Qualcomm on Wednesday announced the launch of the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processor ahead of its upcoming IFA 2024 event in Berlin. The new Snapdragon chipset is a more affordable version of the 10-core Arm-based laptop processors launched earlier this year, and is built on the same 4nm process technology. The chipset also features the same Oryon processor cores as the company’s other X-series processors, and it powers on-device artificial intelligence (AI) apps and features.
Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor features
The octa-core Snapdragon X Plus chipset is equipped with eight Qualcomm Oryon CPU cores with 30MB of CPU cache — 12MB less than the more expensive X Plus chips — along with support for up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The X1P-42-100 variant has a maximum clock speed of 3.2GHz and a 1.7 TFLOPS Adreno GPU, while the X1P-46-100 chip has a slightly higher clock speed of 3.4GHz with a faster 2.1 TFLOPS GPU.
The Adreno GPU in the recently announced 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processors supports up to three 4K external displays at 60Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU is capable of performing 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) for on-device AI functions in compatible apps.
Qualcomm says the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip will support PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs or UFS 4.0 storage. Devices equipped with this processor will also be able to support cameras up to 36-megapixel with support for 4K HDR video recording through the company’s Spectra ISP.
8-core Snapdragon X Plus
Photo source: Qualcomm
The Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF system on the processor enables mmWave and Sub-6GHz 5G networks with download speeds of up to 10 Gbps. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 mobile connectivity system provides support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Computers equipped with the chipset can also be equipped with up to three USB 4.0 ports.
Qualcomm also claims that the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chipset is capable of delivering up to twice the battery life of its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor. It’s currently unclear how that chip compares to Apple’s power-efficient M2 chip.
Snapdragon X Plus 8-Core Processor Availability
Computers powered by the new 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chipset will be available starting today from OEMs including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Ahead of IFA 2024, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon said that the laptops will start at $799 (around Rs. 67,100).
