Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon X Plus 8-Core Chip for Copilot+ PCs

Qualcomm is launching today the Snapdragon X Plus 8-Core, a new version of its Snapdragon X Plus chip with just 8 CPU cores instead of 10. The new silicon will power a new range of Copilot+ PCs from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung.

Qualcomm’s announcement comes just a day after Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of new Copilot+ PCs that will be using AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Core Ultra 200V series chips. However, Qualcomm intends to capitalize on being the first supplier of ARM-based chips for Copilot+ PCs.

“Copilot+ PCs, powered exclusively today by Snapdragon X Series platforms, launched the new generation in personal computing, made possible by our groundbreaking NPU. We are now bringing these transformative AI experiences, along with best-in-class performance and unprecedented battery life, to more users worldwide with Snapdragon X Plus 8-core,” said Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm Incorporated. “We’re proud to be working with our global OEM partners to restore performance leadership to the Windows ecosystem.”

Compared to the Snapdragon X Plus that’s already on the market, the new 8-core SKU (X1P-42-100) offers 30MB of total cache instead of 42MB and a slightly lower 3.2GHz maximum multithread frequency. On the GPU front, the new chip offers just 1.7 teraflops of computing power, compared to 3.8 on the 10-core model and 4.6 teraflops on the Snapdragon X Elite. However, Qualcomm’s new chip still supports up to three external 4K monitors running at 60Hz.

Qualcomm is using the same Hexagon neural processing unit on the new chip, which delivers 45 TOPS of AI performance. The new silicon also supports 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, as well as AV1 encoding and decoding for up to 4K HDR video streaming. While the first benchmarks aren’t available yet, the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core should offer a no-compromises experience.

The first PCs powered by a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core will be available from select manufacturers starting today. You can expect to hear a lot more about Copilot+ PCs at IFA this week, and Microsoft said yesterday that the company and its partners have “an unprecedented number of Copilot+ PC designs coming to market.”