Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition: Enhanced CPU Clock Speeds Deliver Playable Framerates in Black Myth: Wukong with Upscaling, Yet Struggles with UE5 Limitations

Regardless of the modern hardware you own, Black Myth: Wukong has a remarkable ability to challenge even top-tier components. This demanding performance can be attributed to the stunning visuals produced by the Unreal Engine 5, which delivers extraordinary immersion but can also lead to significant frame rate drops. Surprisingly, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition—a slightly overclocked variant of Qualcomm’s flagship System on Chip (SoC)—has shown that it can outperform expectations, yielding commendable performance while incorporating image quality enhancements and upscaling techniques.

Performance Challenges and the Emulation Factor

Since the game’s launch last year, it has received positive acclaim, particularly for a debut studio under intense competition. However, the intricacies of Unreal Engine 5 naturally introduced performance fluctuations and stuttering, which players had to accept as part of the experience.

To everyone’s surprise, evidence emerged illustrating that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition manages to produce above-average frame rates, even when running Black Myth: Wukong at a resolution of 1, 600 x 720 and the lowest graphical settings. A demonstration by Chinese YouTuber Geekerwan revealed that the chipset, specifically within the RedMagic 10S Pro+, has adequate cooling to maintain a playable frame rate. The presence of the Windows emulator Winlator on the device facilitated launching Black Myth: Wukong with relative ease.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition running Black Myth: Wukong

It’s important to note that upscaling was applied to achieve respectable frame rates. The game incorporated NXSR, an innovative experimental Super Resolution Sampling technique set to be introduced in an upcoming patch, with the original resolution lowered to 50 percent. Despite the improvements, stuttering persisted, and GPU utilization fluctuated. Nonetheless, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition maintained frame rates between 30 to 50 FPS under these settings. Curious about further performance metrics, Geekerwan explored the impacts of increasing the resolution scaling to a full 100 percent.

While the previously noted GPU utilization issues were resolved, the frame rate for Black Myth: Wukong plummeted to below 20 FPS. Fortunately, thermal performance was not a concern, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Edition’s Adreno GPU operating at a stable 40 degrees Celsius. This performance showcases impressive capabilities for mobile silicon and raises intriguing questions about the potential of the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, which could surpass its predecessor. This newfound efficiency leads to speculation as to why game developers have yet to provide native support for Google’s Android OS, given that the necessary hardware to run such expansive games is finally within reach.

For more details, check out the source: Geekerwan

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