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Nvidia is the undisputed leader of the GPU market (whether you like it or not), with its RTX 50-series graphics cards making waves this year, but Team Green looks to be putting its hat in the ring of another sector, as a new CPU is on the horizon.
Rumors have been swirling of an Nvidia N1X and N1 Arm-based CPUs that would be made for desktops and laptops, respectively. Now, CEO Jensen Huang has confirmed new chips with MediaTek are coming.
Not only does this mean Nvidia will have a stake in PCs in a whole new way, but as reports have pointed out, it could lead to slimmer, more powerful gaming laptops, too. Moreover, it's bringing the fight to Intel Core Ultra Series 3, AMD Ryzen AI 400 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite.
Now, there's also a whole new chip in the making, all thanks to a surprise Nvidia and Intel partnership. Team Green is investing $5 billion in Intel to jointly build a new series of Intel x86 RTX chips, bringing Intel CPUs with Nvidia RTX graphics built into them for consumer PC gaming. But, as CEO Jensen Huang made clear, this won't bring Nvidia's own chip plans to a halt.
While Nvidia may have GPU and AI markets in its pocket, its N1X and N1 System on Chips (SoC), and now its Intel x86 RTX silicon, may prove to shake up the competition in AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple's offerings.
It might not be long before the first Nvidia N1X and N1 chips arrive, as recent leaks suggest that Dell and Lenovo could announce N1X-Powered laptops at Computex 2026 (via VideoCardz). With that said, let's dive into what we know so far.
Nvidia NX1 CPU: Release date rumors
Until recently, it was anyone's guess when we'd see Nvidia's N1-series GPUs. Nothing is confirmed, but if recent Dell and Lenovo leaks (via VideoCardz) are accurate, we could see announcements during Computex 2026.
Initially, Nvidia and MediaTek's Arm-based CPU was rumored to be announced at Computex 2025, with the tech giant expected to be gearing up to show off its smaller GB10 Blackwell chip in the Arm SoC coming to laptops. As you can tell, this didn't come to be, as it seems Nvidia wasn't ready to officially announce its chips.
Before the recent Computex 2026 leaks, it was reported that the Nvidia N1X Arm CPU had been delayed until late 2026. As noted by SemiAccurate, Nvidia faced problems that delayed the CPU's arrival in early 2026.
While the report doesn't detail the specific problem with Nvidia's chip, sources say the chip has encountered issues requiring engineers to make design changes to the silicon.
With Nvidia now joining forces with Intel to develop an all-new silicon that brings yet another series of SoCs packing Team Green's GPU power into the Intel x86 RTX silicon, there's a possibility this will alter the tech giant's plans. There's no word on when these chips will launch, so we may get the Nvidia N1X before they're released.
For now, of course, this is all up in the air. At the very least, Huang has confirmed that these PCs-geared CPUs with "powerful AI capabilities" are coming. But with rumors of delays, it's likely to be a while before we see any mention of a new CPU from Nvidia.
Nvidia NX1 CPU: Performance rumors
So, what kind of performance can we expect from Nvidia's N1-series chips? According to leaked benchmarks, we could see some big performance gains in ultraportable laptops.
We've heard that the N1-series chip will be based on a GB10 Superchip, found in Nvidia's announced Project DIGITS AI supercomputer (now known as DGX Spark) for desktops. For the laptop version, which is set to be the N1 SoC, it may be a cut-down version of GB10, with some combination of a Blackwell GPU and a MediaTek CPU.
That said, there's reason to believe it could use a GB206 model. Either way, it's looking to leverage the power of an RTX GPU, with these Blackwell-based GPUs being used in RTX 5060 Ti or RTX 5060 graphics cards.
But the real kicker here is that this N1 chip will reportedly deliver the same performance as an RTX 4070-equipped laptop, but with far better energy efficiency, according to Taiwanese outlet UDN. A CPU that delivers an integrated GPU with that kind of power, along with improvements in power efficiency (possibly longer battery life), is already a good sign that Team Green's chip will be worth waiting for.
But the rumors continue: the N1 chip is expected to draw 65W to match the performance of a 120W RTX 4070 gaming laptop, and another source suggests it would offer a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 80W to 120W.
Since benchmarking the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, Team Blue's flagship laptop processor, we've been hugely impressed by the performance and power efficiency gains the chip delivers. Especially when it comes to Intel XeSS 3 and its integrated graphics for gaming — seeing Cyberpunk 2077 at High settings reach 217 frames per second is a highlight. That's a chip Nvidia will have to battle.
According to ComputerBase, Nvidia and MediaTek's chips may only have 8 or 12 CPU cores instead of 20. Benchmark leaks of Nvidia's GB10 Arm superchip (via Notebookcheck) suggest single-core performance reaching 2,960 and multicore at 10,682.
Due to the rumored delay, it's only guesswork if these are the benchmarks (or even specs) that will arrive, as for now, these Geekbench results put it behind Apple's M4 Max chips.
For gaming laptops?
While it's believed the N1X chip is for desktops and the N1 is for laptops, it's looking likely that the latter will be primed for gaming laptops. And reports even suggest the first gamer-focused notebooks that will be getting them.
According to the UDN report, Dell's gaming brand, Alienware, will be among the first to launch new gaming laptops featuring Nvidia and MediaTek CPUs. That means we could see fresh Alienware notebooks that are slimmer and offer better battery life, if rumors about Nvidia and MediaTek's chip are accurate — not unlike the newly designed Alienware 16 Aurora lineup.
If the rumors are accurate, Nvidia's Arm-based SoC is set to bolster ultraportable gaming laptops (and possibly PC gaming handhelds) with improved power efficiency, which should translate to longer battery life in gaming notebooks.
We've seen ARM chips in action before, with Snapdragon X Elite laptops impressing with their long battery life and fast speeds. We've even tested Snapdragon X Elite PCs for gaming, and while impressive, they aren't quite built for demanding titles.
With Nvidia's own chip sporting its GPU tech, however, gaming on machines with this chip could see major performance gains, especially if it uses some form of DLSS 4 and its Multi Frame Generation tech.
But there's already some competition heating up, and that's from two heavy hitters in the laptop market. For one, the AMD Strix Halo APU already delivers close to RTX 4060 desktop GPU power, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Series chip is set to arrive soon.
Nvidia NX1 CPU: Outlook
It's still early days for the Nvidia N1X and N1 Arm-based CPU. We have an idea of what to expect, especially regarding the power the N1-series chip for laptops may deliver, but all this could change depending on when the chips are released.
We'll be getting another chip from Nvidia, thanks to the partnership with Intel. Will this put a spanner in the works for Nvidia's initial plans? It doesn't look like it, according to Huang during the webcast press conference. Either way, that's great news for us, as it gives us a better chance of seeing an evolution of PC gaming in slimmer, more battery-efficient laptops.
Only time will tell when we see Nvidia's N1X Arm-based CPU arrive and whether it's the consumer CPU we've been expecting. But if it comes from Team Green, we should expect to see a boost in ultraportable laptops, at the very least, along with a touch of AI to improve power-efficiency management.
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