For the past two years, Qualcomm has been the only real player to offer an ARM-based chip for Windows PCs. It started with the Snapdragon X Elite in 2024 which Qualcomm followed with the more powerful Snapdragon X2 series in late 2025. 

Qualcomm’s sole reign on the Windows-on-ARM (WoA) market is now officially over, all thanks to Nvidia. The latter announced its new ARM-based RTX Spark PC chips at Computex 2026, and Nvidia wants it to be the Apple Silicon moment for Windows.

The news sent Qualcomm’s stock tumbling more than 10% in premarket trading, wiping out over $10 billion in market value overnight. That reaction tells you a lot about how big a deal this really is.

So what exactly are these two chips, how do they compare, and who should you care about? Let’s break it down.

What Is the Nvidia RTX Spark?

RTX Spark is Nvidia’s answer to the growing wave of ARM-based, all-in-one chips, similar to what Apple’s been doing brilliantly with its M-series and Qualcomm has been working hard with the Snapdragon X lineup.

At its core, RTX Spark is based on the same GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip that powers Nvidia’s DGX Spark developer workstation. The company just repackaged it for everyday Windows laptops. It combines a custom ARM-based CPU (developed with MediaTek), a Blackwell RTX GPU, and an AI accelerator all on one chip, built on TSMC’s 3nm process with 70 billion transistors.

And the headline numbers are impressive. RTX Spark can pack up to 20 CPU cores, a 6,144-core Blackwell GPU, and up to 128 GB of unified memory. Nvidia claims it delivers over 1 petaflop of FP4 AI compute, which in simple terms is enough to run massive AI and Large Language Model (LLM) models locally. 

The CPU and GPU are connected together via Nvidia’s NVLink-C2C interconnect, which enables up to 600 GB/s of bandwidth between the two.

According to team green, devices powered by RTX Spark are set to arrive in autumn 2026 from major brands including ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface.

What Is the Snapdragon X2 Elite?

Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon X2 series at its annual Snapdragon Summit in September 2025. It is the direct follow-up to the original Snapdragon X Elite from 2024, and it brings a meaningful generational step forward, especially in CPU performance.

The X2 family consists of three chips: the X2 Plus, the X2 Elite, and the top-of-the-line X2 Elite Extreme. All three are built on TSMC’s 3nm process and feature Qualcomm’s third-generation Oryon CPU cores, but the Extreme version is the one that gets the major attention.

The X2 Elite Extreme: Qualcomm’s Best Shot

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (model number X2E-96-100) is Qualcomm’s most powerful laptop chip ever made. It packs 18 Oryon cores versus 12 cores in the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite. 

Those 18 cores are split into two groups: 12 fast “Prime” cores that can boost up to 5 GHz on two cores (and run at 4.4 GHz across all cores), and 6 “Performance” cores running at up to 3.6 GHz. Together, they share 53 MB of cache.

On the AI side, the X2 Elite Extreme includes an 80 TOPS NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which is Qualcomm’s dedicated AI engine. All three X2 Elite chips share this same NPU rating.

Benchmark numbers from Qualcomm’s own Snapdragon Summit testing were genuinely strong on the CPU side. In Cinebench 2024 and Geekbench 6.3 multi-core tests, the X2 Elite Extreme was able to match or beat Apple’s M4 Pro, scoring 1,964 and 23,693 points respectively.

Compared to the original Snapdragon X Elite, the X2 Elite Extreme offers roughly a 39% improvement in single-core performance and a 50% boost in multi-core performance. In gaming benchmarks, Qualcomm claims a 2.3x improvement over the previous generation.

The chip also supports up to 48 GB of LPDDR5x memory on a 192-bit bus (in the Extreme version), offers PCIe 5.0 storage, and handles up to three USB 4.0 ports. Laptops running the X2 Elite Extreme began arriving in the first half of 2026, including the ASUS Zenbook A16 which features the chip prominently.

