Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
WC Staff

What you need to know about AI PCs and how to choose one

MSI laptop graphic.

There has been a surge in AI applications that can do everything from generating images, editing video, enhancing games, and summarizing data, and while many AI tools are available through the cloud, there are over 600 apps and games that are running AI locally on RTX GPUs.  By running AI apps on-device, you can not only gain the benefit of enhanced privacy — with no data being sent elsewhere — but also tap into the capable, dedicated hardware aimed at running advanced machine learning and inference AI. Not any old PC will do the job well though. AI apps benefit immensely from specialized hardware that can quickly process the kind of calculations they need to run. That’s where AI PCs come in.

While every PC is going to offer a CPU, and some will even offer incredibly powerful ones, the CPU is a generalist that’s not particularly suited to the demands of AI.  AI PCs have an NPU for lightweight AI. Adding a GPU is what accelerates a wide range of even demanding AI tasks.  But what are those two components all about?

To know that, you need to know about TOPS or trillions of operations per second. AI tasks are required to process tons of numbers and TOPS are a way to measure performance. Simply, more is better. NPUs top out at around 50 TOPS, which is fine for lightweight AI-assisted tasks, like low-level image processing during video calls or offering a quick summarization of a text document.

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX Laptop GPUs start at 194 TOPS and can go as high as 686 TOPS with GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPUs. The dedicated AI processors on RTX GPUs are called Tensor Cores, and they can run these math operations with incredible speed and precision. Now what can you do with all that speed?

Content creators can access high-speed image and video generation tools in Stable Diffusion accelerated by NVIDIA TensorRT technology. 

Gamers can benefit from DLSS 3.5, exclusive to RTX GPUs, for higher frame rates and increased graphical fidelity in the latest game titles like Star Wars Outlaws. 

For productivity, NVIDIA’s ChatRTX is a personalized chatbot connected to a user’s own content like docs, notes, images and more to get contextually relevant info fast. 

(Image credit: ASUS)

There are over 200 great RTX AI PCs  available right now with GPUs capable of running this AI. The ASUS ProArt P16 provides a large and gorgeous platform for both everyday computing and AI. Its large, 4K OLED touchscreen is an excellent outlet for AI creations and can benefit from the kind of real time image enhancements (like RTX Video HDR) that its onboard NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics can provide.

The ProArt P16 — and all NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU equipped systems — is backed by NVIDIA Studio, providing faster speed in creative apps, exclusive AI-powered tools, and NVIDIA Studio Drivers for even faster performance and added reliability. 

The MSI Stealth 16 AI blends both performance and portability in a gaming laptop that can tap into a low-power integrated NPU or leverage its GeForce RTX GPU capabilities for even more performance. It all comes packed into a chassis less than an inch thick. This laptop provides a great platform for testing out both productivity-minded AI apps as well as the many AI-powered tools NVIDIA offers for enhancing games and more.

(Image credit: ASUS)

The ASUS ProArt PX13 is another beautiful piece of hardware. It pairs portability and versatility with AI performance. Its 2-in-1 design works as a laptop or tablet, but in spite of its small size, it tucks away powerful hardware for everyday computing, gaming, and AI performance. With both an onboard NPU for light tasks and the power of a GeForce RTX 4070 to dramatically accelerate AI workloads, it’s geared up for AI like almost no other tablets are. A sharp touchscreen OLED display with stylus support serves up a potent platform for creative workloads that you can augment with AI assistance.

With over 100 million RTX AI PCs in the market today, they’re becoming more prevalent and the kinds of apps available to them will continue to grow. New tools are introduced constantly, and to help you keep up with what’s available and what you can do with your AI PC, NVIDIA has introduced the AI Decoded series. In it, you can find explorations of new features, tools, and tips for putting AI to use for you.  

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.