Yesterday, at the ongoing annual Tech Summit, Qualcomm announced its new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform. Following that now in the Day 2 of the Tech Summit, Qualcomm has now announced the new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Compute Platform for always on, always connected PCs.
The new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is built on the 5nm architecture that offers up to 85% faster CPU multitasking performance and up to 60% faster GPU performance. It supports 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave) and the Snapdragon X65 5G RF-Modem system delivers peak download speeds of up to 10 Gbps, up to 7.5 Gbps with the Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF system, or up to 4.4 Gbps with the Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF system, and the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 system offers speeds up to 3.6 Gbps on Wi-Fi 6E. Further, this platform now supports UFS 3.1 storage for faster read and write speeds, and supports gaming in FULL HD up to 12ofps.
As for the camera, the Qualcomm Spectra ISP on the 8cx Gen 3 supports single camera up to 24MP, with support for up to 4 concurrent cameras, and has support for 4K HDR video capture at 30fps, slow motion 720p video at 480fps. The cameras support Auto focus, Auto White Balance, and Auto Exposure that enables apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams to adapt to lighting changes and user’s movement. Further, there is support for Qualcomm Voice Suite, which has Qualcomm Noise and Echo Cancellation technology that cancels out unwanted background sounds such as barking dogs or a neighbor moving their lawn.
Further, the AI Engine on the 8cx Gen 3 delivers 29+ TOPS of AI acceleration and this platform continues to enable Microsoft Secured-core PCs out of the box. The Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit (SPU) implements Microsoft Pluton Security Solution for Windows 11 that helps to securely store sensitive data such as encryption keys, credentials directly on the SoC. This platform can now ensure the user’s device automatically locks when they unattended through a dedicated Computer Vision processor and a camera security framework supporting Windows Hello login.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 specifications
- CPU: 4x 3.0 GHz Prime cores + 4x 2.4 GHz Efficiency Cores, 14MB Total Cache (8MB L3+6MB System cache); 5nm architecture
- GPU: Qualcomm Adreno GPU with support for DX12 API
- DSP: Qualcomm Hexagon Processor with Qualcomm Sensing Hub
- Memory: 8 x16 channel LPDDR4x-2166 memory
- Storage: Support for NVMe SSD over PCIe ; UFS 3.1 storage
- Display: Up to 4K Ultra HD display support
- Up to two 4K external display support over DP-MST
- Video: Up to 4K HDR video playback at 120 fps ; H.265 (HEVC), H.264 (AVC), VP9 codec support
- Camera: Qualcomm Spectra ISP; support for single camera up to 24 MP, 4K HDR video capture at 30fps, Slow motion 720p video at 480 fps
- Audio: Qualcomm TrueWireless Technology, Qualcomm Broadcast Audio technology, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, Qualcomm aptX audio technology, Qualcomm aptX audio playback support, Qualcomm aptX, Qualcomm aptX HD
- Location: Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, SBAS; Qualcomm Location
- 5G: Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF system ; 10Gbps peak download speeds
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF system ; 7.5Gbps, 2.5Gbps peak download speeds, 3Gbps, 316 Mbps peak upload speeds
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF system ; 4.4Gbps peak download speeds
- Snapdragon X65 – 1000 MHz bandwidth on 5G mmWave, 300 MHz on sub-6 GHz
- Snapdragon X55 – 800 MHz bandwidth on 5G mmWave, 200 MHz on sub-6 GHz
- Snapdragon X62 – 400 MHz bandwidth on 5G mmWave, 120 MHz on sub-6 GHz
- Wi-Fi: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi /6E), 802.11ad, 802.11ac Wave 2, 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n ; 2×2 MIMO
- Bluetooth 5.1
Devices powered by Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 are expected to launch in the first half of 2022.