Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 8 Elite: Next-Gen SoC Promises Major Performance Boosts and Enhanced Gaming Capabilities

After some press images earlier leaked, Qualcomm has now officially named its latest SoC the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The chipset is based on TSMC's second-generation 3nm process technology, and it…

By Ishika Setia

October 22, 2024

2 min read

Comments

After some press images earlier leaked, Qualcomm has now officially named its latest SoC the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The chipset is based on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process technology, and it features the first custom in-house Oryon cores that Qualcomm has implemented with its smartphone silicon, these promise sizable generational lifts for both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is joined with the Adreno 830 GPU, which brings a massive improvement in performance thanks to rasterization and ray-tracing improvements.

All About the Snapdragon 8 Elite

Previously referred to as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the processor features a ‘2 + 4’ CPU architecture. Oryon cores are just for performance and can be clocked at 4.32GHz, whereas the efficiency ones will top out at 3.53GHz. The OnePlus 13 also posted the highest multi-core score ever, besting even Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max with its incredible A18 Pro chipset. According to Qualcomm, this new CPU uses 44% less power than Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

As previously disclosed, the Snapdragon 8 Elite has 24MB of L2 cache with half reserved for performance cores and the remainder shared among efficiency ones. The Adreno 830 GPU offers a 40 percent performance boost and a 35 percent increase in ray tracing capabilities compared to the previous generation. It features three slices, each operating at a clock speed of 1.10GHz, and is designed to handle AAA gaming with support for modern graphics APIs.

Moreover, the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) has been enhanced, achieving 45 percent faster performance for on-device AI tasks. While there is no support for LPDDR6, the Snapdragon 8 Elite can work with dual-channel LPDDR5X memory running at 5.30GHz. In terms of connectivity, it is paired with the Snapdragon X80 5G modem, alongside AI-Enhanced Wi-Fi 7 and Qualcomm FastConnect 7900. More specifics can be found in the leaked press image as we await the official announcement.

FAQs

What is the Snapdragon 8 Elite?

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is Qualcomm’s latest SoC designed on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process. It features custom Oryon cores for improved performance and includes the Adreno 830 GPU for enhanced graphics capabilities.