Microsoft laptop with Nvidia RTX Spark leaked and benchmarked before launch

[Daniel Sims]

What just happened? Laptop OEMs are set to begin launching notebooks equipped with Nvidia's RTX Spark processors later this year, with Microsoft's new flagship Surface leading the pack. In a stroke of unbelievable luck, though, a prototype unit recently landed in the hands of a tech enthusiast with the know-how to put it through extensive early benchmarks.

TechPowerUp Forum user "Fouquin" claims to have found a prototype Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra lying on the side of the road near Microsoft's Redmond, Washington headquarters in mid-June. After several weeks of testing, he detailed its performance, power efficiency, and build quality in an early hands-on report.

The unit he found features the full-fat RTX Spark N1X APU, with 6,144 CUDA cores and a 20-core Arm CPU, paired with an entry-level memory configuration of 24GB of unified RAM and a 512GB SSD. Several details suggest the device isn't final. The screen was the clearest indicator, with Fouquin noting issues with local dimming zones, Nvidia G-Sync support, touch input noise, and HDR.

Drivers were also a major factor in the benchmark results. Fouquin initially tested the laptop on drivers dated November 2025, then repeated his tests after Nvidia released the RTX Spark developer preview drivers last week. While the new drivers didn't dramatically change performance, idle power draw increased considerably, from 7-8W to 12-23W depending on the power setting.

The Phoronix Test Suite, Blender, and Cinebench suggest that RTX Spark lags behind Apple's M5 Pro chip. Nvidia did deliver on one major promise, though: identical performance whether the laptop is plugged in or running on battery.

Fouquin was also largely positive about the Surface Ultra's build quality, calling the keyboard the best he's used outside of a MacBook, with punchy key travel, smooth resistance, and zero switch wobble. The key switches still feel like rubber domes underneath, but the mechanisms are stiff and responsive. A backlight that activates when the camera detects the user is another nice touch.

The milled aluminum chassis is predictably large, mirroring the MacBook Pro that Microsoft is positioning the Surface Ultra against. The touchpad is similarly MacBook-like, and Fouquin gave the hinge mechanism high marks too.

Microsoft unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra alongside Nvidia's RTX Spark presentation at Computex in June, calling the 15-inch notebook the most powerful Surface device yet. Configurable with up to 128GB of unified memory, the laptop delivers GPU performance on par with an RTX 5070.

Games that support Windows on Arm without Microsoft's Prism emulator remain rare, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II being a major exception, but Nvidia's newly announced partnership with Sega is one sign that things could eventually change. Sega has confirmed that 2027's Virtua Fighter Crossroads will natively support the RTX Spark, likely to be followed by Alien: Isolation 2, Total War: Warhammer 40,000, and other Sega games.

Based on his testing, Fouquin predicts the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra will start no lower than $2,800, with the top-end configuration landing around $4,500 to rival Apple's flagship MacBook Pro models.

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Microsoft laptop with Nvidia RTX Spark leaked and benchmarked before launch

 

[NumberNine]

I assume they tested it and then threw it out the window.

 

[DEMinSoCal]

I wonder how it compares to the top X2 Elite Extreme from Qualcomm? My Zenbook A16 seemingly also has similar performance on charger or battery as Geekbench scores were pretty much identical in both scenarios.

 

[DEMinSoCal]

I assume they tested it and then threw it out the window.

I'm guessing once the article was published, a MS rep and police showed up at their house.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Relax its just guerilla marketing people. No one stole anything, no surface laptops "fell off the back of a truck" or "were found by the side of a road".

Influencer BS, rather people's susceptibility to it, has ruined marketing forever.

People really struggle to understand that they're being sold something by someone all the time.

Used to be much more clear-cut.

 

[yRaz]

Arm will stay on my phone where it belongs. ARM makes sense on the extremes of both ends of the spectrum, power efficiency for small devices and huge data centers. PCs need compatibility. Further, I don't understand the obsession with ARM laptops. The 7735hs in my work laptop reliably gets like 8 hours in power saver mode

 

[mgstrazze]

I should watch a "how to conveniently find a prototype lying on the side of the road" video.

 

[OortCloud]

Do we want a future in which NVidia is dominating the CPU market too? I certainly don't.

 

[Fouquin]

Relax its just guerilla marketing people. No one stole anything, no surface laptops "fell off the back of a truck" or "were found by the side of a road".

Influencer BS, rather people's susceptibility to it, has ruined marketing forever.

People really struggle to understand that they're being sold something by someone all the time.

Used to be much more clear-cut.

I'd love to have been on payroll to do all that testing and write that post. I doubt those are the kinds of results anyone would pay to publish though.

I don't believe I could influence an eager dog to play ball, I really doubt my little write-up is influencing anyone's purchasing decisions 2-4 months from now. I like hardware, sometimes I write about it. See my other greatest hit in "Aladdin 7/ArtX Feat. PowerColor P561A" testing obscure 1990s graphics technology that barely three people on Earth cared to remember existed.

 

[DEMinSoCal]

Arm will stay on my phone where it belongs. ARM makes sense on the extremes of both ends of the spectrum, power efficiency for small devices and huge data centers. PCs need compatibility. Further, I don't understand the obsession with ARM laptops. The 7735hs in my work laptop reliably gets like 8 hours in power saver mode

Compatibility only comes with people embracing the new technology. Companies won't do their part if no one is asking for it. Those who adapt now (like me) are the ones you can thank later when Windows on ARM is just as compatible as x64 is now. The X2E94100 in my Zenbook A16 is faster than any Intel or AMD chip I've had (and I've had a lot). It also cost me far less than anything comparable with Intel or AMD. Since you're happy with your old AMD, I guess this isn't for you.

 

[GooglyBear]

Do we want a future in which NVidia is dominating the CPU market too? I certainly don't.

I dont think we have a choice bud, nvidia will do what they do best, extort us for a 30% uplift every 2 years and then claim that moore's law is dead.

 

[ZedRM]

I'm guessing once the article was published, a MS rep and police showed up at their house.

What would they arrest him for? Finding a laptop in a public place? Last time I checked, that's not a crime. Maybe the people at Microsoft need to take better care of where they leave their prototype devices laying around.

 

[DEMinSoCal]

What would they arrest him for? Finding a laptop in a public place? Last time I checked, that's not a crime. Maybe the people at Microsoft need to take better care of where they leave their prototype devices laying around.

Where did I say arrest? Nowhere. Don't you think you'd want an officer with you when you go someplace to retrieve your property from a stranger? Regardless, it was a joke. Lighten up.

 

[AnilD]

Matching performance on battery is impressive, but jumping from 7–8W idle to as much as 23W after a driver update shows how premature these results are. That difference could completely reshape the battery-life story.

 

[airbornex]

A prototype conveniently found beside the road near Microsoft HQ and then exhaustively benchmarked is either the greatest hardware discovery story in years or guerrilla marketing with excellent plausible deniability.