Since Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors were announced, everyone was excited to learn about their performance. And now, the first reviews of laptops boasting the much-anticipated processor are in, giving us a closer look at how they perform. However, the hype surrounding the X Elite processors has kind of taken a hit as early reviewers have found them lacking in gaming performance. On the flip side, Surface fans have been raving about performance for productivity.
Snapdragon X Elite gaming performance
Microsoft Copilot+ laptops are equipped with Qualcomm chips, featuring Snapdragon X Elite processors with 12 cores and a maximum frequency of up to 4.3 GHz. According to the company, the X Elite is the “most powerful, intelligent, and efficient processor ever created for Windows in its class,” designed specifically to enhance AI productivity. However, a recent review of the Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED laptop by Notebookcheck revealed that the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 does not perform well in gaming.
The Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED laptop features 16 GB of RAM and a 2880 x 1620 display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It is equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 processor, boasting 12 cores and a maximum boost frequency of 4.2 GHz. For graphics, it uses the Qualcomm Adreno GPU with 4.6 TFLOPS. For the review, Notebookcheck tested the performance of the laptop in several games, and the results were disappointing.
In Witcher 3, they achieved only 19 FPS with all settings set to ultra. GTA V and Final Fantasy showed similar results, with the laptop delivering only 20.4 FPS and 15.6 FPS, respectively.
Game crashes and failure to launch
The most concerning issue was that some games failed to start and crashed immediately after launching. While the laptop managed to run a few titles, its overall performance was not as expected. According to another review from Windows Central, games like Halo Infinite, Halo MCC, and Apex Legends did not launch on the laptop and instead showed an “ARM64 CPU not supported” error. This is kind of disappointing considering Qualcomm engineer, Issam Khalil, previously stated that laptops powered by the Snapdragon X Elite “can run most games.”
Too soon to judge?
It is, however, important to note that the Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED is not meant for gaming, and none of the upcoming Copilot+ PCs will be. These laptops are primarily for productivity, and reviews confirm they perform well in work-related tasks. The interesting part is that the Snapdragon X Elite processor delivers nearly full performance even without plugging in the charger.
On top of that, these are some early reviews, and we only have the Asus Vivobook S 15 at the moment. So, we’ll have to wait for other Copilot + PCs to launch to get a better idea of the performance. Additionally, most of the games aren’t optimized for ARM processors like the X Elite, which could be the reason why certain titles failed to launch on the laptop.
