Snapdragon X Elite ARM laptops can really run x86/64 games, but we're not impressed

Baldur's Gate 3 and Control run at about 30 FPS on 1080p resolution. Is that enough?

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by Claudiu Andone 

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Qualcomm demoes Snapdragon X Elite laptop at GDC 2024

Recently, we’ve reported about Snapdragon’s X Elite ARM chip and the fact that it will be able to run Windows games with a built-in emulator.

Emulators usually run the games slower than in their native environment so everyone was wondering how fast will a laptop with Snapdragon X Elite run an x86 or 64-bit Windows game.

According to The Verge, Qualcomm gathered a few influencers to demo the Control and Baldur’s Gate 3 games during the 2024 GDC event.

Allegedly, the games run at 1080p resolution at 30 FPS on medium graphics settings and probably enabled the AMD’s FSR 1.0 spatial upscaling, based on the feedback provided on X by the people who attended the demo.

Another testimonial comes from another trial test of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Control witnessed by BooredAtWork during MWC 2024.

Apparently, Baldur’s Gate 3 barely reached 37 FPS while Control showed a peak at 35 FPS. Now, don’t get us wrong, it’s great to see that a native Windows game can run on ARM, but it’s not near the performance it will show on a PC, or even a handheld console for that matter.

However, we have to take into account that these were only demos and Qualcomm was using a test laptop of unknown technical specifications, so we need to take all this with a grain of salt.

From BooredAtWork’s video above, Qualcomm allegedly said that they’ve already tested 250 PC games and by the launch date, they would double the pool of supported titles.

There is still a bit more to wait until the Snapdragon X Elite laptops come to stores and then we will have the full picture on their performance.

How do you feel about the Snapdragon X Elite laptop demos? Would you buy an ARM laptop? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.

More about the topics: ARM processors, gaming, qualcomm

Claudiu Andone

Claudiu Andone Shield

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Oldtimer in the tech and science press, Claudiu is focused on whatever comes new from Microsoft. His abrupt interest in computers started when he saw the first Home Computer as a kid. However, his passion for Windows and everything related became obvious when he became a sys admin in a computer science high school. With 14 years of experience in writing about everything there is to know about science and technology, Claudiu also likes rock music, chilling in the garden, and Star Wars. May the force be with you, always!