Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite: A New Era for AAA Mobile Gaming Performance

Qualcomm also fired up the clock speeds of its new custom Oryon cores, and it really put some stick about to lifting the Adreno 830 GPU core all the way…

By Ishika Setia

October 28, 2024

3 min read

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Qualcomm also fired up the clock speeds of its new custom Oryon cores, and it really put some stick about to lifting the Adreno 830 GPU core all the way to 1.10 GHz, so with Snapdragon 8 Elite those AAA games aren’t just doable these days but done right where you’re rocking QHD or FHD off reasonable limits. 3DMark Steel Nomad Light result shows great graphics performance of the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

All About the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gaming Performance

Logical, or not: for example the Adreno 830 is slightly ahead in these tests than the Radeon R9 M780 GPU from ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld, scoring 2,681 points compared to the ROG Ally’s 2,547. The initial comparison from user @4k_isn on X in Androbench also suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Elite might do well against gaming-focused smartphones.

However, YouTuber Dame Tech, who regularly tests the gaming capabilities of various devices, recorded a higher 2,859 score for the Radeon 780M, suggesting it can outperform the Snapdragon 8 Elite under optimal conditions. It is worth noting that the robust cooling system in ROG Ally allows it to keep this higher performance level, which flagship smartphones powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite may not deliver. Even so, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is designed to be more power efficient than the Radeon 780M and its efficiency might possibly mean that vapor chamber-cooled smartphones can keep it cool without massive cooling systems.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite is undoubtedly a strong contender for AAA gaming, but success depends on developer support and optimization/porting of games to this platform. While Apple has made great progress in this area on its devices, Qualcomm is catching up fast but it found the mobile gaming ecosystem still sorely lacking when you look at AAA titles that can play nice with Android. But, that said the prior gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 demonstrated some real potential for gaming.

For instance, it ran demanding games like Black Myth: Wukong on emulation, illustrating that Qualcomm’s platform is ready for high-performance gaming. With these improvements, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite could redefine mobile gaming standards, provided developer support continues to grow, ensuring users can experience top-tier gaming on smartphones.

FAQs

What is the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s main advantage for gaming?

The Snapdragon 8 Elite features custom Oryon cores and an upgraded Adreno 830 GPU, enhancing its performance for AAA gaming.

How does the Adreno 830 compare to the Radeon 780M?

In benchmarks, the Adreno 830 outperformed the Radeon 780M in the ASUS ROG Ally, but the Radeon 780M showed better performance in other tests due to superior cooling.