Qualcomm has introduced its newest flagship chip for PCs: the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which, because the identify implies, succeeds final yr’s 8cx Gen 2 mannequin and provides some substantial jumps in efficiency.

The 8cx Gen 3 is the primary chip for Windows computer systems constructed on a 5nm course of and guarantees as much as 85 % higher CPU efficiency and as much as 60 % quicker GPU efficiency in comparison with the 8cx Gen 2. Additionally, Qualcomm boasts that its new chip provides “60 percent greater performance per watt over the competitive x86 platform” — though the corporate is notably quiet on which x86 platform its evaluating issues to. Qualcomm additionally touts that the chip helps “multi-day battery life,” though once more, it didn’t present too many particulars.

As one would possibly anticipate for a serious Qualcomm laptop computer chip, a serious function on the 8cx is connectivity, with Qualcomm providing assist for its Snapdragon X55, X62, or X65 5G modems (relying on what sort of 5G capabilities producers need to provide). Additionally, the 8cx Gen 3 will assist Wi-Fi 6 and 6E for if you’re not out and about.

The regular AI enhancements are right here, too: there’s Qualcomm’s Spectra ISP, which guarantees higher autofocus, auto-white stability, and auto-exposure for videoconferencing, in addition to noise and echo cancellation options for higher audio.

Additionally, Qualcomm has been touting the ability and battery lifetime of its laptop computer chips because it first introduced the unique 8cx again in 2018; the chips haven’t actually taken off, exterior of modified variations showing in Microsoft’s Surface Pro X laptops.

And these computer systems that have shipped with Qualcomm’s silicon haven’t made a lot of a dent on the Intel and AMD x86 hegemony for Windows, with sluggish developer assist and not one of the revolutionary advances that Apple’s personal Arm-based M1-series chips have delivered to its computer systems.

Maybe the 8cx Gen 3 will change that. But it’s laborious to not really feel just like the 8cx Gen 3 isn’t something however a stopgap when Qualcomm is already teasing its subsequent next-generation Windows PC chips for 2023. Those chips, designed by the Nuvia staff that Qualcomm purchased for $1.4 billion earlier this yr, are “designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs” with management in “sustained performance and battery life,” along with providing a aggressive processor to Apple’s wonderful M-series chips.

In addition to the 8cx Gen 3, Qualcomm additionally introduced a brand new Snapdragon 7c Plus Gen 3 platform. Unlike its flagship cousin, the 7c Plus Gen 3 remains to be constructed on a 6nm course of however guarantees as much as 60 % higher multi-threaded CPU efficiency and 70 % higher graphics than the 7c Gen 2. Like the 7c Gen 2, the 7c Plus Gen 3 is supposed for entry-level Windows PCs and Chromebooks, so it’s not fairly as highly effective as the brand new 8cx Gen 3. In addition to the efficiency boosts, although, Qualcomm can also be including an built-in Snapdragon X53 modem, enabling 5G on Qualcomm’s entry-level laptop computer chips for the primary time.