Qualcomm’s New Processors Are Hot. Even Liquid Metal Doesn’t Help
Qualcomm still has a lot of catching up to do with AMD, Apple, and Intel. Their latest processors aren’t as good as promised.
When thinking about computer processors, most people think of companies like Intel and AMD. However, at the end of 2020, this market was also entered Applewith its architecture-based systems ARM. Their success inspired Qualcommwho recently showed models Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus.
Even liquid metal doesn’t help bring down CPU temperatures
For many months we have heard loud promises about high efficiency and low power consumptionwhich was supposed to translate into long operating time on a single charge and low temperatures. However, when the laptops went on sale reality, as usual, turned out to be more brutal.
Foreign YouTuber High-tech Point took a laptop to work ASUS Vivobook S15which is powered by the Snapdragon X Elite system. The first thing he noticed was high temperatures – up to 88°Cappearing under load on every power plan except “power efficient” (which lowers clock speeds).
The enthusiast decided replace the factory thermal paste with liquid metalthe differences turned out to be marginal. In the program Cinebench R23 noticed maximum temperature drops from 88 to 86°C. This allowed for a minimal increase in efficiency of 3.5%.
What does it mean? Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite is hot and/or ASUS cooling system is poor. There’s not much users can do here since liquid metal doesn’t improve the situation. The only hope may be a BIOS update by the Taiwanese, which will lower voltages and change the fan RPM profile. However, complaints are starting to appear on the web about models from other manufacturers with this CPU.
