MediaTek has introduced the Dimensity CX C10 Max, a brand new flagship system on chip for laptops, detachables and tablets. It’s the first flagship processor within the Dimensity CX household, the computing department of the Dimensity model, and it combines an eight-core CPU with no effectivity cores, a 55 TOPS neural processing unit (NPU), an AI picture sign processor (ISP) and TSMC’s 3nm N3 manufacturing course of.
MediaTek teams the chip’s options below 4 areas: efficiency, on-device agentic AI, the AI ISP digicam and energy effectivity. The headline claims are as much as 15% greater multi-threaded CPU efficiency than its closest competitor on the identical energy, as much as 50% decrease energy on the identical single-threaded efficiency, and as much as 19 hours of battery life. All of those figures come from MediaTek’s personal testing forward of any retail units, and the check situations behind them are lined intimately beneath.
What Dimensity CX is
MediaTek first outlined the Dimensity CX identify at its analyst day in April. The Dimensity model is now cut up into three traces: Dimensity for cellular, Dimensity CX for computing and Dimensity Auto for automotive. The C10 Max is the primary technology flagship within the CX line, and MediaTek describes it as delivering flagship efficiency and on-device agentic AI for its system and working system companions.
Changing the Kompanio Extremely
The C10 Max takes over from the Kompanio Extremely, which was MediaTek’s earlier flagship processor for Chromebook Plus units. MediaTek stated the brand new chip is meant for a brand new class of working programs and won’t be utilized in Chromebooks of the previous technology.
The corporate declined to substantiate which working programs will run on C10 Max units, saying that its OS and system companions will make these bulletins themselves over the approaching weeks and months. It’s value stating, nonetheless, that the benchmark and battery life figures MediaTek has revealed have been all recorded on a reference board operating ChromeOS R133.
The way it differs from RTX Spark
The C10 Max can also be separate from the RTX Spark platform that MediaTek has developed with Nvidia for Home windows laptops. MediaTek describes RTX Spark as a better finish product constructed for graphics, content material creation, mannequin coaching and heavy inference work. The C10 Max is designed for thinner, lighter and extra energy environment friendly machines, and MediaTek stated lots of the classes from constructing platforms, board help packages and OEM relationships are shared throughout each programmes.
CPU: eight large cores and a big cache
The CPU makes use of what MediaTek calls an all large core design. There are eight cores in complete, organized in three tiers:
- One Arm Cortex-X925 core for the heaviest single-threaded work
- Three Arm Cortex-X4 cores
- 4 Arm Cortex-A720 cores
There aren’t any small effectivity cores on this format. The Cortex-A720 cores tackle the lighter background work that will often be dealt with by low energy cores on different chips, whereas the X925 and X4 cores cope with extra demanding duties. The trade-off with this type of design is that it depends on the manufacturing course of and the scheduler to maintain idle and lightweight load energy consumption down, moderately than on devoted effectivity cores.
MediaTek has paired the CPU with 12MB of L3 cache and 10MB of system stage cache (SLC). A bigger cache permits the processor to maintain extra regularly used knowledge near the cores, which reduces the variety of slower journeys out to major reminiscence. MediaTek stated the CPU is one space the place it doesn’t reduce corners, even with the deal with AI throughout the remainder of the platform.
Reminiscence and storage
The chip helps LPDDR5X reminiscence at 9600Mbps, together with UFS 4.0 and PCIe Gen 4 storage. Reminiscence pace has turn out to be extra related on laptop computer chips as a result of massive language fashions operating domestically are closely restricted by how shortly knowledge may be moved between reminiscence and the processor. Quicker reminiscence tends to translate into faster token technology for on-device AI fashions, along with the extra common good points in utility efficiency.
CPU efficiency claims and check situations
MediaTek is quoting two CPU figures. The primary is as much as 15% quicker multi-threaded efficiency than competing platforms when each chips are held to the identical 12W energy stage. The second is as much as 50% much less energy on the identical single-threaded efficiency.
In the course of the query and reply session, MediaTek confirmed that the comparability is towards Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite X1E moderately than the newer X2 sequence. The small print on the slides offers the total check situations:
- Each outcomes are based mostly on Geekbench 6.5
- The Dimensity CX C10 Max was examined on a MediaTek reference board operating ChromeOS R133 with 16GB of RAM and a 60Wh battery
- The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 was examined in a Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge operating Home windows 11 with 16GB of RAM and a 60Wh battery
- The multi-threaded scores have been in contrast on the identical energy stage of 12W
There are some limitations with this comparability. The 2 chips have been examined on totally different working programs, and one was a reference board whereas the opposite was a retail laptop computer, which might have an effect on each scores and energy readings. The comparability can also be towards an earlier technology of Qualcomm’s laptop computer chip moderately than its present vary. MediaTek’s reasoning is that the X1E sits in the identical class of processor and system because the C10 Max, however unbiased testing on delivery {hardware} shall be wanted to see how the chip compares with a wider collection of alternate options.
GPU, shows and video
Graphics are dealt with by an Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU with 11 cores, which helps {hardware} ray tracing. MediaTek didn’t share any graphics efficiency figures in the course of the briefing, so it’s not but clear how the GPU compares with the built-in graphics on competing laptop computer chips.
The MiraVision 1090 show processor helps eDP 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.4 with multi-stream transport and MIPI DSI. The chip can drive three 4K shows in complete, one inner panel plus two exterior screens, which MediaTek positions as a productiveness function for multitasking setups.
