Nvidia’s influence on your next gaming PC might extend beyond just the graphics card. Reports suggest the company is developing an Arm-based PC platform featuring both a CPU and GPU designed in-house, with a potential launch slated for September 2025.
This news, initially reported by DigiTimes, indicates Nvidia’s platform will focus on high-end computing and target a commercial release in March 2026. While this marks the first concrete timeline for Nvidia’s Arm-based consumer chips, rumors have circulated for some time. A 2023 Reuters report hinted at Nvidia’s exploration of Arm CPUs, aligning with Microsoft’s push for Arm-based processors in Windows PCs.
Microsoft’s recent promotion of Arm-based Copilot+ laptops seemingly confirms this direction. However, Nvidia appears to be aiming for a higher-performance segment, likely targeting gamers and power users. This development provides context to Nvidia’s unsuccessful bid to acquire Arm in 2022.
Further supporting the DigiTimes report, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang nearly confirmed the company’s work on a consumer Arm processor during a conversation with Dell CEO Michael Dell. Nvidia’s experience designing Arm CPUs for the enterprise market, such as the Grace CPU within its Grace Hopper platform for data centers, lends credence to this ambition.
The timing also appears strategic. Qualcomm currently holds an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft for Arm-based Windows PC chips. Given the ongoing licensing disputes between Arm and Qualcomm, Arm likely welcomes other manufacturers into the consumer chip market. According to Arm, this exclusivity is expected to end in 2024, potentially paving the way for companies like AMD, Nvidia, and Intel to develop Arm-based chips in 2025.
Nvidia has hinted at Arm-based CPUs for Windows PCs for several years, and these plans now appear to be materializing. The company’s recent success in the data center market, driven by its AI accelerators, has propelled it to become a leading tech giant. This move into the consumer market signals Nvidia’s ambition to further expand its reach.
