Cheapest GPU for DeepSeek R1
B200 is the cheapest at $0.10 per million tokens, 46% below GB200 NVL72.
Measured on a single-turn chat workload (8k input / 1k output) at a matched interactivity target of 50 tokens/s per user. Hardware without a measurement at this operating point is not ranked.
| Rank | GPU | Tokens/s per GPU | $ / 1M tokens | Precision | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B200 | 4,610 | $0.10 | fp4 | SGLang |
| 2 | GB200 NVL72 | 2,697 | $0.19 | fp8 | Dynamo SGLang |
| 3 | MI355X | 1,608 | $0.26 | fp8 | SGLang |
| 4 | GB300 NVL72 | 2,438 | $0.26 | fp8 | Dynamo SGLang |
| 5 | B300 | 1,779 | $0.35 | fp8 | SGLang |
Optimizing for speed instead of cost? See the fastest GPU for DeepSeek R1
Methodology
Every number on this page is a measurement, not a spec-sheet estimate. The InferenceX fleet serves DeepSeek R1 on real hardware with community serving engines, sweeping concurrency to trace each platform's throughput-versus-interactivity frontier.
Platforms are then read at the same operating point (50 tokens/s per user) so the comparison is iso-interactivity: a GPU cannot win by quoting throughput at an unusably slow per-user speed. Cost converts measured throughput to $ per million total tokens using $/GPU/hr rates from the SemiAnalysis AI Cloud TCO model.
The derivation is shared with the InferenceX overview leaderboard, and results re-run continuously, so this ranking updates as new engine releases and configs land.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest GPU to run DeepSeek R1?
- As of the latest benchmark runs, B200 is cheapest at $0.10 per million total tokens on a single-turn chat workload (8k input / 1k output), at hyperscaler $/GPU/hr pricing and a matched interactivity target of 50 tokens/s per user.
- How is cost per million tokens calculated?
- Measured throughput per GPU at the 50 tokens/s per user tier is converted to $ per million total (input plus output) tokens using hyperscaler $/GPU/hr rates from the SemiAnalysis AI Cloud TCO model. Slower interactivity targets or cheaper rental tiers change the absolute numbers but rarely the order.
- How often is this ranking updated?
- Benchmarks re-run continuously on the InferenceX cluster fleet; the newest result feeding this ranking landed on 2026-08-06. The page always renders the latest data.