A new report claims that Qualcomm, maker of the Snapdragon CPU range, could be testing its next-generation chip, and this time it looks as though the company is properly aiming to take on Intel and AMD in the desktop PC market.
One of the best mini PC makers, Geekom, has already announced desktop Arm PC, but Qualcomm could now be eyeing up an official desktop CPU launch. Apparently dubbed “Project Glymur”, the new hardware potentially shows an Arm-based future for the desktop PC as we know it.
According to a report from Winfuture, Qualcomm was running tests over the summer and now the chips have appeared on import and export databases. On Bluesky, author of the report, Roland Quandt, said that Qualcomm was testing the future chips with an “AIO liquid cooler [featuring] 120mm fan(s?), just like what you’d use in a (gaming) desktop.” He also added that he believes that they’re “coming for the desktop.”
Intel and AMD use the x86 architecture with their CPUs, as do the Xbox and PS5 consoles. Arm offers a more efficient machine with its reduced instruction set, though, and has proven to be exceptionally powerful when developed properly. Apple ditched Intel and has been sweeping benchmarks with its M-series chips.
The Snapdragon Elite X did impress in other spaces, but its main problem is general support for Windows on Arm. This is potentially set to change, though, as Microsoft has recently released its installable ISO for the operating system. With more machines now able to run Windows on Arm, we could see an uptick in development for better support across apps.
Desktop Arm chips have existed for quite some time. Jeff Geerling, a tech YouTuber has tested a 128-core ARM-based machine to surprising results, as you can see in the video below.
The main issue on the gaming front was that there just wasn’t proper support for Arm on Windows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=argfZlPZKdYSome apps will launch in an emulated x86 environment, which can cause problems.
There are also rumors of a high-end Nvidia Arm PC CPU, after the company failed to buyout Arm in 2022. With many major players now working within the Arm ecosystem, there’s definitely a big shift happening.
We should start to see more of this work in 2025, especially as CES is coming around the corner. While Arm is doing great in the Apple and office world, if you play games you’ll still want to stick with the best gaming laptop designs based on x86 CPUs for gaming on the go right now.