Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus: What’s the Difference, SKUs, and Benchmarks

Apr. 25, 2024

Qualcomm has finally announced the entire lineup of Snapdragon X series processors. There are four different chipsets including three from the Elite tier and one from the Plus tier. So in this article, we unpack the naming scheme of Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors. Further, we explain the difference between variants, benchmark scores, and more. On that note, let’s jump in.

Snapdragon X Series Naming Scheme

The Snapdragon X Series has atotal of four processorsand two SoC platforms: Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus. Snapdragon X Elite has three different SKUs and Snapdragon X Plus has just one SKU. Here are the different SKUs for each platform.

Snapdragon X Elite

Snapdragon X Plus

Let’s now understand the naming scheme. The product number X1E-84-100 has ‘X’ which means it’s a Snapdragon X series processor; ‘1’ denotes the generation since this is Qualcomm’s first Oryon-based PC chipset; ‘E’ is for Elite, likewise ‘P’ is for Plus;’84’ is the SKUwhich is different for each processor; finally ‘100’ is the variant which is the same on all processors.

Each SKU is largelydifferentiated by the CPU clock speed. Although there must be a difference in power draw for all these processors, Qualcomm has not officially disclosed TDP figures.

Now that we have understood the naming scheme, let’s go through the various SKUs and understand their differences. But before that, here is what is common across all the chipsets. All four processors across the Elite and Plus tiers have thesame Hexagon NPUwhich delivers performance up to 45 TOPS.

In addition, all four processors support LPDDR5x memory and PCIe 4.0/UFS 4.0 storage. Next, the memory bandwidth is135 GBps across all chipsets. Unlike Apple, Qualcomm has not reduced the memory/storage speed for different-tier chipsets which is great. Lastly, Elite tier chipsets have 12 CPU cores and the Plus tier chipset has 10 CPU cores.

Now, let’s come to the differences. Snapdragon X Elite has three different processors and all of them feature 12 Oryon CPU cores. The top-of-the-line processor is X1E-84-100 which packs 12 CPU cores and has a total 42MB of system-level cache. It canboost dual cores up to 4.2GHzand the maximum multithreaded frequency is 3.8GHz.

Next, we come to the second-most powerful chipset in the Snapdragon X Elite lineup. The X1E-80-100 processor has the same 12 CPU cores and 42MB of cache. However, the frequency is slightly reduced here. It canboost dual cores up to 4.0GHzand the maximum multithreaded frequency is clocked up to 3.4GHz. There is a reduction of 400MHz to 200MHz in top clock speeds, compared to X1E-84-100.

The Adreno GPU is again slightly less powerful, performing up to3.8 TFLOPs(as opposed to 4.6 TFLOPs on the top variant). And the NPU can perform up to 45 TOPS. In the leaks, we have seen this particular variant onSamsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edgeand Microsoft’sSurface Laptop 6.

Now, coming to the third-most powerful and last processor in the Snapdragon X Elite lineup. The X1E-78-100 processor features 12 CPU cores and comes with 42MB of cache. It does not offer dual-core boost and the maximum multithreadedfrequency is amped up to 3.4GHz. In comparison to the second variant, the max frequency is the same, however, you don’t get turbo boost.

The Adreno GPU and the NPU remain the same,delivering 3.8 TFLOPs, and 45 TOPS, respectively. So far, we have seen this processor onLenovo’s upcoming Snapdragon-edition laptops.

Finally, we come to theSnapdragon X Pluschipset which has only one SKU. The X1P-64-100 processor has10 CPU cores(instead of 12) and features 42MB of total cache. Just like its nearest Elite tier chipset (X1E-78-100), it doesn’t offer a dual-core boost and has the same maximum multithreaded frequency, clocked up to 3.4GHz. The only difference is the CPU core count between the Plus and the nearest Elite variant.

Its Adreno GPU can perform operations up to3.8 TFLOPsand the NPU can perform up to 45 TOPS. As for leaks, we have seen this particular processor on Microsoft’s upcomingSurface Pro 10 laptop.

In the below image, we have plotted the benchmark scores between Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus.

Yes, in the multi-core test, it does beat Apple M3, but with a slight margin. I would say, both are on par and I am reallyinterested in Snapdragon X Plusas it would be relatively affordable and performs better than the base Apple M3 in multi-threaded tasks due to higher 10 CPU cores.

What is your opinion on the Snapdragon X series lineup for Windows PCs? Let us know in the comments below.

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