Local LLM server dilemma: 4x CMP-170HX (price up 53% in 20 days) vs Mac Studio M5 Ultra
rumboll · reddit · 2026-09-11
A builder weighing options for a local LLM server compares (a) 4x Intel CMP-170HX mining cards — unlockable to 64GB VRAM each, but prices jumped from $1,500 to $2,300 on Alibaba in 20 days with lower-quality memory — against (b) a Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB (512GB coming mid-October), which is easier to set up and power-efficient but has weaker LLM ecosystem support than NVIDIA. The thread debates value-for-money across the two deployment routes.
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