User purchases used Minisforum MS-S1 Max for local LLM workloads

A user shares their decision to buy a lightly used Minisforum MS-S1 Max with 128GB of memory for approximately US$2800, citing rising costs of Apple hardware and closed-model services as primary motivators. The author compares this purchase favorably against the new Geekom A9 Mega, highlighting the MS-S1's specific advantages including 10Gbe networking, 80Gbps USB4v2, a PCIe slot, and an internal power supply.

• Device: Minisforum MS-S1 Max with 128GB RAM.
• Price: Local equivalent of US$2800 for a used unit.
• Key features: 10Gbe, 80Gbps USB4v2, PCIe slot, internal PSU.
• Comparison: Considered better value than the new Geekom A9 Mega at the same price point.
• Next steps: Immediate stress testing followed by installation of Ubuntu 26.04.

The user intends to subject the device to extensive stress tests before deploying it for local large language model tasks and is seeking community advice on configuration and optimization.