Nvidia RTX Spark encrypted firmware slows inference speed to 35% on Linux(mindstudio.ai)
611 points by novaRom 7 days ago | 286 comments
tl;dr: Nvidia RTX Spark laptops like the MSI Prestige run Linux with GPU acceleration, but the GPU gets locked to ~780 MHz when plugged in (vs ~2.2 GHz on Windows), cutting inference throughput by roughly 5x on a 120B model. The culprit is the Windows-only Nvidia Platform Controllers and Framework, which decrypts a firmware power table that Linux has no key for. Until Nvidia ports that power management logic to its Linux driver, WSL is the practical workaround since it inherits Windows' driver stack and full GPU boost.
HN Discussion:
  • ↑Nvidia's closed/proprietary driver approach is the root problem and makes it a poor Linux choice
  • ↓The article's title is misleading, confusing RTX Spark laptop with DGX Spark
  • ↑Readers should actually read the article since this is a Linux driver gap for Windows-designed firmware
  • ~The firmware encryption can likely be reverse-engineered to produce a community fix
  • •This situation highlights broader concerns about dependence on centralized/cloud AI and sovereignty