Economics

Economics Articles

AI hardware cost analysis — mini PC vs cloud API breakdowns, hardware pricing trends, ROI calculations, and budget optimization for local AI setups.

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EconomicsFeatured
14 min read

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Local AI Mini PC 24/7? Idle Power, Electricity & True TCO in 2026

A local-AI box left on 24/7 costs roughly $15–$60 a year in electricity — and the spread is almost all idle power, because a personal LLM server sits idle 95%+ of the time. A Strix Halo box idles ~13W (~$20/yr); a DGX Spark idles ~37–40W (~$55/yr). For an always-on box, buy for idle watts, not peak specs.

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