This is good feedback. Wanted to make another pass this morning to clean references like this up, but did not have the time. Will try to be more clear about this in the next update (later today, probably).

I thought about making this recommendation, but the next generation of GPUs will not be much better. You probably need to wait until about 2027 for a better GPU to come along. I think for many waiting 4 years for an upgrade might be too long, so I recommend mostly buying now. I think the RTX 40 cards are a pretty good investment that will last a bit longer than previous generations.

I like this idea! I already factored in fixed costs for building a desktop computer but the electricity is also an important part of the overall cost especially if you compare it to cloud options.

I am currently gathering feedback to update the post later. I think it's quick to create a chart based on this data and create an update later today.

The main problem to estimate cost is to get a good number on the utilization time of GPUs for the average user. For PhD students, the number was about 15% utilization (fully using a GPU 15% of total time). This means, with an average of 60 watt idle and 350 watt max for a RTX 4090: 60 watt * 0.85 + 350 watt * 0.15=103.5 watt. That is 906 kWh per year or about $210 per year per RTX 4090 (assuming US average is 0.23 cents per kWh).

Does that look good to you?

I think its quick to create a chart based on this data and create an update later today.

Edit: part of this seemed to got lost in editing. Oops! I re-added the missing details.