NVIDIA RTX Spark Laptops Range Review

What is NVIDIA RTX Spark?

NVIDIA RTX Spark is a new platform for laptops and small form factor desktop PCs with powerful graphics and AI capabilities. Traditional platforms comprise an x86 AMD or Intel CPU with a discrete AMD or NVIDIA GPU, each with their own separate pools of memory. In contrast, RTX Spark is a SoC (System on Chip), comprising an Arm-based CPU, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU and unified memory all in one package.

There are many advantages to an SoC, including reduced footprint and power consumption, meaning smaller systems and longer battery life. In addition, having a single unified pool of memory is more efficient than the CPU and GPU each having their own memory, as data no longer needs to be passed back and forth through the system.

The first RTX Spark SoC is called the N1X and is available in two versions, each with a different number of CPU cores and GPU cores. There are also sub-versions with different amounts of unified memory, as detailed in the table below. As with any platform, more cores (and more memory) will mean more performance, especially in graphically demanding applications and games.

Like with its graphics cards, NVIDIA isn’t making complete systems, instead providing the N1X SoC to laptop manufacturers such as Asus, Microsoft and MSI. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these different brands is doing with RTX Spark.

Asus ProArt Laptops

Given the powerful graphics and AI capabilities of the RTX Spark platform, Asus has made the sensible decision to use the creator-focused ProArt brand for its laptops. There are two OLED screen options available, 14in and 16in, with either a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 or 3,840 x 2,400. Common features include Delta E < 1 high colour accuracy, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, up to 1,600 nits brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. This makes Asus ProArt RTX Spark laptops a particularly good option for graphics and video workloads.

This table breaks down the specifications of the different models of Asus ProArt RTX Spark laptop.

In addition to the specifications detailed in the table above, you can also choose between laptops with a black or white finish.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft already has a vast range of Surface mobile devices, so has come up with the new Surface Laptop Ultra name to differentiate its RTX Spark laptops. All the different models of Surface Laptop Ultra share the same chassis and screen, which is a high quality 15in IPS model with Mini-LED backlighting, 3,270 x 2,180 resolution, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, up to 2,000 nits brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. This makes Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra a good option for graphics and video workloads.

This table breaks down the specifications of the different models of Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra.

In addition to the specifications detailed in the table above, you can also choose between laptops with a black or silver finish.

MSI Prestige Laptops

MSI uses the Prestige brand for its RTX Spark laptops, describing them as a ‘premium business solution’, which seems a bit like underselling to me as these laptops have such powerful graphics and AI capabilities. Whatever MSI Prestige you choose, you get a high quality 16in OLED screen with either a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 or 3,840 x 2,400, Delta E < 1 high colour accuracy, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, up to 1,600 nits brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. This makes MSI Prestige RTX Spark laptops a particularly good option for graphics and video workloads.

This table breaks down the specifications of the different models of MSI Prestige RTX Spark laptop.

Unlike the Asus and Microsoft RTX Spark laptops covered elsewhere in this blog, MSI Prestige laptops are only available in a single colour, grey.

Conclusion

So, there you have it, the key specs of the three brands of laptops aimed at creators and local-AI users powered by the NVIDIA RTX Spark platform. You can use the links in the tables above to shop for specific models of Asus, Microsoft and MSI laptops, or browse the full range of RTX Spark laptops.

Keep an eye out for future blogs diving more into the performance of RTX Spark, or our previous blog detailing how suitable RTX Spark is for creative workflows.