Discussion Qualcomm Snapdragon Thread

[FlameTail]

As for Pegasus (Oryon V2) in Glymur, the first rumors that they were testing Hamoa came around spring of '23 with release summer '24, and that they're reported as having started testing in summer '24 for Glymur is consistent for release in 2H25. This is also consistent w/ the leaked Dell slide as well which puts the V2 release about a year and a quarter off of V1. That Dell was told V3 comes in only '27 seems to indicate an awfully long 2 year gap between V2 and V3 compared to 1 year and 1 quarter from V1 to V2 especially when Cristiano said they were full steam ahead with investment in the PC space (unless V1 had been delayed.)

The only source that I have seen, which suggests a 2025H2 release for Oryon V2 is the Dell slide;


Other leaks say 2026H1;

My source just updated me with XE G2 roadmap which are supposedly launching in H1 2026. There are two SoCs planned:

1. SoC codenamed Glymur:

• Higher tier than Hamoa
• 18 cores CPU (6L+6L+6M), cluster of six
• 192-bit LPDDR5x (don't know final speed yet)
• Full DX12U features including hardware RT

2. SoC codenamed Mahua

• Hamoa successor
• 12 cores CPU (6L+6M), cluster of six
• 128-bit LPDDR5x (don't know final speed yet)
• Full DX12U features including hardware RT

That's all I know atm, at least we have an idea what Qualcomm are planning in 2026. Again, treat this as rumor until real thing happens.

 

[FlameTail]

Die harvested 8G4's (e.g. ones w/ a busted modem block) could also be very potent laptop chips with better efficiency characteristics than the X-Elite/Plus at 3nm with a major design refresh, but it's difficult to see where they would slot them in with the released X-Elite and X-Plus laptop parts. An 8G4 is likely to have a stronger GPU, but a weaker CPU in multi-threaded situations than the laptop parts. Maybe budget gaming laptops and Steam deck competitors...

If 8G4 was brought to laptops, it would be Qualcomm's equivalent to Intel's Lunar Lake.

8 cores for 'just enough' MT performance for an average user, strong ST performance and very performant/efficient GPU. With on-package memory to top it all off.

That said though, 8G4 won't be cheap. I'd guess about 130 mm² of N3E, which would be similar in cost to the 170 mm² N4P die of X Elite.

 

[Raqia]

If 8G4 was brought to laptops, it would be Qualcomm's equivalent to Intel's Lunar Lake.

8 cores for 'just enough' MT performance for an average user, strong ST performance and very performant/efficient GPU. With on-package memory to top it all off.

That said though, 8G4 won't be cheap. I'd guess about 130 mm² of N3E, which would be similar in cost to the 170 mm² N4P die of X Elite.

That they're rumored to be distinguishing the "8 Elite" branding from the recent phone SoC "8G(N)" notation is suggestive it is intended to stretch beyond phones.

That it is small and efficient enough to be used for phones means a laptop could have week long battery with be even more battery than PCB in the chassis than before. The potential for more interesting form factors and docking is enormous. I'd be happy to buy a little "8 Elite" puck with some monitor ports and USB to replace my current 10th gen i9 desktop...

 

[FlameTail]

A18 Pro is a 2P+4E configuration, while 8G4 has a 2P+6E configuration. Not only does the 8G4 has 2 extra E-cores, but those E-cores are more powerful than Apple's too, I suspect. Sure the A18 Pro's P-core is faster than the 8G4's- but only by about 13%. With all that in mind,

8G4 : 10000
A18 Pro : 9000

How is the 8G4 only ~10% faster than the A18 Pro?

 

[poke01]

A18 Pro is a 2P+4E configuration, while 8G4 has a 2P+6E configuration. Not only does the 8G4 has 2 extra E-cores, but those E-cores are more powerful than Apple's too, I suspect. Sure the A18 Pro's P-core is faster than the 8G4's- but only by about 13%. With all that in mind,

8G4 : 10000
A18 Pro : 9000

How is the 8G4 only ~10% faster than the A18 Pro?

SME?

