Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB vs Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB for local AI
The Framework Desktop, 128GB holds 33 of the 39 open models here, and the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB holds 27. The Framework Desktop, 128GB costs $50 less. On Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB is about 2.5× faster: 25 tok/s against 10, both estimated from memory bandwidth. The Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB pays for itself sooner, in 44 years against 45 years at 500k tokens a day.
| Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB | Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3,449 | $3,499 |
| Memory | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Usable by the GPU | 96 GB | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 256 GB/s | 614 GB/s |
| Power under load | 133 W | 145 Wstand-in |
| Models that fit | 33 | 27 |
| Best model it runs | Qwen3.8 27B | Qwen3.8 27B |
| Speed on that model | 10 tok/s estimated | 25 tok/s estimated |
| Pay-back on that model | Pays back in 45 years | Pays back in 44 years |
The 145 W beside the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB is a stand-in, not a figure for that machine: the data borrows it from the nearest hardware it does have, and the machine's own page names which and why. So the two figures above are not like for like, and the electricity in its pay-back here is priced from a borrowed number.
Run the numbers on the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB · or the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB
The same money, two different machines
These two cost within $50 of each other: $3,449 for the Framework Desktop, 128GB and $3,499 for the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB. Framework makes one and Apple the other. Every other head-to-head on this site holds a piece of the hardware equal and asks what the price gap buys. This one holds the price, so the row that usually carries the answer is the row the two machines agree on, and everything under it is what the same money buys twice.
How much use it takes to pay back
Everything above is at 500k tokens a day. Pay-back moves with how much you actually run, so here are both machines on Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, at the five levels of use the calculator names. The Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB pays back sooner at every level of use, so this is not a choice that turns on how hard you work it.
| A day's use | Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB | Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB |
|---|---|---|
| 50ka few chats a day | 452 years | 436 years |
| 200klight assistant use | 113 years | 109 years |
| 1Ma moderate coding-assistant day | 23 years | 22 years |
| 4Mheavy coding with an agent | 5.6 years | 5.5 years |
| 20Magents running most of the day | 19 monthsits ceiling | 13 months |
On Qwen3.8 27B the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB generates at most 14.3M tokens a day, so its figure at 20M tokens a day is for the most it can do, not for the whole of what was asked.
Run the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB at 20M tokens a day · or the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB
What the extra memory buys
The Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB holds 6 models the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB cannot at 32k of context. The strongest of them are what the difference in memory actually buys.
| Model | Weights | Needs at 32k | On the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ling 3.0 flashHaiku-class | 78 GB | 82 GB | 20 tok/s estimated |
| Qwen3.5 122B-A10BHaiku-class | 78 GB | 79 GB | 20 tok/s estimated |
| gpt-oss-120bBelow every hosted tier | 63 GB | 65 GB | 35 tok/s measured |
| Mistral Small 4 (119B-2603)Below every hosted tier | 74 GB | 75 GB | 32 tok/s estimated |
| Qwen3-Coder NextBelow every hosted tier | 48 GB | 49 GB | 54 tok/s estimated |
| Devstral 2 123BBelow every hosted tier | 75 GB | 87 GB | 2.2 tok/s estimated |
The extra memory buys context as well. Of the 27 models both machines hold at 32k, 4 run to a longer window on the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB: the weights are a fixed size and the KV cache is not, so what the weights leave spare is what a longer context grows into. Gemma 4 31B it reaches 256k there against 128k on the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB, each the longest window the calculator offers that the machine still holds it at.
The Framework Desktop, 128GB is also head to head with another computer: GMKtec EVO-X2, 128GB · GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB · Minisforum MS-S1 Max, 128GB · Beelink GTR9 Pro, 128GB · Corsair AI Workstation 300, 128GB · HP Z2 Mini G1a, 128GB. With the same machine at another memory size: 64GB.
The Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB is also head to head with another computer: GMKtec EVO-X2, 128GB. With the same machine at another memory size: 48GB · 128GB. With the machine it replaced: Mac Studio M4 Max, 64GB.
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. Change any of it in the calculator.
More head to head: everything the Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 128GB runs · everything the Mac Studio M5 Max, 64GB runs · every other match-up · the quickest pay-back at each level of use · every model against the frontier