# Which box pays back

Canonical: https://owterminal.com/notes/which-box-pays-back

Author: @iammrriver (https://owterminal.com/authors/iammrriver)

Published: 2026-09-24
Updated: 2026-09-24
Type: analysis

Street price comes back only if the tokens, at $1 per million, beat the watts. A Spark bought to resell that rate does not.

> A DGX Spark bought to resell tokens at $1 per million, at 20% duty, does not pay back. A box you already own only owes the electricity.

## Update, 29 Sep: price and demand change the answer

The table below assumed $1 per million for every model and 20% of the day busy. Hosts now set their own price, and uncensored builds start at $4 per million because the big providers do not serve them. Served every second of the month at $4, an M4 Pro at 85.5 tok/s grosses about $899, and after the host's 80% share and the power bill it pays back in about 3 months. A DGX Spark at 79.5 tok/s grosses about $836 and pays back in about 8. The limit is no longer the price. It is enough paying callers to keep a box busy.



## The clock

The payback table on /payback uses the US street price, residential power at 18.34¢/kWh, $1 per million tokens, and 20% of the day serving. Months are the street price divided by what is left after the power bill. Watts follow the work.



## Fast

The top row is Qwen3.5 2B on an RTX 5090: 351 tok/s, $4,639, 575 W, 2.3 years. That print is /pair/qwen35-2b-q4km-5090. Next is an M4 Pro at $2,199 and 45 W. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B at 85.5 tok/s is 4.2 years, /pair/qwen36-35b-4bit-mlx-m4pro. Qwen3.5-4B at 82.8 tok/s is 4.3 years, /pair/qwen35-4b-4bit-mlx-m4pro. The mini is fast because the watts are almost nothing. The 5090 is not a cheap card. It is fast because 351 tok/s still clears 575 W at $1 per million.



## Slow

One DGX Spark is $4,999 on the street table. Qwen3.8-Flash-Next at 79.5 tok/s and 240 W is 12 years, /pair/qwen38-flash-exl3-spark. Two Sparks at 94.4 tok/s and 480 W are 23 years, /pair/qwen36-35b-abliterated-nvfp4-spark. Two Sparks at 45 tok/s are 77 years, /pair/qwen38-flash-fp8-spark. An RTX 4090 at $4,495, 40.7 tok/s, 450 W is 40 years, /pair/qwen38-27b-ud-q4k-xl-4090. The power hour eats a weak token hour.



## Cheap, or already yours

The cheap US price on this desk is the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at $614. Its best quoted decode is 23 tok/s, 180 W, 7.0 years, /pair/qwen38-27b-gsq-rco-5060ti. The 10 tok/s uncensored print on the same card is 117 years, /pair/qwen38-27b-turbofc-uncen-5060ti. A cheap card pays back only when decode is high relative to watts. A box you already own has nothing left to pay back but the electricity. Buying a Spark to resell $1 per million tokens at 20% duty is the long case. The full rank is /payback.



## Method and limitations

Legacy edition, predating the current research standard. A proposed rewrite is awaiting editorial review. This is not an original experimental report; historical prices and product statements should not be treated as current guarantees.

## Sources