GPU and Gaming: Qualcomm’s Weak Spot

Here is where things get complicated for Qualcomm. While the X2 Elite Extreme impresses on CPU tasks, the GPU side tells a different story.

In the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad benchmark, the X2 Elite Extreme managed just 1,306 points at 13 frames per second. Apple M4 Pro, in comparison, manages around 1620 points in the same test.

The Solar Bay and Steel Nomad Light scores were more respectable, but the GPU improvement is not nearly as dramatic as the CPU gains. One reviewer from Tom’s Hardware found that professional tools like AutoCAD were unsupported, and some games crashed or showed graphical errors when running under emulation on Windows ARM.

RTX Spark vs Snapdragon X2: Head to Head

This is where Nvidia has a structural advantage that Qualcomm simply cannot match right now.

AI Performance: RTX Spark delivers over 100 TOPS of on-device AI computing power. The Snapdragon X2 Elite’s NPU sits at 80 TOPS.

GPU Power: The RTX Spark’s Blackwell GPU supports DLSS 4.5, Nvidia’s AI-powered graphics upscaling technology that makes games look better and run faster. No Snapdragon chip has anything comparable. For gaming and creative work like video editing or 3D rendering, RTX Spark is in a completely different league.

Memory: RTX Spark supports up to 128 GB of unified memory. The X2 Elite Extreme tops out at 48 GB. For heavy AI workloads and large language models running locally, this is a massive difference.

CPU: This is more even. The X2 Elite Extreme is a very strong CPU performer, matching Apple’s M4 Pro in many tests. RTX Spark’s 20-core CPU will be tested properly when devices launch in autumn 2026, but based on Nvidia’s track record, expectations are high.

Software Ecosystem: This may be the most important difference of all. Nvidia brings CUDA — its developer software platform — to RTX Spark. For 15-plus years, virtually every major AI model, AI framework, and GPU-accelerated app has been built on CUDA. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has no equivalent. Snapdragon X laptops have also faced ongoing issues with app compatibility, where x86 apps running through Microsoft’s Prism emulation layer sometimes behave poorly.

Why Qualcomm Is Still Relevant

Despite all of this, Qualcomm is not out of the race. The Snapdragon X2 series chips are available right now, while RTX Spark laptops won’t arrive until autumn 2026. For buyers who need a capable ARM-based Windows laptop today, the X2 Elite Extreme is genuinely impressive, especially for CPU-heavy work, everyday productivity, and battery life.

Moreover, Qualcomm is targeting a broader market just like its smartphone chips. In fact, the company recently unveiled a Snapdragon C platform for affordable AI powered laptops. 

Meanwhile, RTX Spark is likely more aimed at creators, AI developers, and serious gamers willing to pay a premium. In fact, the starting price of the laptop could be around $1800. 

The Bottom Line

Nvidia’s RTX Spark is a serious statement of intent. It takes the company’s unmatched software ecosystem, combines it with genuinely next-generation hardware, and packages it into a laptop chip that can go head-to-head with Snapdragon X2 platform and even Apple M5 chips.

Qualcomm’s X2 series is also not a bad chip. On CPU performance, it holds its own against the best in the business. But the GPU weakness, the software compatibility headaches, and the relatively modest NPU performance all become harder to defend once RTX Spark laptops start hitting store shelves.

For buyers looking at Windows laptops today, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is a strong choice, particularly in machines like the ASUS Zenbook A16. But if you can wait until late 2026, RTX Spark could be worth holding out for.

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Qualcomm’s next push into high-performance Windows laptops is starting to show up in benchmarks, and the early numbers look promising.

The upcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) has finally appeared in a leaked Geekbench listing tied to an Asus Zenbook A16 configuration with 48GB of RAM. While the chip was announced earlier and even shown in a few prototype devices at CES 2026, this is one of the first independent benchmark entries to surface publicly.

In Geekbench 6.6.0, the processor reportedly scored 4,033 in single-core and 23,198 in multi-core tests. Those results put it in interesting territory.

