Guides
In-depth breakdowns on local LLM hardware, benchmarks, and running AI models at home.
Publishing cadence: upcoming posts are listed below with ET dates and become clickable once live.
Featured Guides
⚔ Age of LLMs · Series · Part 1
Forget benchmarks. I put LLMs in a real-time strategy game.
I built a real-time strategy game where AI models compete for territory and survival. What I found changed how I think about model intelligence.
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📌 Pinned · Start Here
Local LLM Hardware Guide: VRAM, Quantization, and What You Can Actually Run
The plain-English primer on VRAM, quantization, and what hardware tier gets you to each model size. Start here if you're new to local AI.
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🔬 New · DGX Spark Part 2
Is the DGX Spark Worth $4,700?
How the Spark stacks up against the RTX 5090, RTX 4090, and Mac Studio M4 Max. First-party benchmarks, total cost of ownership, and an honest buy/don't-buy verdict.
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🔬 First-Party Data · DGX Spark Part 1
DGX Spark GB10 Benchmarks: Real Numbers from a Real Machine
First-party tok/s data for QwQ-32B, DeepSeek-R1-70B, Qwen2.5-Coder-32B, and Qwen3.5-122B on NVIDIA's GB10 — plus long-context degradation and memory bandwidth efficiency.
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Featured · Trend Guide
Best Hardware to Run Claude-Distilled GGUF Models Locally
The freshest high-intent topic on the site: what to buy for Claude-style distilled models from 7B through 70B.
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Pillar Guide · GPU
Best GPU for Running LLMs Locally in 2026
RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 vs RX 7900 XTX — real benchmark numbers, VRAM requirements, and a clear winner for every budget.
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Featured · Memory
How Much RAM Do You Need to Run Llama 3?
The practical memory-sizing guide for 8B, 70B, CPU offloading, and avoiding bad hardware buys.
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GPU Guides
GPU · Comparison
RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 for Local LLMs
Is the 4090's extra VRAM worth the premium? Real inference benchmarks and the honest answer.
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NVIDIA vs AMD
RTX 4090 vs RX 7900 XTX for Local LLMs: CUDA vs ROCm
Both have 24GB VRAM at similar bandwidth. But CUDA vs ROCm maturity changes everything for LLM inference.
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Coding · Models
Best Local LLM for Coding in 2026
DeepSeek Coder, Qwen2.5, CodeLlama — benchmarks, hardware requirements, and IDE integration for each.
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Apple Silicon Guides
Pillar Guide · Apple Silicon
Mac for Local LLMs: The Complete Apple Silicon Guide
Every Apple Silicon chip from M1 to M5 Max — which models fit, real performance numbers, and the best tools to get started.
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Apple Silicon · M5
MacBook Air M5 for Local LLMs: What Models Can It Run?
First Air with 32GB unified memory. Runs Qwen2.5-32B, Mixtral 8x7B on a fanless laptop.
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Apple Silicon · Comparison
MacBook Air M5 32GB vs MacBook Pro M5 Pro 64GB for LLMs
32GB portability vs 64GB model capacity. Which laptop for local AI?
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Apple Silicon · Comparison
Mac Studio M4 Max: 64GB vs 128GB for Local LLMs
Is doubling the memory worth $400? Model compatibility and performance breakdown.
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Apple Silicon · Setup
How to Run Llama on Mac: Apple Silicon Guide
Step-by-step setup with Ollama, llama.cpp, and LM Studio. Which Mac handles which model sizes.
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GPU vs Mac Comparisons
GPU vs Apple Silicon
RTX 4090 vs Mac Studio M4 Max 128GB for Local LLMs
24GB VRAM vs 128GB unified memory — which actually wins for running 70B models locally?
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GPU vs GPU
RTX 4090 vs RTX 4080 for Local LLMs: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
24GB vs 16GB VRAM, 1008 vs 717 GB/s bandwidth — is the $600 price gap justified for running larger models?
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GPU vs Apple Silicon
RTX 4090 vs MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB for Local LLMs
Desktop GPU power vs laptop portability. Which is the better investment?
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More Guides
Homelab · Security
Homelab Security Best Practices (Reddit Intel)
Practical hardening checklist for self-hosted AI stacks using patterns repeatedly surfaced in community incidents.
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Mini PC · Self-Hosting
Best Mini PC for Self-Hosting AI in 2026
Minisforum, Beelink, Mac Mini — CPU inference vs GPU inference, and which mini PC handles local AI.
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Memory · Llama 3
How Much RAM Do You Need to Run Llama 3?
8B to 405B — exact VRAM and RAM requirements for every Llama 3 model size, with and without quantization.
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