Nvidia's RTX Spark has surfaced in the Geekbench benchmark database — and not just once. According to Tom's Hardware, two distinct versions of the chip appeared, including a previously unknown cut-down model with 18 CPU cores alongside the 20-core version that has been known to exist for a long time.
The numbers are close. Tom's Hardware reports the 20-core SKU scored 2,570 points in Geekbench's single-core test and 23,126 in the multi-core test. The 18-core variant landed at 2,541 single-core and 21,776 multi-core.
That gap is worth unpacking. Single-core scores measure how fast one core handles one task — the thing you feel when an app launches or a spreadsheet recalculates. Multi-core scores measure how well the chip splits work across all its cores, which matters for video encoding, compiling code, or running large workloads. Cutting two cores barely dented single-core performance, as expected, and shaved a modest amount off the multi-core result.
Tom's Hardware frames the headline result plainly: the full 20-core RTX Spark beats most x86 mobile chips in both multi-core and single-core testing. x86 is the long-dominant processor architecture behind Intel and AMD laptop chips, so a strong showing there puts Nvidia's part in direct comparison with the incumbents.
A few caveats are worth keeping in mind. Geekbench listings are database entries, not official launch specifications, and Nvidia has not confirmed the two-SKU lineup in these sources. Benchmark leaks routinely come from pre-release hardware with unfinished firmware, so final shipping performance can shift in either direction.
Why it matters: Nvidia is best known for graphics chips, and a competitive CPU showing against established x86 mobile processors would mark a real widening of the company's reach — with a second, cheaper-looking configuration hinting it wants more than one price point.