On the single-core side, the chip appears to edge past Apple’s Apple M4 Max, which typically lands somewhere around the high-3,800 to low-3,900 range in the same benchmark. Multi-core performance still favors Apple, though, with the M4 Max hovering closer to 25,700.

Compared with current Windows-focused competitors, the results look significantly stronger. AMD’s top Strix Halo configurations generally score around 2,900 single-core and 18,000 multi-core, while Intel’s Core Ultra X9 388H Panther Lake part sits roughly in the 3,000 / 17,800 range. If the numbers hold up, Qualcomm’s new chip would represent a clear step forward for Windows-on-Arm performance.

Graphics performance also appears to have taken a notable leap. The integrated Adreno X2-90 GPU — listed with 16 compute units — achieved 44,786 points in Geekbench’s OpenCL test. That’s almost double what earlier Snapdragon X Elite graphics managed in similar benchmarks.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite lineup is expected to feature Qualcomm’s updated Oryon CPU architecture, with an 18-core design and boost clocks reportedly reaching up to 5.0 GHz on prime cores. The chip also includes an 80 TOPS NPU aimed at accelerating AI workloads.

The leak gives an early glimpse of Qualcomm’s ambitions. The company has spent the past few years positioning Snapdragon chips as a serious alternative to traditional laptop processors, promising much improved power efficiency and battery life.

If production laptops deliver results close to these numbers, the Snapdragon X2 Elite could end up being Qualcomm’s strongest attempt yet at challenging both Apple Silicon and the latest x86 processors.

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(Sources: 1, 2 | Image: Qualcomm)

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Snapdragon X2 Elite PCs are still a few months away from reaching users’ hands. We know that Qualcomm is betting big on it, and new benchmark results for the X2 Elite suggest the company is close to closing performance gaps with Apple.

The numbers come from early testing of a pre-production Asus Zenbook shared by the YouTube channel Hardware Canucks. Asus allowed the outlet to run a set of CPU- and productivity-focused benchmarks on a machine powered by the Snapdragon X2 Elite.

To note, the laptop is running early firmware and drivers, and the silicon itself isn’t final. So, consider these results are just a snapshot of what the chip is capable of.

Even so, the results are interesting. Qualcomm’s newest chip was tested at 31W, which puts it just 5W higher than Apple’s M5, capped at 26W in these comparisons.

Apple is still leading in single-core performance 

Despite that relatively small power gap, the Snapdragon X2 Elite managed to outperform the M5 in three out of five benchmarks, while also pulling well ahead of the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite.

For instance, the X2 Elite performed extremely well in Blender and HandBrake, completing the tasks noticeably faster than Apple’s M5. However, Apple still leads in single-core performance.

In Cinebench 2024’s single-core test, the M5 scored 200 points, while the X2 Elite topped out at 146. Apple’s chip is roughly 37 percent faster in this specific scenario, even though Qualcomm’s new silicon shows a sizable jump over the original X Elite.

In the multi-core test, however, the Snapdragon X2 Elite posted a score of 1,432, beating the M5’s 1,153 and leaving the older Snapdragon X Elite far behind.

Beyond benchmarks, there’s a big unanswered question around battery life. The YouTuber didn’t share any runtime test results, so we’re left with the official claim of 43 percent better efficiency than its predecessor. Until commercial laptops arrive with finalized software, it’s hard to say how these performance gains will translate to everyday use.

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(Source)

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 is the company’s second-generation ARM chip designed to power Windows PCs. The main X2 SKUs include the X2 Plus, X2 Elite, and X2 Elite Extreme, each of which comes in its own different flavors. 

According to Qualcomm, the X2 Plus delivers up to 35 percent faster single-core CPU performance than the previous Snapdragon X Plus while using 43 percent less power. The Elite models, on the other hand, are 31 percent faster CPU performance at the same power level, or 43 percent lower power consumption at the same performance, compared to last year’s Snapdragon X Elite chips.

Those are, of course, official claims. But now we have some early real-world numbers to look at.

