The new Qualcomm Snapdragon x Elite chipset can run video games very well, to the point that it will give the Ryzen Z1 Extreme a real run for its money.
As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft demonstrated their newest Surface Co-Pilot + computers running Baldur’s Gate 3 and Borderlands 3. The Surface Pro 11 tablet, and Surface Laptop 7, will run on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon x Elite chipset, and their demonstration showed off what the chip can already do to video games that have not been programmed for it.
But before we go further, we’ll explain briefly what all these new products are. The Snapdragon x Elite is a powerful new chipset that can run Windows on ARM, but with performance that rivals what Apple has pulled off in their new Macbooks and iPads.
Qualcomm actually boasted about their performance boosts over Apple’s M4 chip in a presentation last month, and it’s clear now the tech press wasn’t paying enough attention. If this YouTube is accurate, Qualcomm got here because they acquired Nuvia, a company made of former Apple chip developers who wanted to make more than Apple would allow them to.
Qualcomm boasts that the Snapdragon X bundled in a neural processing unit, or NPU, alongside an internal CPU and GPU, and this NPU is the chipset’s secret sauce. The NPU specializes in AI tasks, but not all of that work is prompt generation. The NPU gives it enough power to run full Windows programs on ARM, with no compromise on performance. And because it’s on ARM, these Surface computers will have battery performance as good as on Apple and Android.
You may have seen some enthusiasts pitch video game AI ideas, like AI generation to make AI enemies, but video games have to be designed around such applications. Here and now, Microsoft claims their Surface computers can run mid-range games at 720p to 1080p, and 30 FPS. They say over 1,000 games can already run at 1080p, 30 FPS, and that this platform already has Unity 6 support. Unlike other past initiatives like UWP, it looks like Microsoft will be able to rapidly get more games working on Windows ARM in the near future.
And yes, the Snapdragon’s NPU helps make this work. It uses Windows Auto Super Resolution, a bespoke upscaling technique that Microsoft has developed for Windows on ARM. This is similar to AMD’s FSR 3 or Nvidia’s DLSS, but with a huge difference.
Windows Auto Super Resolution uses an AI that works locally in the Surface computer to do the upscaling on its own. Its NPU does the work that Nvidia has to outsource to a mainframe for deep learning, and at a more sophisticated level than FSR 3. We don’t know if this upscaler will hold up to a Digital Foundry test, but even that may not matter.
The Surface Pro 11 tablet, and Surface Laptop 7, are already better game platforms than the ROG Ally, Legion Go, MSI Claw, and potentially even the Steam Deck. The technologies in these computers allow it to run Windows games at a reasonable performance, with much better battery performance than all of these gaming handhelds.
And yes, if an OEM manages to pick up Qualcomm’s upcoming chipsets for their own Windows gaming handhelds, they could create superior products to what is available out there now. Ryzen Z1 may (or may not) boast higher numbers in performance tests, but the Snapdragon X Elite can make cheaper gaming handhelds, that will last on battery as long as a Nintendo Switch, and still run full Windows PC games. And, if the rumors are true, Microsoft might make that their own Xbox gaming handheld, using this Snapdragon chipset.
So, you may have been reading a lot of FUD going around about these new AI enabled computers, but you may not have fully understood how groundbreaking this new technology is. Video games will be affected, not in a few months, but today, as soon as these Snapdragon X Elite computers come to market.
