ASUS P16 Runs 27B AI Models Locally for a $7,000 Premium
The laptop runs large models without a cloud connection, but its price and Arm compatibility issues limit its appeal to specialized researchers.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
ASUS has set a steep price for its new ProArt P16 laptop, which runs NVIDIA's first major PC chipset. The system is designed for professionals who run large artificial intelligence models locally, and the cost reflects that specialized utility. A review published on October 23, 2026, noted that while the machine is capable, it is not a replacement for standard consumer hardware.
NVIDIA and Microsoft have promoted the RTX Spark platform as a reinvention of personal computing. The chip combines a 20-core Arm CPU, a Blackwell GPU, and up to 128GB of unified memory. This architecture mirrors Apple's M-series designs and allows the laptop to process data on the device rather than sending it to a cloud server. ASUS is the first company to ship a laptop with this specific silicon.
The base model costs $2,800, but the price rises sharply with memory upgrades. The review unit, equipped with 128GB of RAM, is priced at $7,000. For comparison, a dedicated gaming laptop with similar graphics performance costs about $2,124. The P16 weighs 3.9 pounds, making it lighter than the 4.7-pound MacBook Pro, and features a bright 16-inch OLED display.
Performance benchmarks show a mixed result. In general application tests, the P16 scored roughly 3,000 points lower than a competitor using a Snapdragon X2 Elite chip. However, it outperformed an M5 Max MacBook Pro in graphics and AI tasks. In Procyon's AI Computer Vision 2 test, the P16 scored 3,895 points compared to 3,267 for the Apple device. The laptop successfully ran the Qwen3.8 27B model, which requires 42GB of RAM, leaving sufficient memory for other tasks.
Compatibility remains a hurdle for general users. Most games rely on Microsoft's Prism emulator for the Arm CPU, which can reduce performance and cause stability issues. Native Arm64 builds exist for titles like Fortnite and DOTA 2, but support for other multimedia applications is inconsistent. The battery life in testing was 10 hours and 51 minutes, which is lower than the 15 hours typical of premium laptops.
NVIDIA states that the graphics hardware performs similarly to the RTX 5070 mobile GPU while using less power. In Cyberpunk 2077, the P16 achieved 70 frames per second at 1440p with ultra settings. Lowering those settings increased the frame rate to 120 fps. The reviewer concluded that AI professionals are the clear target buyers who can justify the expense, while general users and gamers should wait at least a year before considering the platform.
