has already released actual application performance data comparing Intel, AMD, and even Apple's processors during this year's IFA 2024, it still presented comparative data against Intel and other industry players for verification at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2024 event.
In the relevant testing phase, Qualcomm actually tested and compared the same laptop models from Dell and Samsung, equipped with Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) and Intel's Core Ultra 7 256V processors respectively.
In the SPECrate2017 Base test, with all test devices connected to a charger, the actual results obtained through a single test were relatively similar. However, after repeated test runs, the results showed significant differences, indicating that Intel's processor design has significant thermal protection limitations, while the Qualcomm processor can still maintain significantly higher performance output.
The SPECrate 2017 test results also show performance at the same power consumption. The Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) outperforms the Core Ultra 7 256V by approximately 52%, while consuming 41% less power at the same performance output.
However, Qualcomm's data differs significantly from Intel's previously released comparisons. This is due to Qualcomm's continued collaboration with Microsoft on multiple updates following the launch of the first wave of Snapdragon X Elite applications. Furthermore, more performance benchmarking software has been added to support Qualcomm's new processors, leading to different performance measurement results. Qualcomm claims these results are closer to real-world user experiences.
After these adjustments, Qualcomm stated that even though the Core Ultra 7 256V's single-core performance curve mirrors that of the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100), there's still a roughly 10% performance difference between the two at the same wattage. Furthermore, the Core Ultra 7 256V actually consumes more power to achieve the same multi-core performance as the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100).
Qualcomm also pointed out that Intel's data comparisons aren't based on products of the same level. For example, in single-core performance, Intel is comparing the higher-performance Core Ultra 7 288V with the less advanced Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100). Adding the higher-spec Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) would yield completely different results in the Cinebench R24 and Geekbench 6 single-core tests.
When compared to the Dell XPS 13 using the same chassis, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) achieved a 24% higher peak multi-core performance in Cinebench R7 than the Core Ultra 256 92V.
Qualcomm emphasized that the Core Ultra 7 256V exhibited significant performance drops in all tests conducted in battery-balanced mode. In contrast, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) showed little change, even maintaining similar performance in Geekbench and Cinebench single-core and multi-core tests compared to when plugged in.
Qualcomm also pointed out that when operating in optimal battery-saving mode on laptops with the same body design, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) can achieve up to 28.7 hours of battery life, while the Core Ultra 7 256V can only reach 24.2 hours. When Procyon AI tested the NPU's AI computing performance, the Qualcomm processor also had a clear advantage in architectural design.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite has a higher stability in performance output and can even compete with laptops in a heterogeneous comparison.
In another test session, Qualcomm also provided a reference design phone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite computing platform for comparison. Since Qualcomm has already released specific performance test data, I focused on 3DMark, a user experience test for mobile gaming, a common experience for many people.
A continuous stress test of 3 times using 20DMark Wild Life Extreme revealed that the average display frame rate was maintained at around 30fps. The decline in single-shot display performance after 20 consecutive stress tests was relatively gradual, maintaining a stable performance of around 66%. This represented no significant drop compared to previous Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped models on the market, indicating that overall performance remained stable during use.
It's worth noting that compared to last year's stress test using a reference design phone equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which produced a temperature so hot it was difficult to hold, this time, the reference design phone using the Snapdragon 8 Elite computing platform maintained an acceptable temperature after several rounds of performance testing. This means it's not too hot to hold in one hand, demonstrating that the computing platform's safe temperature is kept within a relatively low range while still being able to achieve higher performance output.
In a cross-species comparison with laptops powered by the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100), Core Ultra 7 256V, and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX370, the reference design phone using the Snapdragon 8 Elite computing platform clearly leads in single-core performance, primarily due to its second-generation proprietary Oryon CPU featuring a higher-clocked core design. In multi-core performance, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100), with its 12-core design, still holds a significant advantage.
Both the Core Ultra 7 256V and Ryzen AI 9 HX370 operate in battery balancing mode to conserve power, significantly reducing overall performance. However, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) and Snapdragon 8 Elite remain virtually unaffected by whether they're plugged in or not, maintaining nearly consistent performance.
