Potential Leak of Nvidia's 120W APU Signals Possible Decline for Graphics Processing Units in Laptops
Nvidia is reportedly developing an innovative Arm-based APU designed to revolutionize gaming laptops. The APU, which combines CPU, GPU, and NPU into a single chip, could outperform RTX 4070-level hardware while remaining more energy-efficient, cooler, and slimmer.
Leaked engineering designs suggest that the unified chip runs at a maximum TDP of 120W, competing with the RTX 4070 Laptop GPU in benchmarks. Notebookcheck has verified the leak's authenticity, showcasing an engineering sample adorned with eight LPDDR5X memory modules. The chip boasts a custom Arm CPU, a next-gen Nvidia GPU, and an impressive NPU for handling AI workloads.
Should Nvidia's APU fulfill its potential, the separation of CPU and GPU in gaming laptops could become obsolete. By merging the two components, Nvidia aims to reduce latency, improve power efficiency, and achieve better thermal design. These enhancements could translate to thinner laptop chassis, fewer fans, and prolonged battery life without compromising AAA gaming performance.
Sources claim that Nvidia is targeting Q4 2025 to early 2026 for market release, with Dell tipped to collaborate on integrating the architecture in future Alienware laptops.
The forthcoming APU is expected to face competition from AMD's Strix Halo APU, featuring up to 16 Zen 5 cores and 40 RDNA 3.5 GPU compute units. However, Nvidia's APU may hold an advantage due to its more energy-efficient GPU architecture and early adoption of on-package memory, granting higher memory bandwidth without a dedicated graphics memory pool.
If successful, the APU could render discrete GPUs obsolete and shake up laptop design, potentially leading to the first wave of "all-Nvidia" laptops with unified software and hardware optimized for peak performance. Initially, the APU's primary focus might be AI applications, including real-time voice effects and creative tools.
While the challenges and opportunities associated with using Windows on Arm in gaming persist, the integrated design could potentially offer superior power management and thermal efficiency, promoting a better gaming experience and increased portability.
- The upcoming Arm-based APU from Nvidia is said to revolutionize gaming laptops, outperforming RTX 4070-level hardware and offering improved energy efficiency.
- The unified chip running at a maximum TDP of 120W has been leaked, competing with the RTX 4070 Laptop GPU in benchmarks.
- Notebookcheck has verified the authenticity of the leak, showcasing an engineering sample adorned with eight LPDDR5X memory modules.
- The APU boasts a custom Arm CPU, a next-gen Nvidia GPU, and an impressive NPU for handling AI workloads.
- If successful, the APU could make discrete GPUs obsolete in gaming laptops, leading to the first wave of "all-Nvidia" laptops with unified software and hardware optimized for peak performance.
- Dell is tipped to collaborate with Nvidia in integrating the APU architecture in future Alienware laptops, with a potential release date in Q4 2025 to early 2026.
- The APU may also hold an advantage over AMD's Strix Halo APU in terms of energy efficiency and on-package memory, granting higher memory bandwidth without a dedicated graphics memory pool.
- The integrated design could potentially offer superior power management and thermal efficiency, promoting a better gaming experience and increased portability.
- The APU's primary focus might initially be AI applications, including real-time voice effects and creative tools, but could also extend to AAA gaming performance.
- While challenges and opportunities associated with using Windows on Arm in gaming persist, the innovative Arm-based APU could offer significant advancements in gaming technology and smartphone gadgets powered by artificial-intelligence.
