How to check if your laptop has an NPU for AI tasks

AI PCs are in vogue, especially laptops. But most consumers aren’t totally clear on what an AI PC even is, much less which models qualify as one. It doesn’t help that AI PCs can be physically indistinguishable from the versions without AI.

Here is a simple checklist for determining whether your laptop is capable of performing AI tasks using those newfangled NPUs.

1. Check the processor

In the “Settings” app (key combination Win+I), go to “System” and then scroll down to “About.”

After clicking on the entry, you will see the device specifications in the next window — including the processor.

If it says “Snapdragon X Elite” or similar, this is an AI CPU that has been specially developed for AI tasks. However, there are also processors from Intel and AMD.

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2. Information from the device manager

More details can be found in the “Device Manager,” which you can find and start via the search function using the Windows taskbar.

You will find two entries for an AI PC: “Processor” and “Neural processors” — the latter of which will not appear if a CPU lacks the necessary NPU, or neural processing unit.

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3. Third-party tools

You can go one step further with a benchmark tool such as Geekbench AI.

The program measures CPU, GPU, and NPU to determine whether your PC is ready for the cutting-edge machine-learning applications of today and tomorrow.

Download and install Geekbench AI and then start the tool. You will receive some basic information and can start the benchmark via the corresponding button.