Snapdragon X2 Elite Promises the Fastest and Most Efficient Windows CPUs
Qualcomm just announced the successor to its Snapdragon X Windows PC processors at its annual Snapdragon Summit. The new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips are not only faster than the previous generation, but Qualcomm claims they are the “Fastest and Most Efficient Processors for Windows PCs”. Can they really beat Intel and AMD at their own game?
After years of trying to make Windows PCs with ARM chips a reality, the Snapdragon X Elite family finally reached the mainstream in 2024, with laptops from all major PC brands, both for consumer and enterprise use. Not only that, in combination with Windows 11, the new chips finally brought good compatibility with existing apps, including ARM versions of some of the most popular software.
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5.0 GHz ARM cores
With the Snapdragon X2 Elite, Qualcomm promises even better performance, with up to 18 cores in its largest configuration. The 3rd generation custom Oryon CPU cores have a multi-core maximum speed of 4.4 GHz, but can be boosted to 5.0 GHz on two cores. The X2 Elite also includes lower clocked efficiency cores for less demanding tasks to save energy, and those CPU cores can run at up to 3.6 GHz.
According to Qualcomm, the new top-of-the-line Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is 2.3x superior in performance per watt when compared to the first-generation chip. And against its X86 rivals, the company claims to be 75% faster when compared at the same power consumption.
Part of the performance increase is thanks to the high clock speeds, enabled by using TSMC’s 3nm process. But under the hood, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme supports faster memory access, which should result in better multitasking performance and faster loading of apps or AI models.
Connectivity on the go
One area in which Qualcomm holds a significant advantage compared not only to Intel and AMD but also Apple (for now, at least) is wireless connectivity. The Snapdragon X2 Elite family supports the Snapdragon X75 5G modem for connections at up to 10 Gbps (with 3.5 Gbps uplink). It also includes the Fastconnect 7800 core for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support (no BT6 here).
Snapdragon X2 Elite availability
Qualcomm expects that the first laptops powered by the new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips will reach the market in the first half of 2026. Different from its mobile counterpart, there is no list of brands launching PCs powered by the X2 Elite, but we expect to learn more at CES 2026.