On the media aspect there’s 4K 10-bit {hardware} decoding and encoding, with help for AV1, HEVC, AVC and VP9. {Hardware} AV1 help is beneficial for streaming providers and video calls that use the codec, because it avoids falling again to software program decoding on the CPU.
NPU 890 and on-device agentic AI
The NPU is the MediaTek NPU 890, rated at 55 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) measured at INT8 precision. It makes use of two kinds of core, which MediaTek labels a efficiency core and a versatile core. MediaTek claims that is the quickest NPU in its class.
TOPS figures needs to be handled with some warning. They describe uncooked throughput below a specific numerical precision, and distributors don’t at all times measure them in the identical manner, so they don’t seem to be a direct information to real-world AI efficiency. The supporting software program and mannequin optimisation usually matter as a lot because the headline quantity.
Supported fashions
On that entrance, MediaTek stated it has optimised a number of open massive language mannequin households for the NPU at launch, together with DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama and Gemma. The platform can also be described as supporting multi-modal fashions. The intention is that purposes and AI brokers constructed on these fashions can run their inference domestically on the NPU as a substitute of sending requests to a cloud service.
MediaTek additionally highlighted non-LLM options that use the NPU, equivalent to quicker file search, picture technology and good grouping. The corporate’s view is that native brokers can run with out a utilization meter hooked up, and that on-device processing additionally permits AI options to work offline.
AI ISP digicam
Laptop computer cameras will not be usually a spotlight for chip makers, however MediaTek has given the digicam its personal pillar on the C10 Max. The chip contains the Imagiq 1090 ISP, and MediaTek says the digicam pipeline works alongside the NPU to enhance picture high quality and processing.
The ISP helps digicam sensors as much as 32MP, full vary HDR zoom and cinematic video recording, together with digital picture stabilisation (EIS). Twin cameras are additionally supported in removable designs.
The digital picture stabilisation is geared toward detachables and tablets, the place the system could also be held or moved whereas recording. MediaTek described the end result as nearer to a devoted digicam than a standard webcam, with the NPU and ISP working collectively to regular the footage.
It’s value being lifelike about this. The ISP units the higher restrict on processing, however the remaining picture high quality will rely on the sensors and lenses that producers select to suit, and laptop computer lids depart restricted house for digicam modules. A 32MP sensor restrict doesn’t imply units will ship with 32MP cameras.
Course of node, battery life and thermals
The C10 Max is constructed on TSMC’s N3 course of, a 3nm class node. MediaTek quotes as much as 19 hours of battery life, which it says is predicated on Google’s Energy Load Take a look at (PLT) utilizing a MediaTek reference board operating ChromeOS R133 with 16GB of RAM and a 60Wh battery. The corporate’s personal footnote states that battery life varies considerably with settings, utilization and different components.
Battery outcomes from a reference board additionally don’t account for the show, battery capability and different parts that producers will select, so figures from completed laptops are more likely to range from mannequin to mannequin.
MediaTek additionally stated the facility effectivity of the chip permits OEMs to construct fanless designs at this efficiency stage, and it describes the ensuing units as quiet, cool and extremely moveable. Whether or not particular person laptops are fanless shall be down to every producer’s thermal design.
Connectivity and safety
The platform helps Wi-Fi 7 at as much as 7.3Gbps and Bluetooth 6.0 via MediaTek’s connectivity options. For safety, the chip helps HDCP 2.3, a safe video path with Widevine L1 for protected streaming content material, and Arm TrustZone with safe boot.
Dimensity CX C10 Max key specs
| Course of | TSMC N3 (3nm) |
| CPU | 8 cores: 1x Cortex-X925, 3x Cortex-X4, 4x Cortex-A720 |
| Cache | 12MB L3 cache, 10MB system stage cache |
| GPU | Arm Immortalis-G925 MC11 (11 cores), {hardware} ray tracing |
| NPU | MediaTek NPU 890, 55 TOPS (INT8) |
| Digicam ISP | Imagiq 1090, as much as 32MP sensors, EIS |
| Reminiscence | LPDDR5X 9600Mbps |
| Storage | UFS 4.0, PCIe Gen 4 |
| Show | MiraVision 1090, eDP 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.4 MST, MIPI DSI, as much as three 4K shows (one inner, two exterior) |
| Video | 4K 10-bit decode and encode, AV1, HEVC, AVC, VP9 |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 as much as 7.3Gbps, Bluetooth 6.0 |
| Safety | HDCP 2.3, Widevine L1 safe video path, Arm TrustZone, safe boot |
| Battery life declare | As much as 19 hours (Google PLT, 60Wh battery, reference board) |
Availability and pricing
MediaTek says units utilizing the Dimensity CX C10 Max will come from main OEMs and run on well-liked working programs, with launches anticipated within the coming months. No particular laptops, tablets or working programs have been confirmed but, and MediaTek stated these shall be introduced by its companions.
As with most processors of this sort, the chip is offered to system producers moderately than on to shoppers, and MediaTek has not given any pricing. The price of C10 Max units within the UK will rely on the laptops and tablets that producers construct round it, and UK pricing in £ ought to turn out to be clear as soon as the primary fashions are introduced.
I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the Editor and Proprietor of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Keen about all issues know-how, my experience spans from computer systems and networking to cellular, wearables, and good house units.
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