GB10 - ASUS GX10 (DGX Spark) Has Arrived

Unboxing

My DGX Spark… cough… I mean ASUS GX10 – has finally arrived, and it looks beautiful.

The box is surprisingly heavy. After unpacking I realized the weight comes mainly from the machine itself. The chassis is less flashy than the original DGX Spark, but the top panel has a subtle iridescent sheen that’s very appealing.

Now onto the good stuff. First Boot. Patience Is Key

Don’t rush things, the first boot is slowww. I have seen multiple reports of people complaining of DOA DGX Sparks and GX10s, I wonder how much of that was due to it appearing dead multiple times throughout the setup process, and then interrupting it with a forced power off.

I quickly got my first panic moment shortly after bios and GRUB completed, my GX10 sat at a blank screen for what felt like an eternity but probably was less than 10 minutes. As I have learned many times over the years, be patient and do not power off!

Once it came back to life I was prompted for a few configuration settings, username, timezone, wifi, etc. It then immediately jumped into system updates, was not even asked… rude… do not interrupt and do not force a power reboot. I again started to panic after updates where “completed”. Again… I sat at a blank screen for what felt like an eternity but probably was less than 10 minute. Again… Be patient and do not power off!

Finally, I was able login and I got dropped off at the desktop with NVIDIA’s Spark portal opened up with a list of playbooks to start deploying AI applications.

Honestly it is a pretty cool place to get started, go check it out, much of it can be used without a Spark. Start Building on DGX Spark

The GX10 feels pretty dang solid and dense, in a good way. After the initial patience test, the system is ready for serious AI workloads. I’ll be returning soon with more detailed benchmarks and test results.

Let the testing and projects begin… for another day.