Need help deciding what to spend 4-5k on for a local rig.

Reddit r/LocalLLaMA / 5/2/2026

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Key Points

A Reddit user is deciding between an ASUS DGX Spark–like 1TB system (about $3.6k–$4k) and an NVIDIA A100 80GB SXM4 setup converted to PCIe on a Threadripper machine (about $5k–$5.2k).
They need a local rig that can handle both inference and training, prioritizing sufficient VRAM (more than 64GB) and moving beyond older GPUs like V100s.
The comparison isn’t fully even: the DGX-style option is more integrated and cheaper, but may have bandwidth tradeoffs, while the A100 approach is more powerful but requires adapters and a less all-in-one setup.
The user asks for real-world experience with DGX systems and is open to additional GPU suggestions, including multi-GPU configurations.
A key motivation is reducing cloud costs by achieving ROI within about a year through hobbyist inference, training, and experimentation.

Right now I think ive narrowed down my 2 options for what im trying to do, Either a DGX spark like the 1tb asus for about 3600-4000 or a A100 80GB SXM4 with an adapter to PCIE and regular 8 pin on my threadripper setup for about 5-5.2 grand.

This isn't exactly a fair comparison but its the 2 options that 1) fit my budget and 2) do the things I need (mostly, looking at you sm121 fake blackwell)

I want a rig that's decent for inference (dgx isn't great but for just me its the minimum id need) and training so older cards like V100s arent the best option in my eyes and I need some decent vram, more then 64 at least. Im trying to decide if the tradeoff of saving and getting an all in one unit but at the obvious bandwidth costs or extra for a beast of a GPU but the adapter setup and not all in one.

Just looking mostly to see if anyone has experience with DGX and can tell me if its worth the savings or if anyone has a possible 3rd or 4th suggestion, im open to running multi gpu as well. I do mostly hobby inference, training and experimenting and looking to save on cloud costs since ROI it will make up for itself within a year at my current rate.

submitted by /u/ghgi_
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