Nvidia's $4,000 DGX Spark AI Workstation Shows Gaming Potential Despite Performance Limitations

As expected, Nvidia's $3,999 mini AI supercomputer is terrible for gaming -- DGX Spark struggles to hit 50 FPS at 1080p on medium settings in Cyberpunk 2077

The DGX Spark is an excellent, compact system tailored for artificial intelligence developers and related professionals; however, its gaming performance falls significantly short of the best graphics cards. A Reddit user tested the DGX Spark's gaming capabilities, and the results were disappointing despite the device's graphical specifications being comparable to those of a GeForce RTX 5070. The DGX Spark, equipped with the GB10 Blackwell Superchip, flaunts remarkable specifications that would make anyone drool. Nvidia has fused a 20-core Arm processor with integrated Blackwell graphics and 128GB of LPDDR5X unified memory into the GB10 SoC. The result is a Blackwell iGPU with 6,144 CUDA cores with access to an aggregate bandwidth of approximately 600 GB/s. It runs with a 1,665 MHz base clock but features a boost clock that escalates to 2,525 MHz. On paper, the DGX Spark's gaming performance is somewhat in the same alley as the GeForce RTX 5070, which utilizes the GB205 silicon with 6,144 CUDA cores and offers a memory bandwidth of up to 672 GB/s. As a desktop discrete graphics card, the GeForce RTX 5070 has a higher base clock (2,325 MHz) than the GB10. Cyberpunk 2077 runs on DGX Spark from r/nvidia The issue with the GB10 lies in its architecture based on the Arm platform and its operation on the Nvidia DGX OS, a customized Linux distribution derived from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Consequently, it requires an additional layer of emulation to run x86 games. Although Linux-based emulation software has advanced significantly, it has yet to unlock the hardware's performance fully. As of the most recent information, Box64 (utilized in the experiment by the Reddit user) and Box86 are capable of achieving approximately 80% of native performance. The DGX Spark achieved a frame rate of 50 FPS while running Cyberpunk 2077 at a 1080p (1920x1080) resolution, with image fidelity adjusted to medium settings. It is possible that DLSS could have assisted the DGX Spark in attaining 60 FPS or higher; however, the Redditor noted that this option was unexpectedly unavailable. The author remarked that the stability was "actually pretty good," although occasional game crashes occurred. Nevertheless, the game remained playable. It is unlikely that anyone would allocate $3,999 solely for a DGX Spark for gaming purposes. However, AI developers can also be gamers, making gaming not entirely uncommon. Although the DGX Spark could satisfy a casual gaming itch, it is not suitable for serious gaming endeavors. For those seeking a device capable of both artificial intelligence applications and gaming, one might consider AMD's Strix Halo, which competes directly with the DGX Spark within this compact form factor.

Nvidia DGX Spark Systems Can Play Cyberpunk, PS3 Games (for a Price)

Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. Nvidia's new DGX Spark mini AI workstation has had its "Can it run Crysis?" moment and passed. Kind of. Although not designed to run games, the miniature system does have a GB10 superchip equipped with a powerful 20-core ARM CPU and a Blackwell GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores, roughly equivalent to an RTX 5070. With 128GB of LPDDR5X memory, it has the raw power to run games. It turns out that with the right software hacks, it actually can. A Reddit user who invested $4,000 in the Nvidia reference DGX Spark design (complete with a spackled front panel) managed to get Cyberpunk 2077 running on it using Box64, an x86-to-ARM translation layer. As VideoCardz reports, they compiled Box64 0.3.8 with Box32 support and installed Steam on the device. After a little more finagling, they managed to get the game running at an average of around 50fps at 1080p with medium settings. Ironically, DLSS support wasn't viable, so multi-frame generation is out too. That's not a lot for the price tag, but then again, the DGX Spark was designed to accelerate AI workloads and serve as an AI developer machine, not play games. Our Reddit friend wasn't the only person who thought it could be used to play games. ETA Prime on YouTube performed an unboxing and review of the MSI EdgeXpert AI, a third-party device that sports Nvidia's new DGX Spark design, including the GB10 superchip. Priced at a comparatively low $3,000, it still features the same CPU and GPU cores, as well as 128GB of internal memory, so the hardware is more than capable. This time around, however, they used RPCS3 and Xemu to emulate PlayStation 3 and Xbox games, such as Skate 3 and the original Forza Horizon, which ran smoothly at 30fps. That's no challenge for a hardware setup like this, though, and ETA Prime plans to test more demanding games via emulation, including several PC titles, in the future. As Doom modders have shown, gamers will get their games to run on just about anything if you give them enough time. The question now becomes whether Nvidia wants to support this. Official drivers would make the whole experience far better, but it would be catering to an extreme niche within an already-niche product segment. That seems unlikely, considering Nvidia has far bigger tasks in mind as it looks to dominate global data center hardware supply chains.