NVIDIA N1X PC Processor Features 20 Arm CPU Cores and 48 iGPU Streaming Multiprocessors

[btarunr]

NVIDIA is looking to hit the PC processor market with shock and awe, suggests the CPU core counts and iGPU CU counts. Having seen the success of Qualcomm in this market, NVIDIA is designing its new N1X PC processor in anticipation of Microsoft opening up the Windows 11 Arm Copilot+ AI PC ecosystem, letting in new players such as NVIDIA and MediaTek. A new Geekbench online database submission sheds light on what is under the hood.

Geekbench is able to detect the number of CPU cores and GPU OpenCL compute units it is able to address. A user with access to an N1X test machine ran Geekbench 6.4.0, and the benchmark yielded a score of 46361 points in the OpenCL test. The chip is detected having 20 CPU cores, and exposes 48 compute units (OpenCL terminology) to the GPU compute benchmark. The N1X is expected to implement a heterogenous multicore CPU complex, and while it has 20 cores, these are not all the same. The processor is expected to pack a powerful iGPU based on the Blackwell graphics architecture, with 48 SM (streaming multiprocessors), The idea behind such a chip would be to compute with Apple's M-Pro and M-Max series SoCs powering its latest MacBook Pros, as well as x86-based PC chips such as the Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo." 48 Blackwell streaming multiprocessors is identical to that of the desktop GeForce RTX 5070, but the iGPU, making it possibly the fastest iGPU at launch.



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[Rightness_1]

And it will be priced as much as a mid-range desktop processor... Only people that buy nVidia just for the name will be interested in this closed and un-upgradable ecosystem.

If this thing is made available in a laptop/big tablet for $800 and out-performs an Intel or AMD based equivalent twice its price, then I'll eat my hat.

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

If they make this into a MoDT FF that isn't egregiously overpriced and it has good Linux support (two very big IFs) I may actually buy this.

 

[Bruno Vieira]

48 SMs is a 5070. This is similar to the mini PC chip 'Sparks'; the memory bandwidth is not even close to that of a 5070, but this device can be significantly faster than any other Windows mobile chip on the market. The x86 emulation is an issue; NV will not make these things for cheap. We will see, I guess.

This is likely to be another Q1Elite fiasco, attempting to charge a lot more for fewer features, more AI that only two or three care about, and a bit more battery life.

 

[Denver]

Strange that it's so much slower than Halo Strix. Blackwell does not work well limited to LPDDR5X.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

It might have 48 CUs, but the clock speed for them says maximum 1048MHz. That's less than half that of the 5070, which means performance will be quite a bit less, though it also means it will probably make do with something way slower than GDDR7.

And has Qualcomm actually had much success in this market? There was a lot of excitement around SD-X leading up to launch, but I thought they weren't selling all that significantly? The NVIDIA name could help, or it could be a big let down if people buy this thinking it's going to be more capable than it actually is.

 

[Dr. Dro]

And it will be priced as much as a mid-range desktop processor... Only people that buy nVidia just for the name will be interested in this closed and un-upgradable ecosystem.

If this thing is made available in a laptop/big tablet for $800 and out-performs an Intel or AMD based equivalent twice its price, then I'll eat my hat.

Given it's competition for the Qcom and Apple ARM SoC's, it can afford to be all that and some more tbh.

ARM designs have shown remarkable battery life so far. As long as Nv keeps this under control they'll be able to develop a solid chip indeed.

 

[LastDudeALive]

Given it's competition for the Qcom and Apple ARM SoC's, it can afford to be all that and some more tbh.

ARM designs have shown remarkable battery life so far. As long as Nv keeps this under control they'll be able to develop a solid chip indeed.

Also, people forget Nvidia has been making ARM SoCs since 2008 (Tegra), far longer than Qualcomm. And they also have their server CPU (Grace). They have far more experience in this market than pretty much anyone else, and their graphics division gives them a huge advantage over Qualcomm.

 

[LucianF]

Why even bother given how "well" the Snapdragon Elite faired? Why not just partner with Zhaoxin or some other Chinese X86 CPU manufacturer at this point? Why is Jensen even bothering to keep up appearances when everyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows how buddy-buddy he is with the PRC? As much as I dislike Nvidia's opportunism a proper X86+NV SOC could shake up the WORLD...Instead we get this waste of time and resources...I seriously hope Jensen is simply biding his time and planning something serious...

 

[LastDudeALive]

X86+NV SOC

It wouldn't be an NV SoC if they're relying on another company's IP (that's licensed from their biggest competitors, Intel/AMD).

Plus, the entire reason Microsoft is pushing Windows on ARM is to compete against Apple, who is absolutely killing them in the laptop market because of the M chips' power efficiency. A knock-off x86 CPU that can't legally be made on advanced TSMC nodes is never going to happen, sorry.

 

[destruya]

Why even bother given how "well" the Snapdragon Elite faired? Why not just partner with Zhaoxin or some other Chinese X86 CPU manufacturer at this point? Why is Jensen even bothering to keep up appearances when everyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows how buddy-buddy he is with the PRC? As much as I dislike Nvidia's opportunism a proper X86+NV SOC could shake up the WORLD...Instead we get this waste of time and resources...I seriously hope Jensen is simply biding his time and planning something serious...

Because they're now a $4.31T market cap company (even if a lot of that is built on dreams and unicorn farts) and even if they fail, they have to make everyone react to them even considering getting into another product space.

They can afford to swing at some shitty pitches, and my guess is that if they can actually pull CPUs off, that's their pivot to get OUT of the consumer GPU space.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Also, people forget Nvidia has been making ARM SoCs since 2008 (Tegra), far longer than Qualcomm. And they also have their server CPU (Grace). They have far more experience in this market than pretty much anyone else, and their graphics division gives them a huge advantage over Qualcomm.

Not sure about that experience difference. Qualcomm has had snapdragon since 2007, and the first couple tegras weren’t great and didn’t scale up or down all that well.