diff --git a/src/app/benchmarks/category/[cat]/page.tsx b/src/app/benchmarks/category/[cat]/page.tsx
index 8f22acbc..f001cc93 100644
--- a/src/app/benchmarks/category/[cat]/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/benchmarks/category/[cat]/page.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
 import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
-import { getBenchmarksSafe } from "@/data/benchmarks";
+import { getBenchmarksSafe, toBenchmarkCardData } from "@/data/benchmarks";
 import { BenchmarkGrid } from "@/components/benchmark-grid";
 import { Breadcrumb } from "@/components/breadcrumb";
 import { safeJsonLd, buildItemListJsonLd } from "@/lib/jsonld";
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export default async function BenchmarkCategoryPage({
         </p>
       </header>
       <BenchmarkGrid
-        benchmarks={benchmarks}
+        benchmarks={benchmarks.map(toBenchmarkCardData)}
         lockedCategory={entry.label}
         allCategories={Array.from(new Set(all.map((b) => b.category)))}
       />
diff --git a/src/app/benchmarks/page.tsx b/src/app/benchmarks/page.tsx
index a92d6428..2a5bb6c8 100644
--- a/src/app/benchmarks/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/benchmarks/page.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
-import { getBenchmarksSafe } from "@/data/benchmarks";
+import { getBenchmarksSafe, toBenchmarkCardData } from "@/data/benchmarks";
 import { BenchmarkGrid } from "@/components/benchmark-grid";
 import { safeJsonLd, buildItemListJsonLd } from "@/lib/jsonld";
 import { SITE } from "@/data/site";
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export default async function BenchmarksPage() {
           {DESCRIPTION}
         </p>
       </header>
-      <BenchmarkGrid benchmarks={benchmarks} />
+      <BenchmarkGrid benchmarks={benchmarks.map(toBenchmarkCardData)} />
     </article>
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/components/benchmark-card.tsx b/src/components/benchmark-card.tsx
index 8848f0bc..3f0213c9 100644
--- a/src/components/benchmark-card.tsx
+++ b/src/components/benchmark-card.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import Link from "next/link";
-import type { Benchmark } from "@/types/benchmark";
+import type { BenchmarkCardData } from "@/data/benchmarks";
 import { Hint } from "@/components/hint";
 import { MiniChart } from "@/components/mini-chart";
 import { CATEGORY_COLOR } from "@/lib/category-colors";
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@ import { fmtValue, unitSuffix } from "@/lib/format";
  * MiniChart preview, and a 3-column footer (providers / samples / updated).
  * Drafts render the same skeleton with an "Awaiting first run" placeholder
  * in place of the chart and an em-dash where the headline number would be.
+ *
+ * Prop is the slim `BenchmarkCardData` projection, not the full
+ * Benchmark. Keeps the RSC payload for `/benchmarks` to the fields the
+ * card actually reads.
  */
-export function BenchmarkCard({ benchmark }: { benchmark: Benchmark }) {
+export function BenchmarkCard({ benchmark }: { benchmark: BenchmarkCardData }) {
   const b = benchmark;
   const isDraft = b.status === "draft";
   const catColor = CATEGORY_COLOR[b.category] ?? "var(--color-ink-muted)";
diff --git a/src/components/benchmark-grid.tsx b/src/components/benchmark-grid.tsx
index cf055535..1a2bc261 100644
--- a/src/components/benchmark-grid.tsx
+++ b/src/components/benchmark-grid.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { useMemo, useState } from "react";
 import Link from "next/link";
 import { LayoutGrid, List, Search } from "lucide-react";
-import type { Benchmark } from "@/types/benchmark";
+import type { BenchmarkCardData } from "@/data/benchmarks";
 import { BenchmarkCard } from "@/components/benchmark-card";
 import { categorySlugFromLabel } from "@/lib/categories";
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export function BenchmarkGrid({
   lockedCategory = null,
   allCategories,
 }: {
-  benchmarks: Benchmark[];
+  benchmarks: BenchmarkCardData[];
   /** When set, force the grid to this category. The pill row still
    *  renders so users can jump to other category hubs via the same UI
    *  they had on the /benchmarks root. */
diff --git a/src/components/mini-chart.tsx b/src/components/mini-chart.tsx
index b107afc0..6154a60f 100644
--- a/src/components/mini-chart.tsx
+++ b/src/components/mini-chart.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { useMemo } from "react";
-import type { Benchmark } from "@/types/benchmark";
 import { buildProviderColors } from "@/lib/series-colors";
 
