NVIDIA has unveiled the RTX Spark, an AI “superchip” designed to enhance AI and graphics performance in Windows laptops and small desktops. The chip boasts 1 petaflop of AI computing power, featuring 6,144 Blackwell RTX cores and 20 Mediatek Arm CPU cores.
The RTX Spark is set to compete with AMD’s Ryzen AI Max and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 chips. NVIDIA claims the performance of the RTX Spark is comparable to the RTX 5070 laptop GPU, while offering significantly lower power consumption. The chip integrates a fast neural processing unit (NPU), which meets the 40 TOPS requirement for Microsoft’s Copilot+ initiative.
Utilizing a range of unified memory between 16GB and 128GB, the RTX Spark can draw power ranging from single-digit watts to 80W. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang characterized the RTX Spark as a major shift in personal computing, suggesting it transforms PCs into devices tailored for AI operations over traditional user inputs. “Today, when you think about your phone, the one thing you don’t do with it is make phone calls,” said Huang during his keynote at Computex.
NVIDIA has collaborated with Microsoft for several years on the design of the RTX Spark, ensuring compatibility with the Prism emulation layer for older Windows applications on Arm-based systems. Additionally, the company is working with leading anti-cheat providers to ensure compatibility for popular games, which has been a barrier for previous systems running on Copilot+.
Microsoft has optimized Windows 11’s workload profile scheduling specifically for the RTX Spark, according to Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows and devices. “The Windows scheduler on RTX Spark will ensure you get the best performance and efficiency out of your CPU,” he stated.
The RTX Spark targets content creators and newcomers to AI development, distinguishing itself from the more specialized DGX Spark, which is aimed at large enterprises. NVIDIA’s return to launching its own system-on-a-chip products for consumers marks a significant moment since its Tegra line products.
The RTX Spark is expected to feature in upcoming devices, including the Surface Laptop Ultra and Dell XPS 16, as well as offerings from various major OEMs.
