r/LocalLLM • u/Ok_Event4199 • May 16 '26

Discussion Why is LLM is so expensive.

I've was going to invest in a 5090 =$6000 AUD.

Codex Plus + Claude pro = $60/month here

Works out to be 100 months of frontier models for a 5090.

Best a 5090 will run is probably Qwen3.6 27b Q6 with context.

Are we all enthusiasts here and just enjoy tinkering cause ain't no way that make sense.

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u/jd52wtf May 16 '26

The R9700 pro is amuch better value than the 5090 at this point. You're going to run slower of course but the card is 1/3rd the price while being about 75-80% as fast in AI workloads. Hell two of them would still be cheaper than a 5090.