NVIDIA teases 'major release' of a new chip: its new Arm-based N1X processor

NVIDIA hasn't said much about its upcoming Arm-based N1X + N1 processors, but now NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has mentioned the N1X + N1 and his company working with MediaTek on the new chips.

2

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang hanging out in Taipei, with a floral-themed shirt on (not a leather jacket!)

Jensen is in Taiwan right now where he talked with local media, bringing up the N1X + N1 chips and saying they're a joint venture with MediaTek as a system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed for "AI computers". Jensen said the new N1X + N1 processors are being tweaked for low power and high performance, with rumored gaming performance levels of an RTX 5070.

NVIDIA's new N1 branding goes hand-in-hand with the company's push into AI PCs and laptops using an Arm-based CPU complex developed with MediaTek, and will compete directly against AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm in the laptop market.

• Read more: NVIDIA's new N1X + N1 laptop chips should debut soon, will fight x86 chips
• Read more: Lenovo working on multiple new gaming laptops with NVIDIA's new N1X + N1 processors

NVIDIA's new N1X and N1 processors will be fabbed on TSMC's 3nm process node, with a design that looks similar to the GB10 chip inside of the GB10 mini AI supercomputer systems. On the next-gen side of things, the report adds that the upcoming N2X and N2 processors could arrive in Q2 2027, which is just over a year away now, as NVIDIA continues to drum into new Arm-based laptop markets.

NVIDIA's upcoming N1X processor is shaping up to be a direct competitor to AMD's current-gen Strix Halo APU, which is already an absolute monster in the APU space. Strix Halo pairs serious CPU horsepower with a beefy RDNA 3.5-based Radeon 8060S GPU that can comfortably handle 1080p and 1440p gaming at 120Hz+, and even push into light 4K 60FPS territory if you're willing to dial back a few visual settings.

What makes NVIDIA's N1X particularly exciting is the rumor mill suggesting GPU performance in the ballpark of an RTX 5070. If that turns out to be even remotely accurate, it would be a staggering result for an Arm-based PC processor, and a clear signal that NVIDIA is aiming straight at high-performance gaming laptops and compact desktops. With less than five months to go until Computex 2026, we're hoping NVIDIA takes the wraps off N1X on the show floor.