Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Die Shot Leaked: A Peek Into the Next-Gen SoC
An annotated die shot of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor recently surfaced online, offering a detailed look at the system-on-chip’s (SoC) components. Leaked on the Baidu platform by a user named Piglin, the image showcases the chip’s massive CPU cores, a moderate-sized GPU, and an impressive array of caches. Interestingly, the die shot doesn’t reveal the 45 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a key component Qualcomm highlights as a significant feature of the Snapdragon X Elite.
According to the leak, the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite boasts a die size of 169.6 mm², slightly larger than Apple’s 10-core M4, which measures 165.9 mm². Qualcomm’s chip is built using TSMC’s N4P process technology (a 4nm-class node), while Apple’s M4 utilizes TSMC’s more advanced N3E process (3nm-class).
A standout feature of the Snapdragon X Elite is its Oryon CPU cores, developed by Nuvia, each core measuring around 2.55 mm². This makes them larger than typical Arm CPU cores, though still smaller than Apple’s high-performance cores, which are approximately 3 mm² each.
The CPU domain occupies 48.2 mm² of the die, about twice the size of the Adreno X1 GPU domain, which measures 24.3 mm². Despite its modest size, Qualcomm claims the GPU delivers around 4.6 FP32 TFLOPS, slightly below Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3050 at 4.8 FP32 TFLOPS, which is respectable but not groundbreaking.
One of the most striking aspects of the Snapdragon X Elite is its vast cache system. The chip houses three quad-core CPU clusters, each with a 12MB L2 cache, a 6MB system-level cache, and the GPU itself includes around 12MB of cache across multiple levels. In total, the CPU features 54MB of various caches, occupying approximately 15 mm² of die space.
Beyond the CPU and GPU, the Snapdragon X Elite features a 128-bit LPDDR5X-8448 memory interface, as well as an NPU, display controller, ISP, and several other special-purpose components that were not labeled in the die shot.
This leak offers a fascinating glimpse into the Snapdragon X Elite’s architecture, highlighting its robust CPU design, moderate GPU, and extensive cache memory, positioning it as a formidable contender in the next generation of SoCs.