 /**
@@ -7,10 +6,21 @@ import { buildProviderColors } from "@/lib/series-colors";
  * full TimeSeriesChart on the bench detail page. every provider gets a
  * line in their signature color. but stripped of axes, hover and tabs.
  * Reads `series24h` from the benchmark's `extras` payload.
+ *
+ * Structural prop type: accepts the full `Benchmark` (home table) and
+ * the slim `BenchmarkCardData` projection (hub grid) so the hub doesn't
+ * need to ship the full Benchmark shape (series7d, series30d,
+ * metricPanels, editorial copy, ...) per card in the RSC payload.
  */
 
+type MiniChartBenchmark = {
+  results: { slug: string; name: string; ms: { p50: number } }[];
+  higherIsBetter: boolean;
+  extras: { series24h: Record<string, number[]> };
+};
+
 type Props = {
-  benchmark: Benchmark;
+  benchmark: MiniChartBenchmark;
   /** Internal viewBox width used for path math. Visual width is 100% of parent. */
   viewBoxWidth?: number;
   height?: number;
diff --git a/src/data/benchmarks.ts b/src/data/benchmarks.ts
index c02f4f92..82bbca0f 100644
--- a/src/data/benchmarks.ts
+++ b/src/data/benchmarks.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,63 @@ import {
   loadBenchmark,
 } from "@/lib/spec";
 
+/**
+ * Card-shaped projection used by the hub grid and category pages. The
+ * full Benchmark object carries ~30 fields per bench (extras.series7d,
+ * series30d, seriesByRegion*, metricPanels, methodology, abstract, faq,
+ * findings, perChainExplainer, seoIntro, bestPerChain, worstPerChain,
+ * cellRanks, providersPerChain, ...) that the card never reads. Passing
+ * the full shape to `<BenchmarkGrid />` (a client component) baked the
+ * whole thing into the RSC payload — 3.2 MB of HTML for 37 cards, which
+ * is what made `/benchmarks` feel like an 8 s page even though the
+ * server TTFB is sub-second.
+ *
+ * Project once at the page boundary so the wire payload only carries
+ * what the card + the grid's search/filter use.
+ */
+export type BenchmarkCardData = {
+  slug: string;
+  title: string;
+  subtitle: string;
+  category: Benchmark["category"];
+  status: Benchmark["status"];
+  unit: Benchmark["unit"];
+  higherIsBetter: boolean;
+  sampleSize: number;
+  lastRunAt: string;
+  metric: string;
+  results: {
+    slug: string;
+    name: string;
+    ms: { p50: number };
+  }[];
+  extras: { series24h: Record<string, number[]> };
+};
+
+/** Strip a Benchmark to the fields the hub card actually renders. Keeps
+ *  `results` in its original sort order so the card's own sort
+ *  (best-leader heuristic) stays correct. */
+export function toBenchmarkCardData(b: Benchmark): BenchmarkCardData {
+  return {
+    slug: b.slug,
+    title: b.title,
+    subtitle: b.subtitle,
+    category: b.category,
+    status: b.status,
+    unit: b.unit,
+    higherIsBetter: b.higherIsBetter,
+    sampleSize: b.sampleSize,
+    lastRunAt: b.lastRunAt,
+    metric: b.metric,
+    results: b.results.map((r) => ({
+      slug: r.slug,
+      name: r.name,
+      ms: { p50: r.ms.p50 },
+    })),
+    extras: { series24h: b.extras?.series24h ?? {} },
+  };
+}
+
 /**
  * Strict loader. Throws AllBenchmarksDraftError when every bench has
  * collapsed to draft (Prom blackout, cold start with no KV snapshot).