← All parts of this equation

Equation 27 · Part 5 · Dense, Sparse, and Distilled: Comparing Approaches to Frontier Model Capacity

=

Ctotal=Ctrain+Q⋅cˉinf,C_{\mathrm{total}} = C_{\mathrm{train}} + Q \cdot \bar{c}_{\mathrm{inf}},
=

What this part means

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

Its job in the formula

The equals sign connects the complete expression on the left with the complete expression on the right. Both sides must have compatible units.

The passage around this formula

Which combination a provider chooses is not primarily a research question. Write total lifetime cost as Ctotal=Ctrain+Q⋅cˉinfC_{\mathrm{total}} = C_{\mathrm{train}} + Q \cdot \bar{c}_{\mathrm{inf}}. with Q requests over the model’s life. When Q is small — a research artefact, an internal tool — the training term dominates and compute-optimal allocation is the right target. When Q is very large, the second term dominates by orders of magnitude, and every technique that reduces cˉinf\bar{c}_{\mathrm{inf}} pays back continuously while every technique that reduces CtrainC_{\mathrm{train}} pays back once.

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Learn the underlying idea

An equals sign says that the expression on its left and the expression on its right have the same value under the stated definitions and assumptions.

Open the illustrated equality: what the equals sign claims guide →

Sources cited in the article section

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.