Qwen3.6 27B vs Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B
Qwen3.6 27B scores higher on the intelligence index, 22 against 21. Both take the same machine to start: the cheapest here that runs either is the Framework Desktop, 32GB, at $1,269. On it, Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B is about 4.8× quicker: 48 tok/s against 10, both estimated from memory bandwidth. At 500k tokens a day the Framework Desktop, 32GB pays for itself in 17 years running Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B, against 19 years running Qwen3.6 27B.
| Qwen3.6 27B | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence index | 22 | 21 |
| Class | Haiku-class | Haiku-class |
| Weights | 17 GB | 22 GB |
| Needs at 32k | 19 GB | 22 GB |
| Quantisation | Q4_K_M | IQ2 |
| Parameters | 27.8B | 74.9B (9B active) |
| Max context | 256k | 256k |
| API price per 1M | $0.3 in / $2 out | $0.3 in / $2 outpriced as Qwen3.6 27B |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 | OpenMDW 1.1 |
| Machines here that run it | 30 of 37 | 28 of 37 |
| Cheapest machine that runs it | Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 32GB $1,269 | Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 32GB $1,269 |
Run Qwen3.6 27B on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · or Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B
Jump to: Side by side on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · How much use it takes to pay for the machine · Machines that run one and not the other · The assumptions behind both columns
Side by side on the Framework Desktop, 32GB
The cheapest machine that runs either model is the same one, so this is the pair doing the same work on the same hardware: Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 32GB, at $1,269.
| Qwen3.6 27B | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed at 32k | 10 tok/s estimated | 48 tok/s estimated |
| Pay-back on this machine | Pays back in 19 years | Pays back in 17 years |
| API cost per month | $6.18 | $6.18priced as Qwen3.6 27B |
Run Qwen3.6 27B on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · or Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B
How much use it takes to pay for the machine
Everything above is at 500k tokens a day. Pay-back moves with how much you actually run, so here are both models at the five levels of use the calculator names, on the Framework Desktop, 32GB. Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B pays for it sooner at every level of use, so which of them to run does not turn on how hard you work it.
| A day's use | Qwen3.6 27B | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B |
|---|---|---|
| 50ka few chats a day | 189 years | 175 years |
| 200klight assistant use | 47 years | 44 years |
| 1Ma moderate coding-assistant day | 9.5 years | 8.7 years |
| 4Mheavy coding with an agent | 2.4 years | 2.2 years |
| 20Magents running most of the day | 8.1 monthsits ceiling | 5.2 months |
The Framework Desktop, 32GB generates at most 14M tokens a day on Qwen3.6 27B, so that column's figure at 20M tokens a day is for the most it can do, not for the whole of what was asked.
Run Qwen3.6 27B at 20M tokens a day · or Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B
Machines that run one and not the other
Qwen3.6 27B needs 19 GB of memory at 32k of context and Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B needs 22 GB. That puts Qwen3.6 27B on 2 of the 37 machines priced here that Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B does not, starting at $1,299.
| Machine | Price | Memory | Speed on Qwen3.6 27B | Pay-back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M6, 32GB | $1,299 | 32 GB | 6.7 tok/s estimated | Pays back in 19 years |
| MacBook Pro M5 (14-inch), 32GB | $2,399 | 32 GB | 6 tok/s estimated | Pays back in 35 years |
Qwen3.6 27B is also head to head with MiniMax M2.7 above it on the leaderboard. One more model needs much the same memory: Gemma 3 27B it. Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B is also head to head with Qwen3.6 35B-A3B below it on the leaderboard. Two more models need much the same memory: Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 and Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B.
The assumptions behind both columns
Both columns use the same usage: 500k tokens a day at 15:1 input to output, 32k of context, $0.17 per kWh, and today's API prices held flat. Speeds marked estimated are worked out from memory bandwidth rather than measured, and pay-back scales with them. Where nobody rents an open model by the token, its API prices are the nearest hosted model's, named beside them. Machines are the 37 here with a published price that are still sold. Change any of it in the calculator.
More head to head: every machine that runs Qwen3.6 27B · every machine that runs Nemotron 3.5 Bolt 74B-A9B · every other match-up · both against the frontier · the quickest pay-back at each level of use