Snapdragon X Windows PCs should run over 1,000 games at playable framerates, super resolution improves performance

[Daniel Sims]

Why it matters: Nobody expects the new Snapdragon X PCs to trade blows with beast gaming rigs, but users will inevitably want to kill time by playing games on them, and thousands will need to run through an x86-to-Arm translation layer. With help from the community, Microsoft and Qualcomm have started offering a clear picture of how games will perform on their new Arm laptops. Some of the most popular PC games are currently unsupported, but others run shockingly well.

While presenting the new Arm-based Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft began demonstrating games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Borderlands with performance that many would find acceptable. Furthermore, an independent database now tracks the compatibility of over 1,000 titles.

Microsoft claimed that Baldur's Gate 3 can maintain around 30fps unlocked at 1080p on the Surface Pro 11, which features Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite SoC. Qualcomm previously showed the game achieving similar performance on a prototype laptop with the same processor.

Borderlands 3 running emulated on Snapdragon X Elite and Windows on ARM pic.twitter.com/oIR493yDC4

– Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 21, 2024

The numbers aren't very impressive on a pure cost-per-frame basis, as far higher framerates are possible on plenty of x86 PCs that are cheaper than the Snapdragon X Elite laptops. However, 1080p30 is perfectly serviceable for an integrated graphics chip running through an Arm-to-x86 translation layer. Furthermore, the Snapdragon's advantage in efficiency will likely lead to lower temperatures and longer battery life while gaming.

Microsoft also used Borderlands to show how its upscaling technology, Auto SR, can increase framerates not unlike Nvidia's DLSS. In native 1440p, the game only manages around 26fps, but enabling Auto SR increases that figure to 41fps while maintaining good image quality. The company claims Auto SR can improve performance by up to 60 percent.

Furthermore, Microsoft has officially sanctioned a community-driven site, worksonwoa.com, which catalogs performance statistics for numerous PC titles on the Arm version of Windows. The database currently includes over 1,000 games.

Checking some of the most popular titles shows that smooth gaming is possible on the Copilot+ PCs. Games like Civilization V, Team Fortress 2, Elden Ring, Football Manager, Final Fantasy XIV, Counter-Strike 2, The Sims 4, and World of Warcraft run without problems. Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, DOTA 2, and Stardew Valley, achieve playable framerates. However, League of Legends, Java Minecraft, and Fortnite are currently unsupported.

Performance could improve if developers began porting games to run natively on Arm Windows, but the number of developers planning to do so remains unclear. The Arm-based Apple Silicon processors have received native ports of titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Death Stranding, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and soon Assassin's Creed Shadows, so big-budget game makers aren't averse to Arm PCs.

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Snapdragon X Windows PCs should run over 1,000 games at playable framerates, super resolution improves performance

 

[gorlok]

I think is x86-to-ARM translation layer, no Arm-to-x86.

 

[yRaz]

Not interested. X86 chips have gotten efficient enough that ARM really isn't needed anymore. There are too many compromises with ARM and I don't want to get stuck downloading things from an "app store" and locked into some eco system where I have no control over my device.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

These performance figures seem worse than what you get with a Ryzen laptop chip that contains a 780 M iGPU, and those are readily available for cheaper + still get pretty good battery life. Not quite seeing the hype here. And for that matter if you care at all about gaming their are plenty of laptops with discrete GPUs available for cheaper than any of these Snapdragon ones, that will run rings around any iGPU.

 

[Dimitriid]

1) You really should put quotation marks on 'Playable' because it's kind of insulting that Microsoft wants to sell 25-30 FPS as 'playable' We're not in the 90s anymore: minimum framerate at 30 at all times is what should be considered playable, and barely for most people used to at least 60.

2) If this is the best it can do it's kind of not worth getting: AMD 780M integrated solution pretty much doubles the framerate on this game and settings. Sure it will probably drop battery life significantly doing so (Although how much compared to Snapdragon remains to be seen: I don't expect miracles so the magical 22 hour battery on Snapdragon might drop to 2-3 hours if you really hit it hard constantly) So even the by-now-sorta-outdated Steam Deck can basically beat this chip handsomly.

Their translation layer is about what I was expecting and about what we saw from Apple: it's just serviceable if you need to quickly open some x86 application for like 5 to 10 minutes. It's not playable framerates, it's a stop-gap at best: If you must give Windows + Arm another chance your best bet will be emulation and older games.

