It might sound a bit wild, but a new MediaTek chip that includes Nvidia graphics is set to bring high-quality AAA gaming, ray tracing, and DLSS 3 capabilities to your car. We’re talking about MediaTek’s new Dimensity Auto Cockpit, which integrates an Nvidia GPU and offers a range of AI and gaming features.
Although it’s not entirely clear which Nvidia graphics are integrated into MediaTek’s chips, it seems they utilize some form of the Ada Lovelace architecture found in RTX 40-series GPUs. These GPUs are the ones that support DLSS 3’s frame generation capabilities and are extremely efficient, which is essential for a chip designed for car use.
The foundation of MediaTek’s new chips is a 3nm node centered around the Armv9-A CPU. According to MediaTek, this chip possesses “deep learning capabilities,” though it appears that the Nvidia GPU is the core of the AI functionality.
DLSS 3 is already recognized as an AI feature, but MediaTek highlights that the Nvidia graphics include a Deep Learning Accelerator (DLA). This enables running things like a Large Language Model (LLM) directly from the car. Additionally, the chip supports Nvidia’s complete software platform, including CUDA, Drive OS, and TensorRT. While MediaTek is developing the chip, Nvidia’s influence is unmistakably substantial.
I wouldn’t spend a fortune on a car just to play Cyberpunk 2077 with top-tier graphics. However, this technology has potential applications beyond just cars.
Nvidia is demonstrating that it can create something akin to an RTX 40-series GPU within a compact system-on-a-chip (SoC), featuring support for ray tracing and DLSS 3. This is promising for handheld gaming devices, an area where Nvidia has been relatively dormant in recent years.
There are rumors that the next version of the Nintendo Switch will also support DLSS and ray tracing thanks to an Nvidia GPU. Moreover, Nvidia seems concerned about “missing out” on handheld gaming PCs, like the Steam Deck, which have so far only featured AMD chips.
These automotive chips aren’t expected to appear in gaming devices, but they do show that Nvidia can integrate a modern GPU into what is essentially a mobile SoC. I might not be very interested in having ray tracing and DLSS in my car, but I’d gladly have those features in a device like the Steam Deck.