AMD swoops in to help as John Carmack slams Nvidia's $4,000 DGX Spark, says it doesn't hit performance claims, overheats, and maxes out at 100W power draw — developer forums inundated with crashing and shutdown reports

Former Oculus VR CTO John Carmack criticizes Nvidia's $4,000 DGX Spark mini PC for not meeting performance claims, overheating, and maxing out at 100W power draw, sparking concerns in developer forums. Independent testing reveals the unit struggles to hit its 240W ceiling under load. AMD offers an alternative with the Strix Halo-powered box, prompting a re-evaluation of Nvidia's promises regarding the Spark's capabilities. Nvidia faces questions about the Spark's performance limitations and potential causes like firmware caps or thermal throttling, while users report GPU crashes and shutdowns under sustained load.