The manufacturer of mobile processors Qualcommpresented at the end of last year, the range of processors Snapdragon X Elitea range of processors with ARM architecture intended for laptops whose marketing is planned for the second half of 2024 and with which it wants to compete with Apple’s M3 processors, processors also based on ARM architecture.
The Cupertino-based company launched its first processor with architecture in 2021, so Qualcomm arrives 3 years late, although that doesn’t mean it does so with lower performance since the first performance tests on a Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge that have been leaked, they suggest that this new Qualcomm range is ready to stand up to Apple’s M3 range.
ARM processors in video games
This new range of processors with ARM Architecture It’s designed for ultraportable devices, devices that aren’t designed to be used for gaming, but rather to provide the most battery life possible in the smallest space. However, Qualcomm emphasizes that users who trust these processors will have no problems when playing games and, of course, when using the applications they currently use.
When Apple introduced the M1 series, developers were forced to convert their applications to be compatible with the ARM architecture. So that users can continue to use applications designed for Intel architecture, Apple launched Rosette 2And emulator which allowed applications created for Intel processors to run on computers with ARM processors.
In the event Windows on Snapdragon, a platform ready for your PC games, which was held at GDC, Qualcomm announced that game developers would not have to do anything on their part to adapt existing games to this platform. He did not mention the case of applications, even if that is the least of the problems since Microsoft and Adobe already offer their applications for Apple’s ARM architecture processors.
According to Qualcomm during this event, developers will have up to 3 different optionss to offer their titles on this platform: compile compatible applications x64 processors so they can run on ARM processors.
The latter is the recommended option for application and video game developers to offer the best performance and shorter loading time on ARM processors. Emulation, after all, is an environment that simulates specific hardware and consumes a series of resources that are taken away from the application we are running. This last option is therefore the recommended one.
These tools will be available in a few weeks to all developers. Adreno graphics integrated into the Snapdragon DirectX11, DirectX12, Vulcan Yes OpenCL. Additionally, they will offer support for Direct9 and OpenGL up to version 4.6. In this presentation no specific examples were mentioned, it was only mentioned that the best Steam games will be compatible with these processors.