Snapdragon X2 Elite real benchmarks 

YouTuber Alex Ziskind was recently invited to tour a Qualcomm facility, where he was allowed to run Geekbench on the company’s Compute Reference Design (CRD) machines. That gave us our first look at benchmark results for the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme.

Ziskind tested the Snapdragon X2 Elite in both 12-core and 18-core configurations, along with the 18-core X2 Elite Extreme.

The 12-core Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-80-100), paired with 32GB of memory and 1TB of storage, scored 3,850 in single-core and 16,171 in multi-core Geekbench tests. For comparison, Apple’s 10-core M4 MacBook Air scores around 3,839 single-core and 14,861 multi-core.

The 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-88-100) posted a 3,838 single-core score and a much higher 20,320 in multi-core. These figures put it in the same neighborhood as Apple’s M4 Pro chips.

The biggest numbers, of course, come from the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100). It hits 4,072 in single-core and 23,611 in multi-core. That’s squarely in M4 Max territory.

In fact, Ziskind’s testing shows the X2 Elite Extreme edging past the M4 Max in single-core performance (Apple scores around 3,913), while Apple still holds a clear lead in multi-core workloads, where the M4 Max reaches roughly 25,669 points.

As always, benchmarks don’t tell the full story. But Windows on ARM is no longer a science experiment. App compatibility has improved, performance is catching up fast, and with Snapdragon X2, Qualcomm is making it clear that it doesn’t want to be playing catch-up in the PC silicon race anymore.

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(Source)

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Qualcomm is pushing further into the PC space with its new Snapdragon X2 Elite lineup, announced at the 2025 Snapdragon Summit in Maui. These second-generation Arm-based chips are designed for high-performance Windows laptops, with claims of up to 31% higher CPU performance at the same power level, or the same performance while using 43% less power compared to the Snapdragon X Elite.

The X2 Elite family consists of three models, all manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm process. The base X2E-80-100 features a 12-core CPU with six efficiency cores at 3.4GHz and six performance cores at 4.0GHz, boosting up to 4.7GHz. A step up is the X2E-88-100, which increases the core count to 18, adding six more performance cores for heavier workloads such as content creation.

At the top is the X2E-96-100, also an 18-core part but with higher clocks. Its performance cores run at 4.4GHz, with two able to boost up to 5.0GHz, while the efficiency cluster reaches 3.6GHz. Qualcomm is positioning this “Extreme” version for premium laptops where sustained power is crucial.

Graphics have been reworked as well. The upgraded Adreno X2 GPU can run up to 1.85GHz on the Extreme model, and up to up to 1.70GHz on the other two models. Qualcomm says this upgraded GPU offers more than twice the performance-per-watt of the first generation. It supports modern standards, including DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenCL 3.0.

AI performance gets a big bump too. The Hexagon NPU now delivers 80 TOPS, which Qualcomm claims is the fastest for any laptop chip to date. That level of power is meant to support Microsoft’s Copilot+ features, enabling on-device AI tools like real-time translation and image editing.

The X2 series supports up to 128GB of LPDDR5X memory, UFS 4.0 storage, and PCIe Gen 5. The first laptops powered by the new chips are expected to arrive in spring 2026.

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(Source)

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Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon X series chips now reportedly power 10% of high-end Windows PCs in the US that have a price tag of $800 or above – a jump from the 0.8% market share it had in Q3 last year.

During the Q1 2025 earnings call, Qualcomm revealed this milestone. While the 10% figure may look impressive, it’s important to note that it applies specifically to high-end Windows PCs. This is a niche segment.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips are designed for always-on, always-connected PCs and they have been gaining attention for their combination of raw performance and efficiency.

Qualcomm has also announced an octa-core Snapdragon X chip that will bring the entry price for these devices down to around $600. Not to mention, it will make a broader audience consider the new platform as an appealing option, and will potentially increase the market share even more. It’s also important to note that more and more apps are getting native support for the platform, which increases the appeal.

