Will Snapdragon X Elite support AVX Instruction on the Surface Pro 11?

Question

I have a Surface Pro 11 that runs the Snapdragon X Elite Core 12. Currently it does not support AVX Instruction. I have read that there is supposed to be an update that changes this. Is that true? If so, when would the fix get pushed? The problem I am running into is a game that I recently purchased will not run due to the fact I don’t have AVX. Seems like this is hallowing a lot with certain app/games.

Answer 1

Hello, Ryan Wiese.

Welcome to Microsoft Community!

I understand that the game you recently purchased needs to have AVX instructions in order to run, please allow for the following information to be shared with you regarding AVX compatibility with Snapdragon processors.

The Snapdragon X Elite is a high-performance ARM processor from Qualcomm. Whether or not it supports the AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions) instruction set usually depends on the processor's design architecture.

The AVX instruction set is an extension used on Intel and AMD x86/x64 processors to accelerate floating-point operations and SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) operations. Since the Snapdragon X Elite is an ARM-based processor, it does not support the AVX instructions.

If your application relies on AVX instructions, you may want to consider using an x86-based processor. You can play the game on other devices by logging into the same account and running the game.

We can keep an eye on Microsoft's official releases or programs to find out what updates will be pushed in the future.

These are some of the thoughts I can share with you.

Thank you for your understanding and support of Surface products.

I wish you all the best.

Best Regards.

Leo.L - Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

It looks like Microsoft is working on adding AVX / AVX2 support to the Surface Pro 11 (and anything else using Windows's new Prism technology to emulate x64 on ARM processors). Could be a while before it's released generally, though. (Don't switch to Windows Insider builds unless you know what you're doing.)