As a part of their Scaling the Mobile Compute Ecosystem presentation, Qualcomm this morning is asserting a refreshed model of their Snapdragon 7c for laptops. Aptly named Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, the up to date chip for entry-level Windows PCs and Chromebooks sports activities a slight clockspeed increase, bumping the frequency of the 2 Kryo 468 (Cortex-A76) cores as much as 2.55GHz. Spec bumps apart, Qualcomm’s goal marketplace for the 7c household hasn’t modified, with the up to date SoC designed to function an anchor for sub-$400 “always-on” gadgets.
The authentic Snapdragon 7c was introduced again at Qualcomm’s 2019 tech summit, as a part of Qualcomm’s efforts to flesh out their lineup of Snapdragon Compute SoCs aimed toward Arm-powered PCs and different laptops. At the time, Qualcomm was (and nonetheless is) gunning closely for making a market of always-on Windows gadgets, profiting from the low energy consumption of Qualcomm’s chips and built-in LTE modem to ship a mobile-like platform for Windows PCs. Those efforts, although not a smash hit, have not less than confirmed fruitful sufficient for Qualcomm to refresh components of the Snapdragon Compute lineup whereas higher bringing Chromebooks into the fold as properly.
To that finish, the Snapdragon 7c is getting what quantities to a mid-generation face carry. Like the Gen 2 replace for the 8cx final 12 months, Qualcomm isn’t rolling out a brand new silicon design for the 7c Gen 2, however they’re reaping the advantages of common yield enhancements and higher binning to ratchet up the clockspeeds. For the 7c Gen 2, the clockspeed on the chip’s two Cortex-A76 cores is being bumped from 2.4GHz to 2.55GHz.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon Compute SoCs | ||||
| SoC | Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8c | Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 | |
| CPU | 4x Kryo 495 Gold (CA76) 4x Kryo 495 Silver (CA55) Up to three.15 GHz |
4x Kryo 490 Gold (CA76) 4x Kryo 490 Silver (CA55) Up to 2.45 GHz |
2x Kryo 468 Gold (CA76) 6x Kryo 468 Silver (CA55) Up to 2.55 GHz |
|
| GPU | Adreno 680 | Adreno 675 | Adreno 618 | |
| DSP / NPU | Hexagon 690 | Hexagon 690 | Hexagon 692 | |
| AI Perf Combined | 7 TOPs | 6 TOPs | 5 TOPs | |
| Memory Controller |
8x 16-bit CH LPDDR4X-4266 63.58 GB/s |
4x 16-bit CH LPDDR4X-4266 31.79 GB/s |
2 x 16-bit CH LPDDR4-4266 15.90 GB/s |
|
| ISP/Camera | Dual 14-bit Spectra 390 ISP 1x 32MP or 2x 16MP |
14-bit Spectra 255 1x 32MP or 2x 16MP |
||
| Decode Encode |
4Kp120 10-bit H.265 HDR Support |
4Kp60 H.265 HDR Support |
||
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 + BT 5.1 | Wi-Fi 5 + BT 5.0 | ||
| Integrated 4G Modem | Snapdragon X24 LTE (Category 20) |
Snapdragon X15 LTE (Category 15/13) |
||
| External 5G Modem | Snapdragon X55 (Optional) | — | ||
| Mfc. Process | 7nm | 7nm | 8nm | |
Feature-wise, the remainder of the bundle is in any other case the identical because it was for the unique Snapdragon 7c. This features a dual-channel (32-bit) LPDDR4X reminiscence bus, a Hexagon 692 DSP, a Spectra 255 ISP, and an LTE class 15 Snapdragon X15 modem. The 7c Gen 2 is unabashedly an entry-level platform, with Qualcomm conserving the characteristic set (and efficiency) mild so as to be price-competitive within the entry-level market.
Overall then, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 not a lot of a bump over the unique Snapdragon 7c, however then once more Qualcomm isn’t pitching the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 as a real next-generation successor to the unique Snapdragon 7c. Instead, the launch of the 7c Gen 2 is being handled as one thing of a second launch for the 7c platform, whereas additionally letting Qualcomm pivot a bit on their machine technique to chase Windows gadgets and Chromebooks extra equally. From Qualcomm’s perspective, they nonetheless have a aggressive and fascinating product, particularly as entry-level gadgets have been promoting like…
