Asus ProArt P14 review: Nvidia RTX Spark shines, but comes at a price

The Asus ProArt P14 is among the first laptops to arrive in India with Nvidia RTX Spark, a consumer PC system-in-package with Nvidia's Arm-based Grace CPU, Blackwell GPU, and unified memory architecture. The hardware is designed to run AI models locally, alongside creative workloads such as video editing, image generation and 3D rendering.

The Asus ProArt series has traditionally focused on creative professionals. However, during a press briefing, the company said it also considers AI developers, widening the scope of the series. The ProArt P14 is one of its first steps in that direction.

But how well does the laptop handle both kinds of workloads? I have been using the ProArt P14 for over two weeks, testing its performance, display and everyday usability, along with its local AI capabilities. Here is what I found.

Design and portability

The ProArt P14 has a metal chassis with a restrained design. The lid carries the ProArt branding, while the overall finish avoids the gaming-inspired styling found on Asus's ROG laptops. The Nano Black finish looks understated, although it attracts fingerprints and smudges.

At 1.48kg in weight and 13.9mm at its thinnest point in thickness, the laptop is relatively easy to carry for a machine with this level of hardware. The aluminium body feels rigid, with little flex across the lid and keyboard deck. Its compact footprint also makes it convenient to use on a desk with limited space or while travelling.

The hinge opens up to around 150-degree, which means the display cannot be unfolded completely flat. This limits flexibility when using the laptop on a low table or in a cramped seating position. It also prevents positioning the screen flat against a surface when that would be useful, such as when working with an external monitor. The touchscreen makes interaction easier in some situations, but a wider hinge range would have been useful.

14-inchASUS Lumina Pro OLED touchscreen on the Asus ProArt P14 (Nano Black) Connectivity is another practical consideration. The ProArt P14 has three USB4 Type-C ports, a USB-A port, HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack, and a full-size SD card reader. The card reader is useful for transferring photographs and video footage directly from a camera without carrying an adapter.

Display and audio

The 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreen is one of the laptop's more useful features for creative work. Colours look vibrant, blacks are deep and text appears sharp. The display covers the 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut and is Pantone validated, making it suitable for photo and video editing where colour accuracy matters.

The screen is stretched in 16:10 aspect ratio, providing additional vertical space when working with documents, editing timelines or keeping multiple panels open in creative applications.

Brightness is sufficient for indoor use, although the glossy surface can produce reflections under direct lighting. The anti-reflection coating helps, but does not eliminate them.

The six-speaker audio system produces clear sound with enough volume for watching videos and listening to music without external speakers. There is reasonable separation between voices and other sounds, although anyone working on audio production will still benefit from dedicated headphones or studio monitors.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ProArt P14 has a backlit keyboard with full-sized keys and a layout that leaves enough room for regular typing. Key travel and feedback make it comfortable to use for longer writing sessions. The keyboard does not have a dedicated dial or additional controls found on some earlier ProArt models, but the standard layout is easy to get used to.

The large haptic touchpad supports Windows gestures and provides a smooth surface for navigation. Its size is useful when working without a mouse, although the lack of a physical click mechanism may take some getting used to, particularly for actions such as click-and-drag.

There is also an infrared webcam for Windows Hello facial recognition. The 1080p camera is adequate for video meetings, but image quality is not a strong point of the laptop. The absent fingerprint reader is also odd for this price.

Performance and software compatibility

The ProArt P14 is powered by Nvidia RTX Spark N1X platform, which combines an Arm-based Grace CPU with a Blackwell GPU. The chip has an 18-core CPU and a 5,120-core GPU. This is different from the higher-tier 20-core CPU and 6,144-core GPU configuration available on the ProArt P16.

For everyday work, the laptop handles browsing, document editing, multitasking and media playback without difficulty. Creative applications that support the laptop's Arm-based processor can make use of its CPU and GPU. It also supports Nvidia's CUDA platform, which allows compatible creative and AI applications to use the graphics processor for tasks such as rendering, image generation and running AI models locally.

The Arm architecture does require some consideration before buying. The laptop runs Windows 11 on Arm, which means applications need to be available in versions designed for Arm processors or run through Microsoft's emulation layer. Many commonly used applications have native versions, but some professional software, older applications and third-party plugins may not work as expected. Creators who rely on specific software and peripherals should check compatibility before making a purchase.

Performance also depends on the selected power profile. The ProArt Creator Hub offers different modes for balancing performance, fan noise and power consumption. In quieter modes, the laptop remains suitable for everyday work. Under sustained heavy workloads, the fans become audible, particularly in Performance mode. The cooling system keeps temperatures under control, but the fan noise is noticeable when the hardware is pushed for longer periods.

One useful aspect of the RTX Spark platform is that its CPU and GPU performance does not drop in the same way when the laptop switches to battery power. The Grace CPU and Blackwell GPU can deliver similar AI and compute performance whether the laptop is plugged in or running on battery. This is useful for workloads that need consistent performance away from a power outlet.

