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Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite: A Powerful SoC

7/29/2024
Let’s dive into the world of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and its compatibility with Linux.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite: A Powerful SoC

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite system-on-chip (SoC) has been making waves for its impressive performance in Windows on Arm PCs. But what about Linux? Let’s explore how Linux support for this SoC is shaping up.

Linux Support for Snapdragon X Elite

  1. Collaboration with Lenovo and Arm: Qualcomm has been working closely with Lenovo, Arm, and Linaro on the AArch64 laptops GitHub project. This collaboration has ensured that several generations of Snapdragon SoCs with Windows on Snapdragon have Linux support. Notable models include the Lenovo Yoga C630 (Snapdragon 850), Lenovo Flex 5G (Snapdragon 8cx Gen 1), and Lenovo ThinkPad X13s (Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3).

  2. Quick Linux Kernel Support: Qualcomm’s commitment to Linux support is evident. Within one or two days of publicly announcing each generation of Snapdragon 8, they’ve posted the initial patchset for Linux kernel support. The same holds true for Snapdragon X Elite, which was announced on October 23 last year, with the patchset posted the very next day.

  3. Impressive Specs: The Snapdragon X Elite features custom Qualcomm CPUs called Qualcomm Oryon, boasting 12 cores with clock speeds up to 3.8 GHz (single- and dual-core boost up to 4.3 GHz). Its Qualcomm Adreno GPU delivers up to 4.6 TFLOPs, and the neural processing unit (NPU) handles 45 TOPs for AI workloads.

  4. Boot Firmware: The boot stack on Snapdragon X Elite supports standard UEFI-based boot. Linux boots using devicetrees, and standard bootloaders like Grub and system-d boot work out of the box. Qualcomm is actively addressing an open problem related to UEFI-based BIOS booting with devicetrees, especially when multiple devicetree blobs (DTBs) are packed into the firmware package.

Linux and Snapdragon X Elite: A Promising Future

Tuxedo, a laptop manufacturer, showcased a prototype Snapdragon X Elite laptop running Linux at Computex 2024, with a tentative release expected before the end of the year. While baseline support is already available, Qualcomm continues to work on enabling more features for future Linux kernel iterations. Notable upstreamed patchsets include NVMe over PCIe, sound machine driver, PMC8380 PMIC, Pinctrl (TLMM), Phy (PCIe/eDP/USB), and system cache.

In summary, Qualcomm’s efforts to support Linux on Snapdragon X Elite are commendable, and the future looks promising for Linux enthusiasts seeking powerful Arm-based laptops. Stay tuned for further developments! 🚀🐧