Microsoft Surface RTX Spark Dev Box Priced at $6,000
Microsoft has opened preorders for its powerful new developer desktop PC, which features the NVIDIA RTX Spark N1X chip and 128GB of unified memory.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
Preorders and Pricing
Microsoft has opened up preorders for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box and shared that the device will start shipping to customers in November. The company announced the desktop PC alongside the Surface Laptop Ultra in June, and like that computer we now know it'll come at a hefty premium: $6,000.
The developer-focused desktop PC is available to preorder now, and it will start shipping in November. While Microsoft and NVIDIA believe AI working across the cloud and local hardware seamlessly is the future of computing, price will likely be a big obstacle for everyone other than enterprise customers.
Hardware and AI Capabilities
The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is specifically designed for local AI workflows and the developers and engineers who run them, Microsoft says. The PC features an austere, anodized aluminum grille on the top, with a port selection that includes two USB-C, one USB-A, Ethernet, DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI 2.1b on the back.
Inside, the Dev Box uses NVIDIA's RTX Spark N1X chip and ships with 128GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage. Storage is removable, but based on the company's product page, nothing else on the Dev Box can be customized.
Given the ample performance the company is promising — including the ability to run AI models "exceeding 120B parameters" — that likely won't matter for target users running heavy local workloads.
Software and Project Zenith
As one of Microsoft's Project Zenith devices, the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box also ships with Windows 11 Pro and a selection of developer-focused apps and runtimes pre-installed. These include Visual Studio Code, Git, GitHub CLI, GitHub Copilot and Python.
These pre-installed tools aim to streamline the setup process for engineers and developers diving immediately into local AI model development and enterprise deployments right out of the box.
Market Context and Competition
The Dev Box is a larger, more expensive version of NVIDIA's earlier DGX Spark AI computer, which launched at $3,999 but now sells for nearly $7,000 if you want a 128GB model.
This ongoing pricing shift in high-end development hardware doesn't bode well for anyone buying a Dev Box a year from now, maintaining an expensive barrier of entry for local AI hardware.
Sources
- EngadgetMicrosoft's Surface RTX Spark Dev Box costs an eye-watering $6,000
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