Nvidia RTX Spark N1X benchmarks show mixed results versus Apple M3/M4 Max

Nvidia's RTX Spark N1X, a 20‑core Arm‑based processor, was tested on an engineering sample inside a Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra. In Cinebench 2026 the chip achieved 5,771 points in the multi‑core test, about one percent ahead of Apple’s 14‑core M3 Max (5,722 points). In the single‑core test it scored 540 points, roughly four percent slower than the Apple chip. A separate leak indicated that the RTX Spark lags the newer Apple M4 Max by around 35.6% in multi‑core performance, while matching the M3 Max on single‑core scores.

The processor runs at a low base clock of 1.01 GHz and utilizes power limits of 37.5 W (PL1) and 64 W (PL2), with a high‑performance mode up to 80‑95 W. Nvidia is extending its Windows 11 Arm64 software stack with drivers and a CUDA preview, and the chip integrates a Blackwell‑based GPU with up to 6,144 CUDA cores, comparable to an RTX 5070, supported by up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X unified memory.