Intel Lunar Lake Vs Snapdragon X Elite: A Comprehensive Comparison

After Qualcomm launched its ARM-based Snapdragon X series chipsets for Windows laptops, many dismissed Intel and the x86 architecture. However, with the launch of Lunar Lake processors, Intel seems to be back in the game and confident about its new chipsets. With Lunar Lake, Intel is touting massive improvement in efficiency, matching Snapdragon X Elite’s performance per watt figure. So, we have thoroughly compared Intel Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon X Elite using available data.

CPU Performance: Intel Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon X Elite

Let’s start with the CPU. Intel claims that its new CPU on Lunar Lake, equipped with eight cores (4x Lion Cove + 4x Skymont), offers 20% higher performance per watt compared to Qualcomm’s 12-core Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100). This comparison is based on the UL Procyon Office Productivity benchmark.

Furthermore, Intel's top-end Lunar Lake SKU, Core Ultra 9 288V, is said to deliver 7% faster performance than Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) in the Cinebench 2024 single-threaded test. The performance is similar in the Geekbench single-core test.

It's important to note that Intel has not focused on multi-threaded tests, as Snapdragon X Elite has 12 cores, while all Lunar Lake SKUs feature 8 cores. We expect to provide more comparisons once we can test a laptop powered by the newly launched 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chipsets.

Benchmark Comparisons

In various benchmarks, Intel states that the Core Ultra 9 288V ties with X Elite (X1E-80-100) in the Speedometer 3 test. Additionally, in the PugetBench Photoshop benchmark, Lunar Lake shows a 17% performance gain. Remarkably, Intel claims a staggering 92% performance improvement in the Handbrake test, although it’s possible that Handbrake was running under Prism emulation on Snapdragon X Elite.

Overall, the performance of Lunar Lake's CPU is nearly on par with Snapdragon X Elite’s Oryon CPU. However, due to the additional cores on the X Elite, multi-threaded performance is notably stronger on Qualcomm’s processor.

Geekbench Scores: Intel Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon X Elite

In our Geekbench test, we compared Lunar Lake’s lowest-end SKU (Core Ultra 5 228V) with the recently launched Snapdragon X Plus (X1P-46-100) since both feature 8 CPU cores.

Keep in mind, the Geekbench score for Snapdragon X Plus was shared by Qualcomm running on a reference device, so it should be taken with caution. The actual score on retail units may vary. We also utilized leaked scores of Core Ultra 5 228V from Geekbench, which is operating on a Lenovo laptop.

In the single-core test, Snapdragon X Plus is about 7% faster than Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, and the multi-core scores show a 16% advantage for the Snapdragon. It's worth mentioning that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus has a standard frequency of 3.4GHz, boosting a single core up to 4.0GHz, whereas Lunar Lake's efficiency core can reach 3.5GHz and its performance core can clock up to 4.5GHz.

Top-end Comparisons

When comparing the top-end Lunar Lake SKU (8-core Core Ultra 9 288V) with Qualcomm’s flagship 12-core Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100), the difference in single-core scores is reduced to 3.6%. However, in multi-core scores, X Elite maintains a significant lead of about 25% due to its additional cores.

Currently, Intel is running Core Ultra 9 288V at a high clock speed of 5.1GHz to match Snapdragon X Elite’s single-core performance, which operates at 4.2GHz. While it's still early to determine which processor is superior, it seems that Intel is slightly trailing behind Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU despite significant advancements with Lunar Lake.

Battery Life: A Key Comparison

When it comes to battery performance, Intel asserts that the Core Ultra 9 288V can deliver an impressive 14 hours of battery life based on the UL Procyon Office Productivity benchmark. In contrast, the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-78-100) achieves around 9.5 hours of battery backup in the same test, conducted on a 75Whr battery from the same OEM.

For instance, the Dell XPS 13, which features both Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100) and Intel Core Ultra 7 256V configurations, reportedly supports 27 hours of Netflix streaming on Qualcomm’s SoC compared to 26 hours on Intel Lunar Lake. Both tests were conducted with the screen brightness set to 150 nits while streaming 1080p content.

This indicates that Intel has made substantial progress in battery efficiency, likely due to its transition to TSMC’s foundry. Although we currently lack a Lunar Lake laptop for direct testing, we anticipate performing a battery life comparison as soon as we acquire one, particularly assessing standby battery life during sleep mode.

GPU Performance: An Essential Factor

Delving into GPU performance, Intel has integrated a robust 8-Xe2 core GPU within the Lunar Lake architecture, which vastly outperforms the Snapdragon X Elite’s Adreno X1 GPU. Intel claims its Xe2 GPU is a staggering 68% more powerful than the Adreno X1-85 GPU found in the Snapdragon X Elite's top-tier model (X1E-84-100).

Moreover, Intel has pointed out that 23 Windows games are incompatible with the Snapdragon X platform, a significant concern for gamers. Additionally, Lunar Lake’s GPU supports real-time Ray Tracing, a feature that Snapdragon X Elite lacks entirely.

Benchmark Results

Even when comparing the lowest-end SKU of Lunar Lake with the flagship Snapdragon X Elite GPU, Intel outshines Qualcomm in the Geekbench OpenCL test. Intel proudly claims that Lunar Lake boasts the “World’s Best Built-in GPU,” indicating a substantial leap in GPU performance.

NPU Performance: The New Frontier

Intel has made impressive strides in the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) department as well. It has developed a new NPU for Lunar Lake capable of processing AI workloads ranging from 40 TOPS to 48 TOPS, depending on the specific SKU. In comparison, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite delivers a consistent 45 TOPS across all its models.

In the UL Procyon AI Computer Vision benchmark, Intel’s NPU achieved scores of 1,886 for INT8 and 1,017 for FP16 data types. On the other hand, Snapdragon X Elite’s NPU managed a score of 1,760 on INT8, but it did not operate on the FP16 data type.

Lastly, according to the newly launched Geekbench AI benchmark app, Intel’s NPU outperformed Snapdragon X Elite’s NPU in both INT8 and FP16 data types. This reinforces Intel’s position as a formidable player, with all new Lunar Lake laptops set to receive Copilot+ PC features through an update in November 2024.

A Competitive Edge: The Final Thoughts

Although it’s too soon to