Qualcomm wants full power: New CPU for ARM PCs only with top cores! More details are leaked

As we have already reported, Qualcomm is working on a new platform for Windows-based notebooks and 2-in-1 devices that will succeed the Snapdragon 8cx Gen2. We now have the first information about the features of the chips. Qualcomm relies on full power.

New details are leaking about the next Qualcomm PC processor. This will have to compete directly with Apple's M1, which has shown in recent months that ARM chips have a place in this market.

Qualcomm is sticking to building ARM-based chips in its Snapdragon series for mobile PCs with Windows. Specifically, it is a chip series that is internally referred to as SC8280 and is currently being tested in at least two variants.

The new chip probably does without power-saving cores

With the new SoC for Windows devices, Qualcomm is apparently moving away from the combination of high-end and energy-saving cores to a combination of two clusters of high-performance cores clocked at different speeds. It remains to be seen whether one really only has notebooks and other mobile devices in mind or also desktop systems.

The Snapdragon SC8280 is already being tested by Qualcomm in the form of early samples in developer platforms. Apparently, there are two editions that are supposed to offer different levels of performance. The new chips are apparently still closely related to the models of the Snapdragon 8cx series that are already available but offer higher clock rates.

The reason for this assumption lies in the fact that the new Qualcomm Snapdragon SC8280XP, so the full name, comes with the Adreno 690 graphics unit used in the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, which works at 693 megahertz in the case of the information we have on Qualcomm's test platforms. In the absence of official information from Qualcomm, it is not certain whether this means higher clock rates compared to the 8cx Gen2.

Clock rates of up to 3 GHz

In addition, the Snapdragon SC8280XP allegedly has four absolute high-end cores, which Qualcomm also calls "Gold +" cores. In addition, there are four more high-end cores known as "gold" cores. Obviously, the usual dedicated power-saving cores are omitted, which ultimately means lower energy efficiency but also significantly higher overall performance.

Qualcomm is currently running the four faster computing cores of its test platforms at 2.7 gigahertz (gold +), while the four gold cores should work with up to 2.43 gigahertz. In some samples, which seem to be a faster variant of the same chip, the maximum clock rates of the higher clocked cores of three gigahertz are mentioned.

Performance information is available for the integrated NPU, i.e. the processing unit for tasks in the field of artificial intelligence: the NPU should be able to work with up to 15 TOPs. We cannot yet say whether and when the first devices with the new Snapdragon chip for Windows PCs will come onto the market.

It seems certain, however, that Qualcomm is trying to increase the performance significantly because new performance regions should be reached with the exclusive use of high-end cores. With the information given here, however, it should be remembered that they do not come from official sources and that the configuration and clock rates of the new Qualcomm PC chip can of course change before it is introduced.

Our first report on the Snapdragon SC8280 made it clear that Qualcomm is targeting the upper end of the performance scale with the new chips. The test systems used by Qualcomm include laptop designs with 14-inch displays and up to 32 gigabytes of RAM.

Qualcomm's answer to Apple M1? New high-end ARM chip in the works

Qualcomm is unstoppable by sluggish sales and delays in the launch of Windows laptops with its ARM chips and continues to work on new platforms. A new high-end SoC is now in the works, which should celebrate its premiere this year.

According to the information available to us, the American chip company Qualcomm is working on a new high-end platform for use in PCs. The new system-on-chip has recently appeared in import-export databases under the internal model number SC8280, although the stage of development is still open.

The Qualcomm SC8280 is apparently a kind of successor to the current Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx and 8cx Gen 2. These are the most powerful ARM chips to date for Windows-based devices, which are used in a modified form in the Surface Pro X, among others. In these devices, 16 gigabytes of RAM are the limit.

Test systems have up to 32 GB of RAM and a 14-inch display

In the case of the Snapdragon SC8280, whose official marketing name will certainly be different, this limit increases significantly. In the developer platforms tested by Qualcomm, in addition to a variant with eight gigabytes of LPPDR5 RAM, variants with a total of 32 gigabytes of LPDDR4X memory are in use. In addition to a "basic" version of the chip, there is probably another, stronger variant.

So it can be speculated that Qualcomm is trying to counter something with the new PC chip Apple's M1 and its subsequent ARM SoCs from the Californian competitor. At the same time, one could also think about using the stronger chips in desktop systems, whereby, as always with Qualcomm's PC SoCs, the question arises whether the performance in connection with Windows 10 on ARM is sufficient for a usable user experience.

In addition to the actual processor, the test systems often also have the Snapdragon X55 modem onboard, which can provide mobile connectivity in 5G networks. So it's more likely Qualcomm is working on a stronger chip for laptops and other mobile designs here. This impression is only reinforced because reference designs are apparently already being tested with a 14-inch display.

The difference in size between the two chips suggests that more cores may be used than in the Snapdragon 8cx implemented as an octa-core design. While the package of the predecessor was already significantly larger at 20x15 millimeters than the smartphone SoCs sold by Qualcomm, the new SC8280X is now supposedly 20x17 millimeters.

When and with what number of cores and other features the new chip will come onto the market is still completely unclear at the moment.