Surface pro x features a 2.1tf arm qualcomm sq1 processor

At its Surface event today, Microsoft announced two custom chips. The first one is for the Surface Laptop 3, and it's based on AMD's Ryzen 3700U. The second, which powers the Surface Pro X, is called 'SQ1' and is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx (Compute eXtreme) SoC solution released last year.

Surface Pro X SQ1 processor is rated at 2.1 teraflops

Snapdragon 8cx was the first Qualcomm chip designed specifically for computers with Windows Always Connected. This SoC features eight Kryo 495 cores, divided into two groups of four cores each for high performance and energy efficiency. The core frequency is not known, but Samsung's Galaxy Book S, powered by the 8cx, has a base frequency of 2.84 GHz.

The custom ARM SQ1 processor was created in collaboration with Microsoft and Qualcomm specifically for the Windows 10 operating system and is largely based on the 8cx.

According to the details, the Kryo SQ1 CPU runs at around 3GHz. The SQ1 also has eight cores and, like the 8cx, is manufactured with a 7nm node. On the way to the GPU, Microsoft seems to have worked extensively with Qualcomm on this as well. The SQ1's GPU is rated at 2.1 teraflops, which is quite impressive. However, like the Surface Laptop 3, this one will also be used for content creation rather than gaming. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8cx Adreno GPU has an output of 1.8 teraflops, so the SQ1 is expected to consume a bit more power than the Qualcomm chip.

Visit our guide on the best laptops on the market

The SoC also supports eight-channel LPDDR4X memory, so this specification will on SQ1 as well. Microsoft's platform has a 7W TDP base that can be scaled up to 15W depending on need. Microsoft's Surface Pro X seeks to breathe new life into the 'Windows-on-ARM' platform.

We will see how Microsoft does to solve the performance issues of Windows 10 under ARM, which was one of the main complaints of the 'Always Connected' devices. We will keep you informed.

Wccftech font