{
  "lastVerified": "2026-07-05",
  "note": "Street/used prices, mid-2026. Active draw is realistic whole-system load (~70-80% of GPU TDP plus platform), not peak. Indicative — always check current prices.",
  "presets": [
    {
      "id": "used-3090",
      "name": "Used RTX 3090 rig",
      "short": "RTX 3090 (used)",
      "cost": 1200,
      "costRange": [
        1100,
        1300
      ],
      "activeWatts": 450,
      "idleWatts": 50,
      "vramGB": 24,
      "ceiling": "Up to ~32B models at Q4 — 70B is tight",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 85,
        "14B": 50,
        "32B": 24,
        "70B": 6
      },
      "setupEase": 6,
      "blurb": "The people's champion. One used 3090, 24 GB of VRAM, and a dream.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "Used NVIDIA RTX 3090 24GB",
          "est": 750,
          "search": "used RTX 3090 24GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "Used Ryzen 5/7 + B550 combo",
          "est": 180,
          "search": "Ryzen 7 5700X B550 motherboard combo"
        },
        {
          "item": "32GB DDR4-3600",
          "est": 60,
          "search": "32GB DDR4 3600 kit"
        },
        {
          "item": "850W 80+ Gold PSU",
          "est": 100,
          "search": "850W 80 plus gold PSU"
        },
        {
          "item": "1TB NVMe SSD",
          "est": 60,
          "search": "1TB NVMe SSD"
        },
        {
          "item": "Case + fans",
          "est": 70,
          "search": "ATX mid tower airflow case"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "dual-3090",
      "name": "Dual used RTX 3090",
      "short": "2× RTX 3090",
      "cost": 2250,
      "costRange": [
        2000,
        2500
      ],
      "activeWatts": 750,
      "idleWatts": 90,
      "vramGB": 48,
      "ceiling": "70B at Q4, comfortably",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 90,
        "14B": 55,
        "32B": 30,
        "70B": 15
      },
      "setupEase": 3,
      "blurb": "48 GB of VRAM the hard way. NVLink optional, patience mandatory.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "2× Used NVIDIA RTX 3090 24GB",
          "est": 1500,
          "search": "used RTX 3090 24GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "Used Ryzen 9 / X570 (dual x8 PCIe)",
          "est": 300,
          "search": "Ryzen 9 5900X X570 motherboard"
        },
        {
          "item": "64GB DDR4-3600",
          "est": 110,
          "search": "64GB DDR4 3600 kit"
        },
        {
          "item": "1200W 80+ Platinum PSU",
          "est": 200,
          "search": "1200W 80 plus platinum PSU"
        },
        {
          "item": "2TB NVMe SSD",
          "est": 100,
          "search": "2TB NVMe SSD"
        },
        {
          "item": "Full tower case + fans",
          "est": 120,
          "search": "full tower case dual GPU airflow"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "rtx-4090",
      "name": "New RTX 4090 build",
      "short": "RTX 4090",
      "cost": 2300,
      "costRange": [
        2000,
        2600
      ],
      "activeWatts": 500,
      "idleWatts": 55,
      "vramGB": 24,
      "ceiling": "70B at Q4, faster prompt processing",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 120,
        "14B": 75,
        "32B": 38,
        "70B": 8
      },
      "setupEase": 7,
      "blurb": "Still the efficiency king for 24 GB. Runs cool, holds value.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "NVIDIA RTX 4090 24GB",
          "est": 1500,
          "search": "RTX 4090 24GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "Ryzen 7 7700 + B650",
          "est": 350,
          "search": "Ryzen 7 7700 B650 motherboard combo"
        },
        {
          "item": "32GB DDR5-6000",
          "est": 100,
          "search": "32GB DDR5 6000 kit"
        },
        {
          "item": "1000W 80+ Gold ATX 3.0 PSU",
          "est": 150,
          "search": "1000W ATX 3.0 PSU"
        },
        {
          "item": "2TB NVMe SSD",
          "est": 100,
          "search": "2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD"
        },
        {
          "item": "Case + fans",
          "est": 100,
          "search": "ATX mid tower airflow case"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "rtx-5090",
      "name": "RTX 5090 build",
      "short": "RTX 5090",
      "cost": 3500,
      "costRange": [
        3000,
        4000
      ],
      "activeWatts": 650,
      "idleWatts": 60,
      "vramGB": 32,
      "ceiling": "70B+ with real context windows",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 180,
        "14B": 110,
        "32B": 60,
        "70B": 14
      },
      "setupEase": 5,
      "blurb": "32 GB, monstrous bandwidth. The rig you buy when the answer was already yes.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "NVIDIA RTX 5090 32GB",
          "est": 2400,
          "search": "RTX 5090 32GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "Ryzen 7 9700X + X670",
          "est": 500,
          "search": "Ryzen 7 9700X X670 motherboard"
        },
        {
          "item": "64GB DDR5-6000",
          "est": 180,
          "search": "64GB DDR5 6000 kit"
        },
        {
          "item": "1200W 80+ Platinum ATX 3.1 PSU",
          "est": 220,
          "search": "1200W ATX 3.1 PSU"
        },
        {
          "item": "2TB NVMe Gen5 SSD",
          "est": 150,
          "search": "2TB NVMe Gen5 SSD"
        },
        {
          "item": "Case + fans",
          "est": 120,
          "search": "ATX full tower airflow case"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "mac",
      "name": "Mac (M-series, unified memory)",
      "short": "Mac M-series",
      "cost": 3000,
      "costRange": [
        2000,
        4000
      ],
      "activeWatts": 90,
      "idleWatts": 10,
      "vramGB": 64,
      "ceiling": "Up to 70B via unified memory (slower prompt processing)",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 65,
        "14B": 40,
        "32B": 20,
        "70B": 9
      },
      "setupEase": 9,
      "blurb": "Silent, sips power, zero assembly. The rig for people who don't want a rig.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB (or MacBook Pro)",
          "est": 2800,
          "search": "Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "External 2TB NVMe (models get big)",
          "est": 200,
          "search": "2TB Thunderbolt external SSD"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "mini-pc",
      "name": "Mini-PC / iGPU box",
      "short": "Mini-PC",
      "cost": 750,
      "costRange": [
        600,
        900
      ],
      "activeWatts": 95,
      "idleWatts": 12,
      "vramGB": 16,
      "ceiling": "7B-13B models only — but honestly good ones now",
      "tokensPerSec": {
        "8B": 22,
        "14B": 11,
        "32B": 0,
        "70B": 0
      },
      "setupEase": 9,
      "blurb": "The toe-dip. Small models, tiny power bill, fits behind the monitor.",
      "parts": [
        {
          "item": "Ryzen AI 9 mini-PC, 32GB",
          "est": 650,
          "search": "Ryzen AI 9 mini PC 32GB"
        },
        {
          "item": "1TB NVMe upgrade",
          "est": 60,
          "search": "1TB NVMe SSD"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}