Way back in 2024, I tested gaming on Snapdragon X Elite and it was…fine. The X86 Intel and AMD chips always had the upper hand in terms of game and tool compatibility, and while the GPU in Qualcomm’s Arm silicon was strong, it was always compromised. A mix of lower graphics settings would always be the key to get you somewhat decent frame rates.
But with the recently released Snapdragon Control Panel and new graphics drivers, game performance has seen a huge uplift. So in the shadow of the incoming Snapdragon X2 Elite, I went back to the first gen chip in the Asus Zenbook S15 and compared it with the same silicon in Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, to see just how much better things have got. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot.
Meet Snapdragon Control Panel
Snapdragon Control Panel launched towards the end of November, and it's basically your key to unlocking the GPU’s capabilities. A simple UI takes you around all the titles you’ve downloaded, but the real strengths lie under the surface.
First off, it's now compatible with all the big anti-cheat software, such as Tencent’s Ace, Roblox’s Hyperion and Fortnite’s Easy Anti-Cheat. That immediately turns on access to some of the biggest games on the planet.
And second, this is now the one-stop shop for grabbing the latest Adreno GPU drivers. So far, Qualcomm has issued fixes and performance improvements for over 100 games, while issuing bug fixes for system stability while gaming.
Big gains
Back in my previous test, I ran the Snapdragon X Elite through the gauntlet of Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V and F1 22 — all at a mixture of resolutions, texture settings and uses of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR).
That last bit is a weird one, given we’re on a Qualcomm chip after all, but the Adreno GPU drivers do indeed support FSR! And as you can see from the numbers, the company’s hard work has paid off.
In fact, it’s now to the point where you could get away with upping some of these texture settings and still getting a playable 30 FPS in the likes of GTA V. It’s clear that the Prism Emulation layer of Windows 11 is no longer the giant obstacle it used to be.
Looking ahead
What you’re seeing here is a backdrop to what will be another significant step forward for integrated graphics in laptop gaming — something I predicted would happen way back at the beginning of the year.
Gameplay on the Snapdragon X2 Elite was way better than I feared it could be, and Qualcomm has really put the work in to improve compatibility with essential gaming tools and titles as a whole.
Are there still some obstacles? Yes. That compatibility layer is still something that needs to be processed on the CPU before going to the GPU. But the raw horsepower under the hood and regular Adreno driver updates look set to make Arm notebooks a power efficient system that can just so happen to play games rather well too.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom's Guide
- Intel Panther Lake vs Snapdragon X2 Elite vs AMD Gorgon Point — one chip is already pulling ahead in 2026's CPU war
- AMD’s FSR Redstone is finally here to take on Nvidia’s DLSS 4 — here’s everything you need to know
- How to get Xbox Full Screen Experience on any Windows 11 PC — even if you don't have the option in settings
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
