Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors made a splash this year with laptop owners, kicking off ARM-based Windows computing in earnest. And now there are rumors the company is developing a "game-changing" desktop version of the chip. You can take that literally, too: Roland Quandt's remarks on BlueSky imply that Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 is headed for gaming machines.
"I think Qualcomm is coming for the desktop with Snapdragon "X Elite 2". They're testing "Project Glymur" SC8480XP with an AIO liquid cooler feat 120mm fan(s?), just like what you'd use in a (gaming) desktop," I think Qualcomm is coming for the desktop with Snapdragon "X Elite 2". They're testing "Project Glymur" SC8480XP with an AIO liquid cooler feat 120mm fan(s?), just like what you'd use in a (gaming) desktop."
Luke Larsen suggests taking it with a grain of salt.
"Qualcomm has already stated its intentions to bring out desktops with Snapdragon X chips," Larsen posted at Digital Trends. "Of course, no one would have guessed that it'd be something powerful enough to power a gaming desktop. We all assumed we'd be seeing the same mobile chips being put in all-in-ones or compact PCs, something to compete with an iMac or Mac mini.
But that's the thing about ARM chips: they typically provide excellent performence even when pitched on energy efficiency. While adding a high-end discrete GPU into the mix rather obviates the question of efficiency, if the CPU's performance is acceptable—and CPU power is generally not what games depend on anyway—you're off to the races.
Indeed, the performance of Apple's ARM-based silicon has been outstanding enough to stoke new interest in gaming on its own laptops and desktops. In the Intel era, Macs were low on the frame rate and high on the price when it came to games, and with fewer titles to choose from to boot.
Techradar's Isaiah Williams says to keep an eye on next month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Considering AMD and Nvidia's presence at CES 2025 and their inevitable reveals of the Radeon RX 8000 series and RTX 5000 series GPUs, Qualcomm's inclusion could easily make this one of the more interesting CES events in years. While a potential new Snapdragon X Elite processor for desktop PCs could be beneficial for gamers with tight budgets (especially as a second-gen version of the existing X Elite), it's still a little too early to suggest this. On laptops such as the Lenovo Yoga 7x Slim, gaming is possible but certainly not comparable to gaming laptops or handheld gaming PCs, and Qualcomm itself has stated that the X Elite chips are not targeted at serious gamers.
Previously:
• NVidia to make CPUs for personal computers
• Windows ARM laptops benchmarked
• Valve testing ARM for future game hardware