RTX Spark and local AI

The RTX Spark is the main reason to consider the ProArt P14 over a conventional creator laptop. It comes with a unified memory, allowing the system to allocate memory between Windows, the CPU and the GPU.

This is different from a conventional laptop with a dedicated graphics processor and a separate pool of video memory. The RTX Spark uses a shared memory pool, with Nvidia's CUDA acceleration and software ecosystem providing support for local AI tools. Applications such as LM Studio Bionic and ComfyUI can use the GPU to run AI chatbots and image-generation workflows without relying on cloud processing.

Nvidia RTX Spark chip on the Asus ProArt series

The ProArt P14 also allows users to control how much of the unified memory is allocated to the GPU. This can be adjusted through a slider in the Asus ProArt Creator Hub. Users can dedicate more memory to the GPU when running AI models, or leave more available to Windows and other applications for general computing.

However, the 24GB configuration reviewed here exposes a limitation in this approach.

Since Windows, the CPU and GPU share the same memory pool, the operating system and background applications consume part of the available capacity before an AI model is loaded. Allocating more memory to the GPU leaves less for the rest of the system, while keeping more memory for Windows limits the size of the model that can be loaded.

This is particularly relevant when working with large language models. Their memory requirements depend on parameter count, precision, quantisation and context length. A smaller quantised model may fit within the available memory, but larger models and more demanding workflows can quickly run into capacity limits.

For example, models with around 4 to 5 billion parameter count such as Google’s Gemma 4 E4B and Nvidia’s own Nemotron 3 Nano 4B ran fine on LM Studio Bionic. However, a larger 27-billion parameter model, Qwen 3.8 27B occupied around 20GB of memory, leaving almost no room for any other function. It even slowed down general operations on the laptop.

The 24GB configuration therefore leaves little room for users who intend to run larger models entirely on the laptop. The RTX Spark hardware has the CUDA support and architecture needed for local AI, but the available memory restricts how far that capability can be used. In this configuration, the laptop makes more sense for smaller local models, experimentation and workflows that combine local processing with cloud services.

This is a significant consideration because memory is not upgradeable. The memory allocation slider also does not increase the total capacity. It only changes how the existing pool is divided between the GPU and the rest of the system.

For AI developers who intend to work with larger models, the ProArt P16 would be a better fit as it is available with up to 128GB memory. The ProArt P14 does not make much sense for someone buying it primarily to run large parameter models locally.

Battery life and charging

The ProArt P14 has a 90Wh battery, which is a sizeable capacity for a 14-inch laptop. Battery life depends heavily on the selected power mode and workload. Light tasks such as document editing and video playback can last longer, while browsing with several applications open and sustained creative workloads reduce endurance. I usually got around six to eight hours of use during mixed workloads.

The laptop also supports USB-C charging and ships with a 140W adapter, which is fairly quick but a bit bulky for a 14-inch portable machine.

ProArt Mouse MD301

ASUS ProArt mouse Alongside the ProArt P14, Asus also launched the ProArt Mouse MD301 in India at ₹8,499. The mouse is designed for productivity rather than gaming, and its layout reflects that. The raised body provides support for the palm, while the side scroll wheel is useful for moving horizontally through editing timelines, spreadsheets and wide documents. The main SmartShift wheel switches between notched scrolling for controlled navigation and free-spin scrolling for longer pages. Both are useful additions for those who spend much of the day working across applications. Alongside the ProArt P14, Asus also launched the ProArt Mouse MD301 in India at ₹8,499. The mouse is designed for productivity rather than gaming, and its layout reflects that. The raised body provides support for the palm, while the side scroll wheel is useful for moving horizontally through editing timelines, spreadsheets and wide documents. The main SmartShift wheel switches between notched scrolling for controlled navigation and free-spin scrolling for longer pages. Both are useful additions for those who spend much of the day working across applications.

The six programmable buttons allow shortcuts to be assigned to frequently used tasks through Asus's Gear Link software. This is useful for workflows that involve repeating the same actions across applications.

At 99.7g, the mouse is not particularly heavy. The ergonomic shape and button placement may take some time to get used to, but the overall design is suited to its intended productivity use case.

Verdict

The Asus ProArt P14 brings Nvidia RTX Spark platform to a compact creator laptop, with a 3K OLED touchscreen, a rigid metal chassis and a useful selection of ports. Its keyboard and touchpad are comfortable for everyday work, while the display is suitable for photo and video editing. The Grace CPU and Blackwell GPU also give it access to Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem, which is relevant for developers working with local AI tools.

At ₹329,990, however, the 24GB configuration is difficult to recommend to anyone whose primary reason for buying the laptop is to run large AI models locally. The unified memory architecture is one of the platform's main advantages, but 24GB leaves limited room for Windows, the GPU and large models to operate together.

The ProArt P14 makes more sense as a compact creator laptop for users who need its OLED display, CUDA support and ability to run smaller local AI workloads. Those looking to work with larger language models or more demanding local AI workflows should consider the ProArt P16.

The RTX Spark platform has a clear use case, but the 24GB version does not make full use of what the hardware is designed to offer. At its price, that is a significant limitation.