Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3: Stronger ARM notebook chips bridge over to the Nuvia CPU

Qualcomm is adding the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 and Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3 to the ARM platforms for notebooks. Above all, the stronger of the two chips promises a boost compared to the previous portfolio. However, this chip is only an interim solution until the new Nuvia cores are used.

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Without a doubt, Qualcomm was at the forefront from an early stage when it comes to establishing ARM platforms in the PC environment in order to realize economical yet relatively powerful notebooks with Windows or Chrome OS. Recently, however, the media focus in this segment was clearly on Apple, which with the M1 and, more recently, the M1 Pro and M1 Max in various MacBooks and Macs, competes with the traditional x86 platforms and consumes significantly less than the test with at least the same performance of the MacBook Pro 14 “shows.

8cx Gen 2 was still based on Cortex-A76

Today, with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, a first counterattack from Qualcomm follows, with which the previous flagship Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 is being inherited. The chip developer promises big leaps in terms of performance: an 85 percent higher CPU performance determined in Geekbench 5 and a 60 percent higher GPU performance, without naming the software. The background is a change to significantly more modern cores, because although the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 was only introduced last year, it was basically still a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 1 from 2018. The four performance cores came because of the relatively old one At the foundation of the chip, for example, the Cortex-A76 from ARM, which is no longer up-to-date, is still in use.

Four Cortex-X1 in the 8cx Gen 3 deliver significantly more power

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 makes the switch to the large Cortex-X1, which can often be found in smartphones as a single prime core. Four of them are used in the notebook chip and are clocked at up to 2.995 GHz. Interestingly, Qualcomm provides this quartet with four Cortex-A78 cores with a maximum of 2.4 GHz as efficiency cores. The package is designed for a TDP of 10 watts and should be able to compete with Tiger Lake-U in the higher TDP class from 15 watts and more. Qualcomm’s chips are passively cooled and should deliver the same performance in battery and mains operation. OEMs can theoretically scale the chip to 13 or 14 watts, as Qualcomm said in an interview at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021, but then the SoC would fall out of the “sweet spot” and deliver only a little more power in relation to the increased consumption. On the GPU side, the architecture from the Snapdragon 888 is now used, although Qualcomm traditionally does not provide any further details about the graphics solutions.

Nine PCIe 3.0 lanes for notebooks

The memory interface remains with eight 16-bit channels for LPDDR4X-4266 and the SSDs can be connected again with NVMe via PCIe. The SoC offers nine PCIe 3.0 lanes, one for the modem, four for SSDs and four more for other interfaces that the OEM would like to install. If, on the other hand, UFS is used instead of the SSD, the current generation supports the somewhat newer UFS 3.1 instead of 3.0. Above all, the newer standard has a “Write Booster”, which is nothing more than an SLC cache like the one found in SSDs. Part of the NAND flash is operated in SLC mode (Single Level Cell) with only one bit per memory cell, which in particular speeds up writing processes significantly. The data is only permanently backed up in the regular manner when it is idle.

Production at Samsung in 5LPE as a pure AP

Qualcomm has the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 manufactured by Samsung in 5LPE after the previous top models rolled off the assembly line at TSMC in N7. The SoC is a pure AP (Application Processor) that is delivered without a modem. For comparison: The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 uses an integrated Snapdragon X65. Qualcomm also offers this flagship modem for the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, but it has to be connected externally. The SoC can also be combined with Snapdragon X62 and X55, depending on the OEM’s requirements. In the area of ​​WLAN and Bluetooth, the FastConnect 6900 platform with Wi-Fi 6E is planned.

Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3 also with Chrome OS

The new entry-level platform is the Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3, which, in addition to Windows 11, which is the only operating system intended for the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, can also handle Chrome OS, which means that the chip is in a lower price range and speaks for the education sector. Corresponding products are expected for both announcements in the first half of 2022.

While the Cortex-A78 form the efficiency cluster in the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, they serve as power cores with a maximum of 2.4 GHz in the Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3. Four further cores of the type Cortex-A55 clock with up to 1.5 GHz and represent the efficiency cluster. Qualcomm speaks of a 60 percent higher CPU performance and gives the GPU gain 70 percent.

Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3
Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3 (Image: Qualcomm)

In terms of connectivity, the Snapdragon 7c + Gen 3 is designed solely for the Snapdragon X53, which in this case was integrated into the SoC. This in turn also means that for the first time there is 5G alongside LTE in Qualcomm’s smallest notebook chip. Wi-Fi 6E is also on board, but via the FastConnect 6700 instead of the 6900 platform, which results in lower top speeds.

Only the Nuvia CPU will be able to compete with Apple Silicon

Although the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 takes a significant leap forward, it will have a tough time rivaling the Apple M1, M1 Pro, or M1 Max. This can already be said based on the cores used, if you compare them with the Firestorm and Icestorm cores from Apple. Even Apple’s 32-core GPU will not be able to beat Qualcomm yet. Only the return of custom cores through the purchase of Nuvia promises significantly more performance above the cores of ARM. The CPU performance should be above that of AMD, Apple and Intel and Qualcomm also wants to scale the Adreno GPU in width in order to beat discrete graphics solutions.

Cristiano Amon declares war on AMD and Intel
Cristiano Amon declares war on AMD and Intel (Image: Qualcomm)

In the second half of the coming year, the first samples of the corresponding chips should go to the first buyers. For Investor Day two weeks ago, the sampling was started with “in about nine months“And therefore more narrowly limited to August 2022. Appropriately equipped products should come onto the market in 2023. The first area of ​​application will be Windows PCs, where Qualcomm wants to become the new performance benchmark above all other solutions. Later use in mobile, i.e. smartphones, as well as automotive and data centers is also planned.

ComputerBase received information about this item from Qualcomm in the run-up to and as part of an event organized by the manufacturer on the Big Island, Hawaii under NDA. The costs for arrival, departure and hotel were borne by Qualcomm. There was no influence on the part of the manufacturer or an obligation to report. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication time.

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