2 months ago
- The NVIDIA DGX Spark is a compact, power-efficient ARM computer with an NVIDIA GPU (similar to RTX 5070 CUDA cores), 128 GB unified memory, and 4 TB SSD, running Ubuntu 24.04.
- It performs well for general tasks like web browsing and programming, with a Geekbench 6 score comparable to M3 Pro and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.
- Gaming is decent: can run Crysis Remastered at 3200x1800 with DLSS, and many modern Steam games work via Proton and FEX translation, though performance is about two-thirds of an RTX 5070.
- Local LLM inference has improved significantly with techniques like NVFP4, multi-token prediction, and DFlash, achieving 30-40 tokens per second for a 27B dense model.
- Some software requires tinkering: Darktable needed a fix for OpenCL readback, Rhino 3D works via Wine with AI-generated patches, and Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed runs well with Wine and FEX.
- A custom shelf was designed to add USB ports, an NVMe SSD, and SD card reader using a Hagibis dock, improving connectivity and cooling slightly.
- Overall, the DGX Spark serves as a capable daily driver for gaming, CAD, photography, and LLM inference, with the ability to resolve compatibility issues using AI agents.