 

[loki1944]

So making things run at super shitty fake resolution/super de-resolution makes them run better. What a shocker.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

My GeForce RTX 3080 (which will soon be retired to make room for a GeForce RTX 4080 Super) is laughing its arse off after seeing those puny fps numbers marketed as "playable frame rates" :-D


I'm no PC elitist, but I think it would be fun to become one at this point :-D

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Not interested. X86 chips have gotten efficient enough that ARM really isn't needed anymore. There are too many compromises with ARM and I don't want to get stuck downloading things from an "app store" and locked into some eco system where I have no control over my device.

LMFAO. dude, I dont like apple either, but are you huffing some serious copium? The battery runtime of Apple's ARM chips is astounding compared to windows machines with similar batteries. Same with snapdragon 8cx laptops, there is no comparison.

As for the "app store", bruh a CPU arch doesnt determine that. Your OS vendor does. Microsoft can happily lock you down on x86 or ARM.

 

[yRaz]

LMFAO. dude, I dont like apple either, but are you huffing some serious copium? The battery runtime of Apple's ARM chips is astounding compared to windows machines with similar batteries. Same with snapdragon 8cx laptops, there is no comparison.

As for the "app store", bruh a CPU arch doesnt determine that. Your OS vendor does. Microsoft can happily lock you down on x86 or ARM.

The only reason that apples silicon is so efficient is because of the node, not because it is ARM. Also, I don't use windows, I use Linux. The thing is that finding compatible software for arm is a pain in the *** outside of app stores. also, I haven't had an issue with battery on a laptop since I was in college 15 years ago and I was lucky to get 90 minutes. I don't even know how long the battery lasts on my laptop because I've never run it below 30% in the 5 years I've had it.

ARM does a decent job with efficiency but the compromises you make with compatible software, operating system choice and upgradability just aren't worth it. The low power mode on my HP laptop *supposedly* drops it down to a total system power of 5 watts and I have a 53WH battery so it has a theoretical battery life of around 10 hours with the i3. I'd say it's probably closer to 8 hours but I've never had to use it for more than 4-5 hours without being away from an outlet.

I just see ARM as silly for uses outside of a phone. X86 chips have been power efficient enough to be put in tablets for years now. I think people forget how bad things were 20 years where ARM got popular out of necessity.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

My GeForce RTX 3080 (which will soon be retired to make room for a GeForce RTX 4080 Super) is laughing its arse off after seeing those puny fps numbers marketed as "playable frame rates" :-D


I'm no PC elitist, but I think it would be fun to become one at this point :-D

To be fair, these are thin & light laptops, that draw far less power than your video card alone does. In theory Qualcomm could produce desktop Snapdragon boards that you could plug your Geforce right into (assuming Nvidia provides ARM drivers). But as I mentioned above, their gaming performance is pretty sad even compared to existing laptops that are also cheaper.

 

[J95qRP7]

2) If this is the best it can do it's kind of not worth getting: AMD 780M integrated solution pretty much doubles the framerate on this game and settings. Sure it will probably drop battery life significantly doing so (Although how much compared to Snapdragon remains to be seen: I don't expect miracles so the magical 22 hour battery on Snapdragon might drop to 2-3 hours if you really hit it hard constantly) So even the by-now-sorta-outdated Steam Deck can basically beat this chip handsomly.

The 780M is essentially the same as my Z1 Extreme in my Ally and I absolutely cannot get 60FPS IN BG3 on the Ally at 30W. On the absolute lowest graphical settings, at 720p, I get around 30fps, which is a far cry from 1080p 30 fps.

 

[HardReset]

LMFAO. dude, I dont like apple either, but are you huffing some serious copium? The battery runtime of Apple's ARM chips is astounding compared to windows machines with similar batteries. Same with snapdragon 8cx laptops, there is no comparison.

Common misconceptions here again. Firts, there is basically no difference between ARM and x86 if architecture is "same" (instruction sets are of course different). Also Apple machines have no option of user upgradeable memory that invalidates comparison. And if from x86 Intel is used instead AMD, that also makes difference.

Anyway, just saying ARM is efficient because of ARM is totally wrong.

 

[Bamda]

I would like to see this upscaling technology, Auto SR come to x86 PCs! Let get a move on MS!

 

[dangh]

Would be nice to use snapdragon and slowly drop x86, especially, snapdragon made linux kernel drivers. No way im going back to use windows on anything. I guess making a proton for snapdragon should be easy.