NVIDIA AIPC processors are coming? Or will they be equipped with Arm Cortex X5+Blackwell GPU?
Nvidia is reportedly preparing to launch a chip that combines next-generation Arm cores with the Blackwell GPU architecture, which may intensify competition in the Windows on Arm field. The exclusive Windows agreement between Qualcomm and Microsoft is set to expire this year, opening up the market to other chip suppliers such as MediaTek. Nvidia aims to gain a larger share in the AI PC market and already has its own Grace Arm CPU design. It is reported that Nvidia will use a GPU based on the yet-to-be-announced Blackwell architecture
According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, there are rumors in the industry that NVIDIA (NVDA.US) is preparing to launch a chip that combines the next-generation Arm (ARM.US) core with the Blackwell GPU architecture, which may intensify the competition in the Windows on Arm field.
It is understood that Qualcomm (QCOM.US) has been the main chip manufacturer driving Arm-based Windows systems, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) itself also uses this chip in the new generation Surface Laptop and Pro tablets. This is just two of the 20 "Copilot+PC" models that Qualcomm's OEM partners are preparing to launch.
However, the exclusive Windows agreement between Qualcomm and Microsoft is set to expire this year, opening up the market to other chip suppliers such as MediaTek. Currently, MediaTek is already producing chips for Chromebooks.
Rumors suggest that NVIDIA is planning to join this lineup. It is reported that the GPU giant is preparing a system-on-chip (SoC) that combines Arm's Cortex-X5 core design with its recently launched Blackwell architecture GPU.
Arm declined to comment on this, while NVIDIA stated that there are no major announcements to be made.
Considering NVIDIA's investments in all areas of artificial intelligence, it makes sense for the company to want a larger share in the AI PC market, which revolves around CPUs with built-in AI acceleration and support for these features in Windows. The company already has its own Grace Arm CPU design, but it is targeted at data center applications.
However, Blackwell seems like a strange choice for an SoC aimed at laptops, as it is NVIDIA's latest high-performance GPU design. Nevertheless, some reports indicate that NVIDIA will use an RTX GPU based on Blackwell, as well as LPDDR6 memory that has not been officially announced yet.
Following the launch of Cortex-X4 last year, Arm's Cortex-X5 will be the next generation of high-performance cores designed for smartphones and laptops. The Cortex-X5, codenamed Blackhawk, is expected to "significantly improve performance" compared to existing Arm cores, although it has not been officially announced yet.
Earlier this year, after hearing a briefing from Arm, Patrick Moorhead, CEO of Moor Insights & Strategy, revealed early details about Cortex-X5. He stated that this will bring the "largest IPC (Instructions Per Clock) performance improvement in five years."
Given that the CPU core, Blackwell RTX GPU, and LPDDR6 memory are not yet realized, Cortex-X5 is expected to be launched at some point this year, meaning that any Windows on Arm chip of this kind will not appear until next year at the earliest
