Gaming on Snapdragon X2 is better than X1, but…
© Tech Sprut After checking the Snapdragon X2 Elite reviews , I focused on one thing, gaming. This was one of the biggest drawbacks of previous-generation Snapdragon systems. The good news is that gaming has improved, but reviewers generally agree this is still not a system you should buy for gaming.
Hardware Canucks says it was pleasantly surprised by the results and found that only three out of twelve tested games failed to run , compared to roughly half of tested games on the earlier platform.
Source: HardwareLuxx
Source: Hardware Canucks
Source: Hardware Canucks
Hardware Canucks says Snapdragon X2 can land between Intel Core Ultra X7, Ryzen AI HX 370, and Core Ultra 288V class iGPUs when software and game optimization line up, but it also warns that average frame rates do not tell the full story. In its words, there can be “huge variation between averages and 1% lows,” which leads to “very, very inconsistent on-screen motion.”
The Phawx says “Fortnite works just fine” on the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, and Space Marines 2 also ran, which suggests Easy Anti-Cheat support is starting to open more games on the platform. At the same time, Doom: The Dark Ages failed to load, Celeste crashed after launch, and overlay tools such as RTSS could also trigger problems. His summary is that compatibility has improved a lot, but there are “still some rough edges.”
© The Phawx NotebookCheck is slightly more optimistic on lighter gaming. It says “you can definitely play games” on Snapdragon X2, and reports Fortnite running at 60 FPS in Performance Mode at max settings. The same review also says Hades and Hollow Knight ran without issues, which points to a more stable experience in well-supported titles and lighter workloads.
Source: NotebookCheck
Now, if only Snapdragon got more frequent driver updates
Snapdragon X2 gaming is no longer a special test where half the library refuses to boot, but it is still not a platform you buy primarily for games. Reviewers now see real progress in compatibility, anti-cheat support, and playable performance, yet they still flag frame pacing, broken titles, and per-game driver behavior as the main problems Qualcomm has left to fix.
I agree with Hardware Canucks that, unlike Apple Silicon, Windows on ARM still lacks strong third-party gaming support, including tools comparable to CrossOver. Qualcomm also does not appear to treat gaming as a priority. Its graphics driver updates usually arrive months apart, not weeks apart. Hopefully this will change, but the fact that they didn’t really provide review units to any gaming-centric media already tell us a lot.
