That particular element could be a gaming laptop with an AMD, Nvidia or Intel graphics card attached, or even a suitable desktop for the Qualcomm PC platform, but it is clear that this is just the beginning of Qualcomm's PC plan, which includes the thinness and light intensity of the laptops we've seen today. There is no doubt that this includes a spread beyond the scope of the current market.
"We should expect to see Qualcomm on all PC form factors, from desktops to mini PCs to tablets," Amon said at today's Q&a event, "and I think we're just looking at the beginning of the roadmap."
The differentiation between desktop and mini PC may be key here, as when he mentioned it in his keynote yesterday, I guessed he was referring to the desktop option being the Snapdragon X Elite developer kit. But it's definitely a mini PC, and I hope there's at least some consideration for a real desktop machine with Qualcomm's Silicon.
As to whether they combine with discrete graphics cards... All I know is that from an early BIOS sample I saw Qualcomm enable resizable bars as an option in the firmware.
One of the firmware developers explained that it was a proof-of-concept as part of three different BIOS products for partners, from simple to full-featured. However, it still indicates that the x Elite SoC had serious thought in installing a proper graphics card with a significant portion of the video memory.
You may also see a low-end Sku, which is definitely an even more powerful option. Now we have a 12-core X Elite and a 10-core X Plus, but Amon is talking about a similar approach to the mobile Silicon journey.
"We should think about Qualcomm on the PC no different from what we've done in the phone space," he says. "This will be a multi-layer solution. I can't reveal the evolution of the X Elite, but you should expect significant performance gains in many vectors."
Comments