Snapdragon 1000 could be used in desktop PCs, Hololens products, and Microsoft's Andromeda

[midian182]

Rumor mill: Qualcomm isn’t slowing down when it comes to challenging Intel in the CPU market. The recently announced Snapdragon 850 platform might bring an increased performance over the Snapdragon 845-powered laptops, but it still isn’t going to compete with the Core series. With the rumored Snapdragon 1000, however, that could change.

Earlier this month, Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon 850; a dedicated laptop chip—as in, not for smartphones—designed for the second-generation of its Windows 10 on ARM initiative. Compared to the current Snapdragon 835 PCs, it offers a 30 percent performance boost, better battery life, and faster gigabit LTE speeds. But the chip is based on the Snapdragon 845 found in most Android flagships. So, while it has advantages such as an extended battery life, the 850 is unlikely to be a major rival for Intel’s CPUs.

But a report from German site WinFuture, along with an engineer’s LinkedIn profile, suggests the Snapdragon 1000 could offer a viable alternative to Intel’s impressive 8250U and 8550U Kaby Lake Refresh mobile CPUs. It's said to handle most tasks a user can throw at it, including VR and AR applications.

Built using TSMC's 7nm manufacturing process, the Snapdragon 1000 is expected to use the new ARM Cortex-A76 architecture, which brings 35 percent extra performance and is 40 percent more power efficient than the Cortex-A75. It’s also reported to support up to 16GB of RAM and two 128GB storage modules. The Chip itself measures 20mm x 15mm, much larger than previous Snapdragons, and will have a TDP of up to 12W—slightly less than 15W-rated 8250U and 8550U.

Interestingly, Microsoft is said to be testing the Snapdragon 1000 in a number of devices, including “desktop” PCs, Hololens products, and even the long-rumored Andromeda foldable tablet/phone device. Should Intel be concerned? Not initially, but AMD might not be the only company it has to worry about in the future.

Qualcomm SDM1000 is destined to end up in "desktop" PCs with Windows 10 on ARM, Microsofts project "Andromeda" (?) and even HoloLens it seems - Qualcomm really going for the Desktop?! From the LinkedIn profile of a QC engineer: https://t.co/xrGfQvBb5z pic.twitter.com/Ux1l6Ebl7T

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) 23 June 2018

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https://www.techspot.com/news/75219-snapdragon-1000-could-used-desktop-pcs-hololens-products.html

 

[Teko03]

Any ARM based CPU in a Desktop is plain pointless. The benefit of an ARM chip is battery life...something you don't need in a product that is plugged into AC power when it's being used. It doesn't make sense for the trade off of having to run legacy x86 apps via emulation.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"Should Intel be worried?"

Nope. Qualcomm's performance was still shown to be beyond sluggish, and most desktop software is still x86. ARM has a LONG way to go before it is anywhere near x86 performance, and since ARM is still in-order execution (more energy efficient, but less capable) it will never match raw x86 performance. In order to be a core I competitor with actual programs, ARM would have to be made out-of-order, which would eliminate any power or cost savings.

 

[enemys]

"Should Intel be worried?"

Nope. Qualcomm's performance was still shown to be beyond sluggish, and most desktop software is still x86. ARM has a LONG way to go before it is anywhere near x86 performance, and since ARM is still in-order execution (more energy efficient, but less capable) it will never match raw x86 performance. In order to be a core I competitor with actual programs, ARM would have to be made out-of-order, which would eliminate any power or cost savings.

All high-performance 64-bit ARM cores (A57, A72, Exynos M1 etc.) are out-of-order, it's just the small cores (like A53) that are in-order. Heck, even good old Cortex A9 was partially out of order. You're years late to the party.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Any ARM based CPU in a Desktop is plain pointless. The benefit of an ARM chip is battery life...something you don't need in a product that is plugged into AC power when it's being used. It doesn't make sense for the trade off of having to run legacy x86 apps via emulation.

But it's going to be in LAPTOPS.... those would benefit from battery life...

 

[Danny101]

A better alternative would be a ARM-x86 hybrid CPU. ARM-Mode for light-duty workloads like browsing, listening to music. taking a phone call, tablet apps, and etc. Switch over to x86-Mode for programs, gaming, and heavier duty work. Just need a good middle-ware switch.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"Should Intel be worried?"

Nope. Qualcomm's performance was still shown to be beyond sluggish, and most desktop software is still x86. ARM has a LONG way to go before it is anywhere near x86 performance, and since ARM is still in-order execution (more energy efficient, but less capable) it will never match raw x86 performance. In order to be a core I competitor with actual programs, ARM would have to be made out-of-order, which would eliminate any power or cost savings.

All high-performance 64-bit ARM cores (A57, A72, Exynos M1 etc.) are out-of-order, it's just the small cores (like A53) that are in-order. Heck, even good old Cortex A9 was partially out of order. You're years late to the party.

Really? Wow, so there is REALLY no way ARM will ever challenge X86, if out of order ARM was that abysmally slow emulating X86.

 

[bas416]

A better alternative would be a ARM-x86 hybrid CPU. ARM-Mode for light-duty workloads like browsing, listening to music. taking a phone call, tablet apps, and etc. Switch over to x86-Mode for programs, gaming, and heavier duty work. Just need a good middle-ware switch.

We already have that, they're called Android tablets, and you turn on your i9 for heavy workloads.

This is only a last ditch effort to save a small piece of the market, covered in marketing bs about battery life and so.

 

[Teko03]

But it's going to be in LAPTOPS.... those would benefit from battery life...

The headline specifically mentioned "Desktop PC's". Besides, Snapdragon 835 powered Windows 10 laptops are already available, thast's not what this article is about and that wouldn't be "news".

 

[Squid Surprise]

The headline specifically mentioned "Desktop PC's". Besides, Snapdragon 835 powered Windows 10 laptops are already available, thast's not what this article is about and that wouldn't be "news".

Had you read the article, you'd have noticed the quotes around "desktop"...

 

[Danny101]

We already have that, they're called Android tablets, and you turn on your i9 for heavy workloads.

This is only a last ditch effort to save a small piece of the market, covered in marketing bs about battery life and so.

But we're talking about Windows here. Android doesn't have this problem.

 

[bas416]

But we're talking about Windows here. Android doesn't have this problem.

Exactly, if ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Exactly, if ain't broke don't fix it.

But if you can’t fix it, how do you keep making money off of the updates?

 

[bas416]

But if you can’t fix it, how do you keep making money off of the updates?

you can always keep focusing on unneccessary features and UI regressions, just look at Office