NVIDIA RTX Spark laptops put to the test in games and AI workloads
The first independent tests of NVIDIA RTX Spark showed that the platform delivers high performance for running AI models locally, but also revealed stability issues in games and weaker CPU performance.
Tests of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra and ASUS ProArt P16 laptops also highlighted the advantages and limitations of unified memory, which can total up to 128 GB.
AI and productivity workloads
RTX Spark delivered its best results when running AI models locally. In the AgentPerf-local test, which measures how quickly agentic tasks are completed, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra finished in 18.9 minutes using the Qwen 3.8 27B model. By comparison, the MacBook Pro 14 with an Apple M5 Max processor took 24.74 minutes, while the mini PC with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ took 395 – 42,1 minutes.
With the less demanding Qwen 3.6 35B A3B model, the result was about 8 minutes, compared with 10 minutes for the MacBook Pro and 13 minutes for the AMD system.
However, the Grace processor could not outperform the Apple M5 Max in conventional computing workloads, and fell behind the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme in some tests. Graphics performance varied by application. For example, NVIDIA graphics outperformed the Apple M6 GPU by about 20% in Blender, while Apple had the edge in Affinity Photo and in hardware video encoding in Adobe Premiere.
Gaming performance and stability
In gaming tests, RTX Spark delivered performance comparable to a discrete mobile GeForce RTX 5070, but results varied considerably depending on the settings and game. The Arm architecture imposes further limitations, as most modern PC games run through the Prism emulator.
In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p, with the Extreme preset and ray tracing enabled, the platform delivered 39 fps without DLSS and 80 fps with DLSS. By comparison, the laptop GeForce RTX 5060 managed 14 and 31 fps, respectively; the RTX 5070 – 35 delivered 81 fps, while the flagship RTX 5090 – 89 reached 182 fps.
In Black Myth: Wukong at 1080p with the Cinematic preset and DLSS disabled, RTX Spark achieved 36 fps, compared with 24 fps for the RTX 5060, 30 fps for the RTX 5070 and 65 fps for the RTX 5090.
In Gears of War: E-Day at 2180×1453 pixels, with Ultra settings, DLSS 4.5 in Dynamic mode and RTX Mega Geometry enabled, the average frame rate reached 123 fps. However, the 1% low was just 28.01 fps, and some scenes showed microstuttering.
The platform’s main gaming drawbacks were high input latency and an unstable frame rate. In Control Resonant at 2560×1440, with High graphics settings, ray tracing disabled, DLSS set to Performance and MFG 3X frame generation enabled, the test Surface Laptop Ultra averaged 109.2 fps. However, the 1% low was 51.6 fps, and average system latency reached 78.3 ms. Enabling ray tracing further reduced performance and increased latency.
In Forza Horizon 6 at 1440p, with Extreme settings and ray tracing enabled but DLSS disabled, the average frame rate was just 29.28 fps, and the 1% low dropped to 15.17 fps. Switching to the Ultra preset and enabling DLSS 4.5 with Dynamic Frame Generation raised the average to 72.82 fps, though the 1% low remained at 25.89 fps.
Unplugging the laptop from the mains had virtually no effect on gaming performance. The average frame rate was 71.06 fps, and the 1% low was 25.26 fps.
Power consumption and thermals
RTX Spark’s power consumption depends on the settings of the specific laptop. Under heavy load, it briefly reached 85 W in the ASUS ProArt P16 before stabilizing at around 70 W.
In terms of graphics performance per watt, the platform appears competitive with gaming laptops equipped with discrete GPUs in a similar class. Its advantage is less clear in computing workloads: RTX Spark’s CPU power efficiency trails some Apple and Qualcomm solutions.
Battery life
Battery life varies significantly depending on the laptop and workload. In a continuous web-browsing test, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra lasted 10 hours and 15 minutes, compared with 21 hours and 25 minutes for the MacBook Pro 16 with an M5 Pro processor, 10 hours and 26 minutes for the ASUS Zenbook A16 with a Snapdragon X2 Elite, and 11 hours and 12 minutes for a laptop with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395.
In the PCMark 10 gaming test, the Surface Laptop Ultra lasted just 1 hour and 38 minutes. By comparison, a laptop with a GeForce RTX 5060 lasted 58 minutes, one with an RTX 5070 – 1 lasted 1 hour and 13 minutes, and one with an RTX 5090 – 1 lasted 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Price and availability
The high cost remains one of the main drawbacks of RTX Spark devices. These laptops are primarily aimed at developers, AI professionals and users who need to run large language models locally.
The tested Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra with 128 GB of unified memory and a 1 TB drive costs $5899,99 in the US. However, the high price does not guarantee an advantage over competitors for everyday tasks and gaming, so RTX Spark’s main selling point remains its ability to run large AI models without cloud computing.
