Microsoft debuts Surface RTX Spark Dev Box — Nvidia-powered mini-PC helps devs get ready for an agentic Windows

Microsoft Surface RTX Spark Dev Box — (Image credit: Microsoft)

,Following the announcement of Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra ahead of Computex, the company is announcing another device with the RTX Spark system on a chip at its developer conference, Build, in San Francisco.

That new PC is the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box. With the company pushing Windows as a platform for agentic AI with Nvidia's new processor, the Surface-branded mini PC is set to run sustained workloads with a 100W thermal envelope — more than you can get in a laptop.

Microsoft says that includes "long-running training jobs, agentic AI pipelines and local model fine-tuning."

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The PC has an aluminum chassis with 1,000 air vents in a grid, which looks a bit like the flat top of the Xbox Series X. The system features two USB Type-C ports, HDMI, USB-A, Ethernet, and a headphone jack.

Nvidia states that the RTX Spark can deliver up to one petaflop of AI compute with 128GB of unified memory and can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally.

The system will come set up for developers, with Visual Studio Code, GitHub Copilot, and other applications preinstalled. Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) with support for Nvidia's CUDA technology will also come out of the box, along with PowerShell7.

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Microsoft hasn't announced a price for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, but says it will be available this year at microsoft.com in the United States. While you can't make a pre-order, you can sign up to learn more on the device's web page.

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Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and BlueSky @andrewfreedman.net. You can send him tips on Signal: andrewfreedman.01

11 Comments Comment from the forums

User of Computers

sooo this is just a Spark with more OEM control? got it.
Reply
ezst036

Admin said:
helps devs get ready for an agentic Windows
So Microsoft is still not actually listening.

Not really.

Valve is eating Windows's lunch, Microsoft has announced some lip service half-measures hoping that will calm the restless peasants comparing it to SteamOS but in the end, it's full speed ahead with the Windows-11-ification of Windows 12.
Reply
alrighty_then

SLICK. The productivity gains with agents are incredible. Was hoping they had something good cooking and this looks like a home run.
Reply
leoneo.x64

I counted. Based on the picture, there are 840 square vents, with 4 vents inside each. Out of the 840 vents, 4 are blocked by the windows logo. So 836 big vents or 3,344 small vents. Not 1000 vents by any measure
Reply
alan.campbell99

I think I have other words to describe it instead of 'agentic', most aren't printable.
Reply
dva852

Interesting form factor. That huge aluminum grill is presumably for passive cooling?

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) with support for Nvidia's CUDA technology will also come out of the box, along with PowerShell7.
Dollars to donuts, first thing devs will do is to nuke the Windows/WSL2 install for plain ol' Linux. I'm wondering if the DGX Spark stack will be plug compatible.

DGX Spark is now $4.7K. That'll serve as a reference price point. MS dev box should be less, sans the 200Gbps NIC.
Reply
timecop1818

leoneo.x64 said:
I counted. Based on the picture, there are 840 square vents, with 4 vents inside each. Out of the 840 vents, 4 are blocked by the windows logo. So 836 big vents or 3,344 small vents. Not 1000 vents by any measure
You're absolutely right! There are 21 rows and 40 columns, and 4 vents are covered by the logo.
And just kook down at that bottom-left corner. You see that emblem? It’s not just a logo; it’s a tactical override. That Windows-style flag is bolted directly over four of the primary vents, and it is a move of pure, industrial defiance. While every other card on the market is begging for airflow, the Spark is slamming the door shut on the competition.
Reply
dva852

timecop1818 said:
There are 21 rows and 40 columns, and 4 vents are covered by the logo.
That grill looks like a nightmare for dust bunnies. Cleaning won't be just a wipe. You have to disconnect everything, take it outside, and use an air duster. Count me not a fan (hahah).

BTW, for a fuller picture of what Microsoft is up to at Build, here's the Cliff's note version of the event. Much of it isn't pertinent to (consumer) Windows. But it shows what Microsoft is focusing on for its AI efforts, some of which will culminate inside consumer Windows. Call it a preview.

gw0HBKJlX-wView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw0HBKJlX-w
Reply
theverge

alrighty_then said:
SLICK. The productivity gains with agents are incredible. Was hoping they had something good cooking and this looks like a home run.
Github copilot agents run in azure. Why do you need a 3,000 dollar PC?

Makes no sense.
Reply
mikeztm

ezst036 said:
So Microsoft is still not actually listening.

Not really.

Valve is eating Windows's lunch, Microsoft has announced some lip service half-measures hoping that will calm the restless peasants comparing it to SteamOS but in the end, it's full speed ahead with the Windows-11-ification of Windows 12.
Microsoft is listening. Just not to you but to the enterprise customers.

They need agentic solutions and will pour money into it. Microsoft cannot afford to lose to a not even trying Mac mini server farm.

Valve has no say in enterprise environment so they are not competing.
Reply

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