Snapdragon X Series Offers Leadership Efficiency and Thermals for Windows Laptops
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Ryan Shrout
Importance of Silicon Efficiency
The processor used inside a computer, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, or some other kind of device, has many important attributes; performance, power consumption, and thermals are easily the top three. But these characteristics are all dependent on one even greater, and maybe underappreciated aspect: power efficiency. The simple balance of how much power yields how much performance is crucial for any chip.
When you think about efficiency, you might only really connect it to power consumption. However, a processor that has low power consumption might not be very efficient, and a very efficient chip may consume quite a lot of power. Power efficiency is the end result of how a processor is engineered, the combined outcome of the architecture, the manufacturing node, and even secondary aspects like power delivery design. Efficiency is more than just battery life, and silicon capability is more than just performance.
Heat however becomes much less of a problem when power efficiency is optimal. Choosing a chip with greater power efficiency and the right power level makes it far easier to design a device with fewer drawbacks, compromises, and quirks. By contrast, using a processor that has relatively poor power efficiency can cause a cascade of issues and result in a device with suboptimal performance, high temperatures, loud fan noise, low battery life, and potentially even more issues.
