The Pulse
Microsoft Opens Preorders for $5,999 Surface RTX Spark Dev Box
Microsoft opened U.S. preorders for its compact Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, with the company’s announcement listing a $5,999 MSRP and the Store listing the device at $5,999.99. The desktop is designed for local AI development and is schedule
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Microsoft opened preorders on Wednesday for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a desktop computer for local AI development. Microsoft’s announcement lists a $5,999 MSRP, while the Microsoft Store lists the device at $5,999.99. The company says the compact machine will begin shipping to U.S. customers in November, making it a preorder announcement rather than a product already shipping. Microsoft is selling it exclusively through Microsoft.com in the United States.
$5,999 for local model work
The Dev Box centers on Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchip and includes 128 GB of unified memory, shared between the processor and graphics hardware. Microsoft says the system can run models exceeding 120 billion parameters locally and deliver up to one petaflop of AI performance. The company’s footnote defines that peak as theoretical FP4 performance using sparsity, a qualification that matters when comparing the headline figure with measured workloads.
Microsoft’s Store listing specifies a 6,144-core GPU, a 20-core CPU and a removable 2 TB solid-state drive. The compact system is aimed at developers who want to test models and run inference at their desks rather than sending every task to cloud services.
A preconfigured Windows development environment
Microsoft first introduced the Dev Box at its Build conference in June, describing it as a local-first machine for prototyping, fine-tuning and running models. Its announced software setup includes Windows 11 Pro, Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 with GPU passthrough and CUDA support, and preinstalled VS Code, GitHub Copilot, Git, Python and Node.js. PowerShell 7 is the default shell, while developer-focused settings are enabled from first sign-in.
“Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is for developers who want to prototype, fine-tune and run capable models on their desk, and reach for the cloud when the work calls for it.”
Andrew Hill, Corporate Vice President, Surface Product, Microsoft, writing on the Microsoft Devices Blog in June
The setup is intended to connect local experimentation with Microsoft’s broader developer tools. The company says its AI Toolkit for VS Code supports model conversion, fine-tuning and evaluation, while Microsoft Foundry connects local prototyping with production deployment. That software stack is part of Microsoft’s pitch for keeping some development tasks on a local machine while turning to cloud compute when a workload needs it.
Preorders now, shipping in November
The Dev Box arrives alongside Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra, another RTX Spark-based device that the company opened for preorder the same day. The laptop starts at $2,599 and is due to become available October 16; the desktop Dev Box has a later November shipping window. Microsoft’s announcement lists both machines as devices for running large models and agent workflows locally, but only the Dev Box is the dedicated desktop developer system.
For buyers, the practical offer is a preconfigured Windows machine with 128 GB of unified memory and a 2 TB removable drive, listed at $5,999.99 before tax. Microsoft’s stated model-size and performance figures describe capability claims, not a guarantee that every model or workflow will run at the same speed. Orders are open now through Microsoft’s U.S. store, with shipping scheduled to start in November.