Qualcomm unveiled new Snapdragon G processors for game consoles

Since 2023, Qualcomm has been making Snapdragon processors specifically for portable gaming devices. These chips are different from mobile solutions for smartphones and tablets and are sold under the Snapdragon G brand. Now the company has introduced a refreshed lineup with major improvements.

Snapdragon G3 Gen 3: Unreal Engine 5 and ray tracing support

The flagship Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chip is the first in the series to support Lumen, the global illumination and reflection system from Unreal Engine 5. It also gets hardware-accelerated ray tracing, something its G2 and G1 predecessors did not have.

In terms of performance, the new chip also shows noticeable gains:

• 8-core processor (1x Prime, 5x Performance, 2x Efficiency) is 30% faster than the G3 Gen 2.
• The Adreno A32 graphics gas pedal is 28% more powerful.

Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 supports displays with QHD+ resolution and 144Hz refresh rate.

Snapdragon G2 Gen 2: 2-3x performance boost

The mid-tier Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 has received 2.3x CPU performance boost and 3.8x GPU power increase over its predecessor.

Some key features:

• New CPU (1+4+3) instead of (1+5+2), but Qualcomm doesn’t specify which cores are used (Kryo or Oryon).
• Graphics Adreno A22 supports Snapdragon Game Super Resolution (upscaling) and Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 (frame generation).
• The resolution is QHD+ at 144Hz, but without ray tracing.

Snapdragon G1 Gen 2: a budget option for cloud gaming

Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 targets cloud gaming services and has received an emphasis on power efficiency.

His features:

• Support for 1080p+ displays up to 120Hz.
• Processor (2+6) without the powerful Prime core, but 80% speed boost over the first-generation G1.
• Graphics Adreno A12 – 25% more powerful than its predecessor.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (ac), Bluetooth 5.1, optional 5G.

When to expect devices on the new chips?

Qualcomm has said that game consoles with new processors from AYANEO, ONEXSUGAR, Retroid Pocket and other manufacturers will start appearing as early as this quarter. However, exact dates have not been disclosed, although the end of Q1 is only a few weeks away.