News Qualcomm debuts new Snapdragon G handheld gaming PC chips to compete with Intel and AMD

[Admin]

Qualcomm launches the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, and Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 for handheld gaming devices.

Qualcomm debuts new Snapdragon G handheld gaming PC chips to compete with Intel and AMD : Read more

 

[kealii123]

Anyone know how these iGPUs stack up to the one in the latest Snapdragon Elite?

 

[ezst036]

I'd like to see one with an ARM port of SteamOS 3.7, which is rumored to be coming to a general release soon.

 

[thestryker]

The way Qualcomm is obfuscating what these are I just assume they're Snapdragon 8 derivatives (if not the same chip).

 

[kealii123]

The way Qualcomm is obfuscating what these are I just assume they're Snapdragon 8 derivatives (if not the same chip).

I'd like to think they are cheaper (binned) versions of the 8 Elite, but with lower CPU core counts while retaining the same iGPU, but who knows

 

[atomicWAR]

Yeah but will their iGPU drivers still be trash? Until they properly tune their drivers I can't see these being very good at gaming and that's before you consider the fact they are arm based using a translation layer to run x86/x64 which hinders CPU performance a fair bit. Regardless happy to see more players in the PC space.

 

[thestryker]

I'd like to think they are cheaper (binned) versions of the 8 Elite, but with lower CPU core counts while retaining the same iGPU, but who knows

They're not because these are labeled as being "Kryo" cores which means they're Arm IP instead of in house. The GPUs use a completely different naming convention too so until they announce hardware specifics it'll be hard to determine what they are, but it's unlikely to be the 830.

 

[erazog]

Unless it runs Steam, its not a competitor to Intel/AMD handhelds, Android doesn't count.

They could in theory put Windows on it but I doubt MS/Qualcomm would be too keen on the idea, no -one makes Arm native games other than Android.

 

[circadia]

Yeah but will their iGPU drivers still be trash? Until they properly tune their drivers I can't see these being very good at gaming and that's before you consider the fact they are arm based using a translation layer to run x86/x64 which hinders CPU performance a fair bit. Regardless happy to see more players in the PC space.

in their defense, you could just use something like 3rd-party drivers (like Turnip for Snapdragon 6/7/8xx or 6/7/8 Gen x, for example). Those things are used a lot by mobile gamers, particularly ones doing Nintendo Switch/PlayStation 2/Windows emulation.

 

[dalek1234]

What is the use for these? It runs Android. So this is basically an Android tablet, or a larger version of an Android phone, with physical controls, which runs Android games. Will the larger screen improve my Angry Birds aim, like the Window's version of Angry Birds did?

Qualcomm is trying to join the hand-held gaming frenzy, with a device that has extremely limited uses.

 

[circadia]

What is the use for these? It runs Android. So this is basically an Android tablet, or a larger version of an Android phone, with physical controls, which runs Android games. Will the larger screen improve my Angry Birds aim, like the Window's version of Angry Birds did?

Qualcomm is trying to join the hand-held gaming frenzy, with a device that has extremely limited uses.

for... mobile games, obviously? I think the chips are made to be targeted at the Asian market (India/China/South-East Asia), which has a *lot* of mobile gamers playing Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Arena of Valor (basically just League of Legends but mobile and such), etc.
and, well, Google's been trying to push for more gaming on Android. Android 16 will be the first version of Android to include Vulkan API natively, which means porting PC games to mobile devices will be easier to be done.

 

[cknobman]

Unless it runs Steam, its not a competitor to Intel/AMD handhelds, Android doesn't count.

They could in theory put Windows on it but I doubt MS/Qualcomm would be too keen on the idea, no -one makes Arm native games other than Android.

Yeah this is the big issue for me.
I'd love to try one of these but I dont mobile game on Android because the games are all PTW trash.

Emulate?
Well I can do that on all the other existing handheld devices that also happen to play real full PC games.

 

[circadia]

I'd love to try one of these but I dont mobile game on Android because the games are all PTW trash.

yeah, well, you either don't know where to look (for example, there are native open-source engine implementations for Doom, Quake, Morrowind, etc. on Android, and there have been Android ports for games like Stardew Valley), or you are too old for Android gaming (kids these days like playing action/shooter/anime games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile more...)

 

[kealii123]

This is not intended for windows gaming. The drivers for Android gaming work just fine.

Remember, mobile gaming revenue (android/Google Play) is more than PC gaming, Xbox, and PlayStation combined. iOS gaming revenue is greater than all the rest of them combined, including Google Play and Nintendo. Mario Kart Tour alone brings in close to $100 million in revenue a year by itself.

I get that most of that revenue is from preying on people with poor impulse control via pay to win games, and that isn't the target audience of this. However, you'd be shocked at how games like CoD: Mobile do in emerging markets. Plus these Qualcomm chips cost less than a third of x86 chips.

 

[cknobman]

yeah, well, you either don't know where to look (for example, there are native open-source engine implementations for Doom, Quake, Morrowind, etc. on Android, and there have been Android ports for games like Stardew Valley), or you are too old for Android gaming (kids these days like playing action/shooter/anime games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile more...)

Yeah I'm not the target audience for this which is what I was saying.

And I know where to look for better gaming on Android.
But there is always some type of compromise.

For me, its not worth the effort and trouble when there are a multitude of existing handheld gaming devices that can natively run all the games I want without issue, workarounds, and special hacks/implementations.

 

[kealii123]

Yeah I'm not the target audience for this which is what I was saying.

And I know where to look for better gaming on Android.
But there is always some type of compromise.

For me, its not worth the effort and trouble when there are a multitude of existing handheld gaming devices that can natively run all the games I want without issue, workarounds, and special hacks/implementations.

CoD: Mobile averages nearly 60,000,000 (thats 60 million) players a month. Likely x10 higher than MW3. Can you play CoD: Mobile on a steamdeck or Legion go?

 

[Pierce2623]

I'd like to think they are cheaper (binned) versions of the 8 Elite, but with lower CPU core counts while retaining the same iGPU, but who knows

No it’s sd8gen3 at top, sd8gen2 in middle and im not sure what the low-end one is. Something like an updated sd720g apparently.