Nvidia has released the DGX Spark, a small gold box designed for powerful AI tasks. But is it worth buying? When comparing it to the much cheaper AMD Strix Halo chip, the answer depends on what you need.
Both devices are made for AI work and have impressive features. The DGX Spark uses Nvidia's latest Blackwell technology and offers special support for FP4, which is a very efficient but less accurate form of floating point math. This simply means you can make programs run much faster, but you might lose some accuracy in certain AI projects. Higher precision, such as FP8, gives better results but runs slower.
When it comes to real world tests, the AMD Strix Halo chip often performs just as well or even better at FP8 and FP16 precision as the DGX Spark, but at about half the price. For example, with the same amount of memory and a fast hard drive, the DGX Spark sells for nearly four thousand dollars, while the Framework Desktop using the AMD chip is about two thousand three hundred dollars.
Tests using big AI models like Llama 3.3 70B showed that both devices have similar speed in generating responses. Sometimes the DGX Spark is a bit faster, other times, the Strix Halo wins. Overall, for most common uses, the performance is almost the same.
Some experts point out that the real advantage of the DGX Spark is its easy setup, wide software support, and the ability to learn about using low precision math for AI, which is a useful skill in this growing field. However, if you only care about speed and saving money, the AMD Strix Halo box is the clear winner.
In summary, the DGX Spark is a powerful and flexible tool with great educational value and memory, but it costs much more and does not really outperform cheaper options in many tasks. Most users will find the AMD Strix Halo a better value for their money unless they have a specific need for Nvidia's specialized features or want an easy all in one AI lab.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/nvidias-little-gold-box-of-pure-ai-power-the-dgx-spark-is-finally-out-and-the-comparison-with-amds-much-cheaper-strix-halo-chip-is-looking-a-little-fugly/
