Nvidia Arm chip emerges with impressive Geekbench scores, potentially rivaling top Intel and AMD laptop CPUs

: The Nvidia N1x Arm processor, a subject of much speculation, has finally made its presence known through Geekbench scores of 3,096 single-core and 18,837 multi-core—impressive figures that suggest it may compete with the likes of Apple's M3 and AMD's Ryzen AI Max. This revelation builds on past teasers and collaborations with companies like Dell, pointing toward a consumer-level product on the horizon. Last year saw Nvidia introducing a $3,000 Arm mini workstation, and now reports indicate ongoing development of SoCs co-created with MediaTek, codenamed N1 and N1X. This innovation aligns with the increasing efficiency of Arm architecture, suggesting a turning point in competition with existing x86 designs.

Nvidia’s new Arm-based chip, known as the N1X, has surfaced in leaked Geekbench results, showing scores that rival top Intel and AMD laptop CPUs. Built with a hybrid architecture of 10 Cortex-X925 performance cores and 10 Cortex-A725 efficiency cores, the chip achieved an impressive 3,096 single-core and 18,837 multi-core score in Geekbench 6.4. The test system used was an HP development board running Linux with 128 GB of RAM, suggesting Nvidia is positioning this chip for high-end performance.

These scores put Nvidia’s N1X in direct competition with leading x86 processors. For example, Intel's Core Ultra 9 285HX and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 395 are in a similar performance bracket. Nvidia's N1X outperforms Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite by a wide margin, especially in multi-core performance, which is crucial for demanding productivity and AI tasks.

Despite these strong results, Apple’s latest M4 Max chip still leads the pack. The M4 Max delivers over 4,000 in single-core and nearly 26,000 in multi-core Geekbench scores, significantly ahead of Nvidia’s N1X. However, considering that the N1X is likely an early prototype, its performance is considered promising for a debut Arm-based chip from Nvidia.

Analysts have noted the broader industry implications of this development. With such strong benchmarks, Nvidia may enter the laptop CPU space in a serious way, potentially disrupting the current Intel-AMD duopoly. Observers also point out that these Linux-based scores may differ from real-world performance in Windows environments, but the architectural efficiency is notable.

Looking ahead, Nvidia is rumored to be collaborating with MediaTek on launching this chip commercially. Reports suggest it could power upcoming devices like Alienware laptops with RTX 4070-level performance at just 65W power consumption. If realized, this would mark a major leap for Arm-based systems, especially for gaming and high-performance laptops.

Sources: Tom’s Hardware, Notebookcheck, PC Gamer