3 ms·

Why Macbook Pro? Isn't Mac Studio is a lot cheaper and the right one to compare with DGX Spark?

AndroTux 1y ago
I think the idea is that instead of spending an additional $4000 on external hardware, you can just buy one thing (your main work machine) and call it a day. Also, the Mac Studio isn’t that much cheaper at that price point.
- MomsAVoxell 1y ago
  Being able to leave the thing at home and access it anywhere is a feature, not a bug. The Mac Studio is a more appropriate comparison. There is not yet a DGX laptop, though.
  - AndroTux 1y ago
    > Being able to leave the thing at home and access it anywhere is a feature, not a bug. I can do that with a laptop too. And with a dedicated GPU. Or a blade in a data center. I though the feature of the DGX was that you can throw it in a backpack.
    - MomsAVoxell 1y ago
      The DGX is clearly a desktop system. Sure, it's luggable. But the point is, it's not a laptop.
- dialogbox 1y ago
  > Also, the Mac Studio isn’t that much cheaper at that price point. In the list price, it's 1000 USD cheaper. 3,699 vs 4,699 I know a lot can be relative but that's a lot for me for sure.
  - AndroTux 1y ago
    Fair. I looked it up just yesterday so I though I knew the prices from memory, but apparently I mixed something up.
- pantalaimon 1y ago
  How are you spending $4000 on a screen and a keyboard?
  - AndroTux 1y ago
    You're not going to use the DGX as your main machine, so you'll need another computer. Sure, not a $4000 one, but you'll want at least some performance, so it'll be another $1000-$2000.
    - pantalaimon 1y ago
      > You're not going to use the DGX as your main machine Why not?
      - BoredPositron 1y ago
        Because Nvidia is incredibly slow with kernel updates and you are lucky if you get them at all after just two years. I am curious if they will update these machines for longer than their older dgx like hardware.
smallnamespace 1y ago
I didn't think of it ;) Now that you bring it up, the M3 ultra Mac Studio goes up to 512GB for about a $10k config with around 850 GB/s bandwidth, for those who "need" a near frontier large model. I think 4x the RAM is not quite worth more than doubling the price, especially if MoE support gets better, but it's interesting that you can get a Deepseek R1 quant running on prosumer hardware.

I think the idea is that instead of spending an additional $4000 on external hardware, you can just buy one thing (your main work machine) and call it a day. Also, the Mac Studio isn’t that much cheaper at that price point.

MomsAVoxell 1y ago
Being able to leave the thing at home and access it anywhere is a feature, not a bug. The Mac Studio is a more appropriate comparison. There is not yet a DGX laptop, though.
- AndroTux 1y ago
  > Being able to leave the thing at home and access it anywhere is a feature, not a bug. I can do that with a laptop too. And with a dedicated GPU. Or a blade in a data center. I though the feature of the DGX was that you can throw it in a backpack.
  - MomsAVoxell 1y ago
    The DGX is clearly a desktop system. Sure, it's luggable. But the point is, it's not a laptop.
dialogbox 1y ago
> Also, the Mac Studio isn’t that much cheaper at that price point. In the list price, it's 1000 USD cheaper. 3,699 vs 4,699 I know a lot can be relative but that's a lot for me for sure.
- AndroTux 1y ago
  Fair. I looked it up just yesterday so I though I knew the prices from memory, but apparently I mixed something up.
pantalaimon 1y ago
How are you spending $4000 on a screen and a keyboard?
- AndroTux 1y ago
  You're not going to use the DGX as your main machine, so you'll need another computer. Sure, not a $4000 one, but you'll want at least some performance, so it'll be another $1000-$2000.
  - pantalaimon 1y ago
    > You're not going to use the DGX as your main machine Why not?
    - BoredPositron 1y ago
      Because Nvidia is incredibly slow with kernel updates and you are lucky if you get them at all after just two years. I am curious if they will update these machines for longer than their older dgx like hardware.

smallnamespace 1y ago

I didn't think of it ;) Now that you bring it up, the M3 ultra Mac Studio goes up to 512GB for about a $10k config with around 850 GB/s bandwidth, for those who "need" a near frontier large model. I think 4x the RAM is not quite worth more than doubling the price, especially if MoE support gets better, but it's interesting that you can get a Deepseek R1 quant running on prosumer hardware.