Two variants of Nvidia's RTX Spark show up on Geekbench, revealing a cut-down 18-core model — Full 20-core beats most x86 mobile chips across multi-core and single-core tests

Tom's Hardware's Hassam Nasir reports that two new Geekbench listings for Nvidia's upcoming RTX Spark laptop superchip confirm the existence of a second, cut-down SKU with 18 CPU cores — alongside the full 20-core flagship. The 20-core (10+10 cluster) configuration, identified as "OEMQAJ 766_MIS Product Name DV," ran at 4.0 GHz and scored 2,570 points in single-core and 23,126 in multi-core testing. The second listing, shown as "OEMQAJ OEMQAJ Product," splits its 18 cores across 10+8 clusters clocked at 3.9 GHz, scoring 2,541 in single-core — within 1 percent of the 20-core part — and 21,776 in multi-core, roughly 6 percent slower. Both configurations carry 64 GB of memory and use the same ARMv8 Family 8 Model D87 Revision 1 silicon first spotted in engineering samples in early August.

The Tom's Hardware analysis adds the missing x86 comparison that earlier Geekbench coverage largely skipped. On multi-core, the RTX Spark's 23,126-point result ranks among the best of any Windows-running SoC in the Geekbench database: only the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme's record 25,075 points tops it, while the 20-core Nvidia chip beats AMD's AI Max+ 395 (20,609 average) by about 12 percent and the 18-core variant still edges it by 5.6 percent. Against Apple, the 20-core is 3.3 percent faster than the 14-core M3 Max (22,385) and Nasir expects it to beat the maxed-out M4 Pro and base M4 Max (~25,000) once drivers mature. The single-core picture flips: every Apple Silicon chip from the base M3 onwards beats the 20-core's 2,570 points — Apple's current-gen base M5 is 41 percent faster — and the Snapdragon X2 Elite parts score roughly 3,000, while AMD and Intel's top-end x86 mobile models also come out ahead. Nasir still calls the showing "much better" than previous leaks, crediting driver optimization for unlocking more of the silicon with each release.

For Canadian consumers tracking RTX Spark ahead of its Fall 2026 launch, the Tom's Hardware comparison puts the platform's CPU in sharper competitive context: the 20-core N1X is genuinely competitive with premium x86 mobile chips like Intel's Core Ultra 200H and AMD's Ryzen AI 300-series in multi-core work, while the cut-down 18-core / 5,120-core variant — expected to power more affordable RTX Spark laptops and compact desktops below the flagship's roughly $2,900+ floor — loses little in single-core and undercuts most Windows laptops on multi-core. The main caveat for Canadian buyers weighing RTX Spark against Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm laptops at retailers like Best Buy Canada, Canada Computers, and Memory Express remains single-core performance, where Apple Silicon and top-end x86 parts still hold a lead. As always with engineering-sample data, final retail clocks, pricing, and availability remain unannounced.