<jats:p> The use of numerical simulation for prediction of characteristics of chaotic dynamical systems inherently involves unpredictable processes. In this work, we develop a model for the expected error in the simulation of ergodic, chaotic ordinary differential equation (ODE) systems, which allows for discretization and statistical effects due to unpredictability. Using this model, we then generate a framework for understanding the relationship between the sampling cost of a simulation and the expected error in the result and explore the implications of the various parameters of simulations. Finally, we generalize the framework to consider the total cost—including unsampled spin-up timesteps—of simulations and consider the implications of parallel computational environments to give a realistic model of the relationship between wall-clock time and the expected error in simulation of a chaotic ODE system. </jats:p>