The embargo has lifted on Nvidia's RTX Spark platform, and the internet is currently doing what it always does: arguing over spreadsheet math. I've done something different with my diary of a first week living with Spark, but I've been busy benchmarking too!

For months, the tech industry (myself included) hyped up this Arm-based Grace CPU and Blackwell RTX GPU combo as the ultimate "MacBook Pro killer." Reviewers (also like me) have spent the past seven days squinting at Geekbench scores to see if Nvidia finally dethroned Apple's M-series silicon.

But judging RTX Spark purely by its single-core CPU speeds is like judging a Ferrari by its cup holders. And after a week of stress-testing the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra with Spark — running every synthetic and real-world test we can throw at it — it's clear that this is so much more.

Those numbers tell a very different, far more complicated story. Let me explain.

So let's start with the first benchmark everybody goes to. If you were hoping Nvidia's Arm-based Grace CPU was going to embarrass the M5 Pro, you need to adjust your expectations.

Given how long it took to make this, it's fair to say this was the main bit I felt nervous about. In short, not terrible, but underwhelming.

That being said, this was one of the first chances I had to test Nvidia's claims of getting the same performance on and off the charger.

Now I know there's a difference maker in here — Windows power settings.

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