 

[hemedans]

A18 Pro is a 2P+4E configuration, while 8G4 has a 2P+6E configuration. Not only does the 8G4 has 2 extra E-cores, but those E-cores are more powerful than Apple's too, I suspect. Sure the A18 Pro's P-core is faster than the 8G4's- but only by about 13%. With all that in mind,

8G4 : 10000
A18 Pro : 9000

How is the 8G4 only ~10% faster than the A18 Pro?

Its phone Cpu, there will be limit on how much power they allow soc to use, with reports 8G4 use up to 8W in single core, big cores will be throttled in multi core perfomance.

 

[FlameTail]

SME?

Excellent point

Also Geekbench6's core scaling is somewhat wack. It would be more interesting if we had Geekbench 5 multi core numbers.

But looking at the Ray Tracing Multicore subtest (which scales in an embarrassingly parallel manner, like Geekbench 5's multi-core test), the 8 Gen 4 has more than a 30% lead over the A18 Pro.

 

[LightningZ71]

Perhaps they are intending to use those die harvested chips in premium tablets. There is a market for tablets like the Surface or iPad pro series. I just think that they would want to use Arm Windows instead of Android or ChromeOS, though, with Chromebook Plus, that's not the worst way to go. My daughter’s Chromebook Plus school laptop really isn't a bad place to soend time...

 

[ikjadoon]

A18 Pro is a 2P+4E configuration, while 8G4 has a 2P+6E configuration. Not only does the 8G4 has 2 extra E-cores, but those E-cores are more powerful than Apple's too, I suspect. Sure the A18 Pro's P-core is faster than the 8G4's- but only by about 13%. With all that in mind,

8G4 : 10000
A18 Pro : 9000

How is the 8G4 only ~10% faster than the A18 Pro?

SME?

FWIW, Notebookcheck has tested the A18 Pro on GB6.2 (no SME): 3443 1T / 8524 nT.

//

GB6's nT test is designed to stress, and thus benchmark, CPU uArch + CPU freq + CPU count and CPU interconnects + caches + DRAM and thermals / power limits (it's short, but not that short). From GB6's view, that's more representative of multi-core perf (while that muddies the water in a uArch-centric discussion, it's perhaps more relevant for consumer benches).

Geekbench might argue "throwing more cores at it" isn't a complete solution. Nonetheless, nT is often restricted by thermals more than anything else, IMO, in the mobile space. I'd like to see power & cooling somewhat controlled between these tests; usually, more cores at lower clocks is the most efficient setup (e.g., during an nT stress test, the cores are forced to downclock below their max frequency).

 

[FlameTail]

Rumour:

If Samsung’s 2nm process doesn’t go smoothly, Qualcomm might cancel its plan to mass-produce the 8G5 FG version on Samsung’s 2nm. This means all 8G5 chips could be mass-produced at TSMC instead.

And this is the reason why Samsung is converting its 3nm line to 2nm. They need to stabilize the 2nm process quickly in order to secure orders from Qualcomm

FG = For Galaxy.

Previously it was rumoured that 8 Gen 5 will be dual sourced between TSMC and Samsung Foundry.

 

[FlameTail]

Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 spec sheet leaked;


8 GEN 4

8K60/4K240 video decode
8K30/4K120 video encode
3840×2560@144 internal display
8K60 external display

It can be said that these capabilities are even superior to that of X Elite;

4K120 video decode
4K60 video encode
4K120 internal display
4K60 × 3 external displays.

This bodes well for the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2.

 

[FlameTail]

According to leaks, Adreno 830 1.15 GHz version scores 44 FPS in 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme. This means the 1.25 GHz version will score 48 FPS.

48 FPS is the same score that Apple M3 does in 3DMark Wildlife Extreme. But will Adreno 830 also match the M3 in the more modern and compute demanding Steel Nomad Light test?

If it does, it will also match Lunar Lake Arc 140V and Strix Point's Radeon 890M. We are talking about a smartphone iGPU matching the performance of the latest iGPUs in thin-and-light laptops, which is impressive.

But I doubt it.

