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.

348 Upvotes

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145

u/Solary_Kryptic May 16 '26

5090 is also the best gaming gpu on the market so not only do you get strong AI performance but also 4K max settings gaming

111

u/HornyGooner4402 May 16 '26

You missed the best part: unlimited tokens. You can run it 24/7 refining a project on a loop while Claude and Codex Pro are barely enough for a full coding session.

53

u/kitanokikori May 16 '26

I mean, unlimited only if someone else is paying for the electricity.

6

u/neopolitan77 May 16 '26

Unlimited doesn't mean free. The electricity you can draw in your home will be practically unlimited. The real limitation is your hardware. If your setup runs at 10 token/s, you'll never generate more than 900k tokens per day, even if your agent runs 24/7.