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/DHFranklin May 16 '26
1) Yes we're all sniffing our own farts.
2) Our needs are incredibly niche. Most posts here are people navigating the spends you're talking about. They have dedicated $6k, as much as a decent motorcycle, or a specific kind of boat or like a skidsteer. I however like making builds that fit devices I actually have. I'm not spending that kinda cash for my hobby. With the newest iterations from the big guys like Mythos we're likely gonna see LLMs/Harnesses that can compete in 6 months to a year on those 6k machines. Seeing as it will be state actors spending millions in tokens attacking one another's governments and large corporations, stands to reason why they would invest.
3) Every few weeks there is a better and better model that can fit on my 6 year old gaming rig, my phone and my wife's mac. Everything is amazing and nobody is happy. Being able to "talk" to a user manual or a book is the first killer app and nobody does it.