 

[FlameTail]

The only source that I have seen, which suggests a 2025H2 release for Oryon V2 is the Dell slide;
View attachment 108701

Other leaks say 2026H1;


View attachment 108702

This Digitimes article says 2025H2 release for Snapdragon X2;

Qualcomm to debut next-gen flagship PC processor in 2H25

Qualcomm is set to unveil its next flagship mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, along with other products at its annual launch event scheduled for late October. However, new products in its Snapdragon X Elite series for PCs will have to wait until the second half of 2025, according to...

www.digitimes.com

It's unclear if they have new info of their own or whether they are going by the leaked Dell slide above, since said Digitmes article is paywalled.

 

[ikjadoon]

A little unrelated, but Qualcomm newest WiFi 7 access points SoCs can be bundled with an AI “co-processor” with up to 40 TOPS.

Qualcomm Unveils the Networking Pro A7 Elite Platform

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a global leader in wireless technology innovation, today announced the launch of the Qualcomm Networking Pro A7 Elite, a groundbreaking wireless networking platform set to transform how people will experience their networks with edge AI integration. Leveraging an AI...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[FlameTail]

Behind the Silicon: Snapdragon Mobile Episode 6

Features Yunfei from Geekerwan.

 

[gdansk]

A little unrelated, but Qualcomm newest WiFi 7 access points SoCs can be bundled with an AI “co-processor” with up to 40 TOPS.

Qualcomm Unveils the Networking Pro A7 Elite Platform

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a global leader in wireless technology innovation, today announced the launch of the Qualcomm Networking Pro A7 Elite, a groundbreaking wireless networking platform set to transform how people will experience their networks with edge AI integration. Leveraging an AI...

www.techpowerup.com

I dread whatever usecase this may have.

 

[Raqia]

If 8G4 was brought to laptops, it would be Qualcomm's equivalent to Intel's Lunar Lake.

8 cores for 'just enough' MT performance for an average user, strong ST performance and very performant/efficient GPU. With on-package memory to top it all off.

That said though, 8G4 won't be cheap. I'd guess about 130 mm² of N3E, which would be similar in cost to the 170 mm² N4P die of X Elite.

A laptop power envelope (~20-30W) with the 8G4 (/ 8 Elite) could boost even MT figures to close to an X-Plus. CPU efficiency may also be much improved with E-cores, DVFS, & more granular power gating.

The GPU will get a nice boost from both architecture, feature support, and a larger power overhead (maybe > 1.3 ghz vs 1.15 ghz), but it's likely still not enough for a qualitatively acceptable gaming experience (esp. under emulation). That said, all other thin and light platforms also suffer from the same issues.

There would still be an awful lot of die space dedicated to functionality (ISP, modem) that's not traditional laptop bread and butter, but many people really do want a 5G enabled mobility platform.

 

[Doug S]

I dread whatever usecase this may have.

Hard to imagine we'll see anything beyond marketing claims of "AI driven firewalls" and "intelligent traffic shaping"

 

[DZero]

That left me think... how strong SD 7 Plus (or Gen4) would bode this time?

 

[Ghostsonplanets]

That left me think... how strong SD 7 Plus (or Gen4) would bode this time?

If rumors are to be believed, it would be a smaller version of the Snap 8 Gen 4 rather than the Snap 8 Elite.

 

[trivik12]

The only source that I have seen, which suggests a 2025H2 release for Oryon V2 is the Dell slide;
View attachment 108701

Other leaks say 2026H1;


View attachment 108702

This has already shown to be false. The above chart says Lunar Lake XPS 13 in 2026 while it has already launched and is available since last month. May be there is PTL-M for early 2026.

 

[FlameTail]

Snap 8 Gen 4 rather than the Snap 8 Elite.

aren't they the same?

 

[jdubs03]

New leak. Perhaps it’s called:
Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition
or
Snapdragon 8 Ultra

https://twitter.com/x/status/1843484280401604934

Maybe?🤔

 

[FlameTail]

Snapdragon 8 Ultra or Snapdragon 8 Extrem Edition doesn't sound as savoury as 'Snapdragon 8 Elite'.

 

[Ghostsonplanets]

aren't they the same?

There are rumors that Snap 8 Gen Elite would use Oryon cores and be expensive while there would be a cheaper Snap 8 Gen 4 using stock Arm Cores and effectively replace the 8GxS.