A leaked roadmap suggests that Intel and Nvidia — longtime rivals in the chip market — may be working together on a processor that combines Intel's x86 CPU cores with an integrated Nvidia RTX graphics unit. According to Digital Foundry, the project is being described as a "suspected collaboration," with the resulting chip internally codenamed "Serpent Lake."
According to HotHardware, the plan calls for the chip to arrive in early 2028, potentially timed to a reveal at CES that year. The design would pack Nvidia RTX graphics directly onto the same chip as Intel's processor cores — a so-called system-on-a-chip, or SoC — rather than keeping them as separate components as is typical in traditional desktop and laptop builds.
The handheld gaming PC market appears to be a key target. Compact gaming handhelds, which have surged in popularity, benefit enormously from tightly integrated chips that balance performance and power efficiency.
But the collaboration, if real, won't have an easy run. According to MSN, Nvidia is also developing a second-generation RTX Spark chip due around the same time, and AMD has its own new processors in the pipeline for that window — meaning Intel and Nvidia's combined effort could face stiff competition from multiple directions simultaneously.
None of this has been confirmed by either company, and the details stem from leaked plans rather than official announcements. If the collaboration does materialize, it would mark a striking strategic shift: two companies that have spent decades competing for space inside gaming machines joining forces to build one together — a move that could reshape how performance is delivered in the next generation of portable and compact gaming devices.