It is now being rumoured that NVIDIA’s upcoming AI PC CPU will comprise not just Blackwell GPU cores, but also ARM-based chips built by Intel. Yeap, It’s that Intel and yes, you read that right: the blue chipmaker will be using its own fabs to manufacture ARM chips.
The rumour stems from a response by another popular leakster on X, formerly Twitter, Kepler. They claim that the CPU portion of the NVIDIA processor would be based on Intel 3nm. The thing is, Intel 3 – the naming convention is really confusing, considering that the current Intel 4 process is actually the name for the company’s 7nm process, and the upcoming Lunar Lake is supposedly based on the N3B process from TSMC – is only expected to launch later this year but what is even more confusing is that those chips will be made from “off-the-peg” ARM chips.
Intel 3nm
— Kepler (@Kepler_L2) May 23, 2024
That last part stems from another source on X, AGF (@XpeaGPU), who also claims that the ARM-based portion of the NVIDIA processor will be a Cortex X5 CPU cluster that also includes a Blackwell iGPU, along with LPDDR6 memory on the package.
NVIDIA’s AI PC processor notwithstanding, it is interesting to hear about Intel making ARM-based processors; the chipmaker is known for its x86 instruction set architecture, to which all its processors, old and current, are built on. Yes, the ARM architecture has indeed been seeing a rise in the market, brought on in no small measure by Qualcomm and its new Snapdragon X Series lineup.
During the same interview, Dell leaked it: Nvidia is coming next year in the Windows ARM arena with new SoCs to compete with Qualcomm.
What I can say: TSMC N3P, Cortex X5 BlackHawk CPU cluster, Blackwell GPU and LPDDR6 on package. And MS is porting all Win11 AI stuff to NV HW https://t.co/dSGv44A1G0— AGF (@XpeaGPU) May 23, 2024
But the broader picture here is that NVIDIA will not have its own set of custom CPU cores, whereas both Apple and Qualcomm have done just that with their respective silicon. On the flipside, it also means the GPU maker can just cherry-pick from a wide array of pre-made ARM cores and not have to mess around or dabble in the idea of making a brand-specific or exclusive CPU.
Guess we’ll just have to wait until 2025 to see what NVIDIA has in store for us.
(Source: PCGamer)
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