We will likely see even faster growth going forward

Qualcomm has some big plans for the near future as well. The company aims to capture more than 50% of the Windows PC market within the next five years. For that, the giant is rolling out a wide range of mini PCs and laptops powered by Snapdragon X chips.

According to ITHome, more than 80 different PC models will launch with Snapdragon X chips this year, which will be followed by more than 100 models next year. So anyone looking for a PC in the price range will have significant number of options to chose from, that are lightweight, has impressive battery life, and possibly, supports several on-device AI features. Here are the new Snapdragon X-powered laptops launching in India this month.

Significant in context, Microsoft is working on bringing more on-device AI features to its AI PCs, and the rollout will start with the Snapdragon X-powered devices.

Although, consumer recognition of ARM-based Windows PCs is still limited, and the company must convince users of the benefits of its chips, such as longer battery life and native support for apps they use.

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With the Snapdragon X series of ARM chipsets for laptops, Qualcomm made a notable push in the PC segment. It brought great energy efficiency and performance along with support for AI processes. Now, the company might be working on the successors to these chips, which could be unveiled soon.

Snapdragon X2 Elite & X2 Plus in the works

To recall, the chipmaking giant unveiled the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus last year. But it seems like the Snapdragon X2 chip series could be dropping soon and there might be a new flagship chips as well. The Snapdragon X2 series may soon include a new “Ultra Premium” tier as well. The Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus shook the market and competitors like Intel and AMD.

AI was undoubtedly a big focus of these new chips, which was one aspect that other brands didn’t focus on. But with the Snapdragon X announcement, both Team Blue and Team Red caught up in a short period of time with great their own chips that packed dedicated NPUs. So while Qualcomm was losing ground in terms of performance, leaked shipping manifests (shared by Olrak_29 on X) has revealed that the Snapdragon X2 is clearly in the works.

The Snapdragon X2 moniker was also listed alongside the “Ultra Premium” tag, which likely hints at a more powerful processor. For those unaware, the upcoming chips are next generation ARM processors like its predecessors. Currently, there is only a Plus and Elite option, but there might soon be a Snapdragon X Ultra variant as well. We can exect improved performance, upgraded NPU, and better graphics performance. These should launch sometime later this year, which is in line with our older report. This is all the information we have at the moment, so stay tuned for more.

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Qualcomm‘s ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus powered laptops started shipping earlier this year with incredible battery life and power efficiency improvements. In the latest news, the next generation “Snapdragon X2” CPUs surfaces on the internet with some key details.

The company is currently preparing the X2 CPUs for testing and WinFuture has reportedly spotted “the first evidence of a new high-end version.”

All versions of the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite have the same internal model number “SC8380XP”. The source has found a new chip with the model number “SC8480XP” databases, which according to them, will be called “Snapdragon X2 Elite”.

Ealy versions of Snapdragon X2 Elite were tested as early as in July

WinFuture further reveals that Qualcomm first tested early versions of the “SC8480XP” chip (codenamed “Project Glymur”) during July and August of this year. However, no numbers are available at this moment.

That said, no information is currently available about the clock speed and number of cores in SC8480XP. However, the word “Glymur” in the codename “Project Glymur” hints at significant improvements as it is the name of the second-highest waterfall in Iceland.

So far, Qualcomm has almost exclusively used places or sights in Hawaii as code names for its smartphone and PC processors. It will be interesting to see whether the change in the choice of code names is worth anything.

Qualcomm may complete its development of “Project Glymur” or the “SC8480XP” sometime in 2025.

While the existing Snapdragon X Elite focuses on single-core CPU performance, the multi-core and graphics performance are relatively less impressive and inferior to the Apple M4. The launch of XElite and X Plus chips for Windows PCs has also prompted Intel and AMD to come up with chips that combine stronger CPUs, integrated GPUs, and NPUs.

Qualcomm will likely build upon the momentum and try its best to compete with the latest Apple Silicon both in terms of computing and power efficiency.

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