Both Nvidia and MediaTek will be presenting their innovations at Computex. It’s possible that lots of reports about a joint processor – or even a processor developed solely by Nvidia – being unveiled at this event are speculative, simply betting on the likelihoods, but there seems to be a solid foundation behind the rumors too. Growing number of signs point to PC manufacturers already working on hardware based on these processors.
DigiTimes has now reported that MediaTek has ordered production line capacity for chip packaging and testing from several ASE and OSAT companies – reportedly in an unusually high volume. This is said to involve a SoC designed for Windows-based PCs, which until now have only been built using Qualcomm ARM processors. But this exclusivity agreement with Microsoft was expected to expire in either 2024 or 2025, according to various sources, potentially opening the floodgates to devices using ARM chips from other manufacturers.
Based on this information (and it seems there may be other behind-the-scenes sources), several media outlets have now reported that Nvidia’s processor will be unveiled at Computex – likely during CEO Jen-Hsun Huang’s keynote on May 19. It’s possible that Nvidia has already briefed select media or partners under NDA, and the published stories are tacitly drawing from that.
Nvidia’s entry into the PC processor market (by which we man Windows PCs, though Linux would eventually run on the hardware too) could be a major event. As the current largest and wealthiest hardware manufacturer, Nvidia has the means to make a strong entry. The ARM platform could gain much more momentum with its backing than it has under Qualcomm’s lead. These systems might also be more viable for gaming thanks to Nvidia’s GPUs – though DRM and anti-cheat drivers will still pose challenges.
According to Heise Online, the announcement at the Taiwanese trade show may for now be a paper launch only – something akin to the pre-announcement of Snapdragon X Elite in fall 2023. Actual availability of laptops and desktops with Nvidia processors may follow later this year or even in 2026, according to these rumors.
N1 and N1X Processors?
There were already reports some time ago suggesting that these processors would be named N1, and that Lenovo is working on a laptop featuring an ARM processor from Nvidia. This seems to be corroborated – Lenovo itself posted job listings for engineers to work on a device based on a processor labelled “N1X.”
It’s still unclear whether these PC-bound processors are a brand new design or derivatives of the GB10 chip, which MediaTek unveiled earlier this year and which powers the Nvidia DGX Spark small form factor AI workstation.
The processor in question features 20 ARM cores (10× Cortex-X925 and 10× Cortex-A725) and a GPU based on the Blackwell architecture. Images suggest a chiplet design, apparently with the GPU on one die (designed by Nvidia) and the CPU on another (possibly designed by MediaTek?), which are connected via a version of the NVLink interface.
Whether such a design will be viable for PCs and laptops in terms of cost and power efficiency remains to be seen (although Intel’s Core Ultra processors shows that such SoCs can be feasible in laptops). For example, ComputerBase believes that Nvidia may develop a special, more affordable consumer version with fewer cores and a more attractive price. In recent years, Nvidia created the 8nm T239 chip for the Nintendo Switch 2 – a scaled-down variant of the older Orin automotive SoC. It’s therefore plausible that a new chip design could similarly be created for laptops, though it’s not ruled out that the PC product will actually be based on the same silicon as the GB10.
Sources: DigiTimes, Heise Online, ComputerBase
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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