The ARM laptops boosting Snapdragon X Elite will run PC games with emulation

You won't have to port the Windows games for ARM laptops

Reading time icon 2 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Qualcomm processor Snapdragon X Elite – XE1800 is catching up with Apple M3

We have reported about the Snapdragon’s X Elite new chip and its mighty power. However, we found out, as highlighted by The Verge, that Snapdragon brought up a new feature of their CPU at GDC 2024.

Up until now, if you had an ARM machine, you couldn’t run a Windows x86 or 64-bit app unless the developer ported it. Microsoft already created a way to port Windows 11 apps to ARM using ARM64EC a few years ago. However, the developers were not that enthusiastic about this method.

Now, Snapdragon announced that one of the perks of the new Snapdragon’s X Elite chip is that it can run native Windows games and apps using a built-in emulator.

Will the Windows games run on ARM laptops at the same speed?

Qualcomm admitted that the built-in emulator is not capable of running the games at full speed but they will be close to that. The performance issue will occur when the emulator translates the code at the game’s start.

They also mentioned that they are working on a way to include the anti-cheat drivers that most of today’s games require.

The most important fact is that it will be a lot easier to run native Windows applications on ARM laptops outfitted with the new Snapdragon X Elite clips.

The chipmaker is now testing many titles from Steam with confidence that they will run well enough to get the gamers interested.

Are you interested in buying an ARM laptop? Tell us more about your decision in the comments section below.

More about the topics: CPU, snapdragon