diff --git a/BENCHMARKS.md b/BENCHMARKS.md
index 40f2e8a..c330595 100644
--- a/BENCHMARKS.md
+++ b/BENCHMARKS.md
@@ -202,3 +202,28 @@ Verdict: keep (free, safe) but the paint UNet is GEMM-bound — fusion alone
 is small. The bigger Hunyuan levers are Target 3 (MoE `.item()` sync-tax,
 −4800 syncs/gen, unlocks whole-DiT compile) and Target 4 (manual→fused
 SDPA in paint DINO). E2E flag-on-vs-off measurement pending after those.
+
+## 2026-07-19 — A0 GATE: first end-to-end MLX TRELLIS.2 (Jourloy PR#175 fork, m3ultra)
+
+Same anatomy image, seed 42, 1024-cascade, tex 2048:
+
+| path | wall (incl. load) | bake | peak mem | output |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| torch-MPS (trellis-mac) | 248.8 s | 19 s @191K faces | 20.8 GB | 21 MB GLB |
+| **mlx-experimental (Jourloy)** | **216.6 s** | 83 s @**2.74M faces** | 75.4 GB | 131 MB PBR GLB |
+
+**VERDICT: ADOPT — the MLX path BEAT the MPS baseline on wall-clock while
+baking 14× the faces.** Key discovery: `mlx-experimental` is a HYBRID —
+resolver log shows `Conv backend: flex_gemm; Attention: flex_gemm_sparse_attn`,
+i.e. sparse ops still run pedronaugusto's Metal kernels; MLX runs the dense
+stages. The feared naive-MLX-sparse-conv path never executes. Model load is
+lazy/instant on the MLX side (vs 103 s torch load).
+
+Quality: geometry excellent at full density; the DARK-PATCH texture defect
+REPRODUCES on this second, independent pipeline — both paths share the
+pedronaugusto mtldiffrast/BVH texel sampling. Culprit narrowed to those
+shared Metal kernels OR the decoded tex attrs; the pure-Python KDTree bake
+control (running) decides. fal renders clean with the same weights, so the
+attrs are likely fine → Metal sampling is the prime suspect.
+
+Caveat: 75 GB peak fits both Ultras but check m1 headroom under load.