PC Hardware News, Reviews & Buying Guides — Page 20 of 62
Daily news digests, deep-dive reviews, and long-form buying guides on GPUs, CPUs, home AI workstations, local LLM runtimes, retro PC builds, and the tools real builders use in 2026.
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- PCIe Gen2/Gen3 1:2 Analog MUX: Practical Maker Implementation — Guide to PCIe Gen2/Gen3 1:2 analog MUX implementation: IC selection, PCB layout rules, signal integrity validation, and common pitfalls… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- 3dfx Voodoo2 SLI in 2026: Build Guide, Glide Setup, CF Storage — The peak 3dfx build: two matched Voodoo2 cards, a 2D card with VGA passthrough, a Pentium III, a Windows 98 install on CompactFlash, and… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Best Beginner Racing Wheel 2026: Logitech G29 vs HORI FFB — The Logitech G29 has the broadest game-compatibility footprint at the entry price. The HORI Force Feedback DLX is the modern Xbox-native… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Best Plug-and-Play Retro Console to Buy in 2026 — In 2026 the best plug-and-play retro console is still the SNES Classic. Here is the full guide with four honorable-mention picks… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Best USB Microphone for Streaming in 2026: QuadCast 2 vs Yeti — For a first streaming rig in 2026, the QuadCast 2 wins on ergonomics and the Blue Yeti wins on multi-pattern flexibility. Here is the full… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- GPT-5.6 Sol Matches Fable 5 at 1/3 Cost: Local-Rig Fallout — GPT-5.6 Sol's one-third-of-Fable-5 price cut moved the local-vs-cloud break-even for a $900 RTX 3060 12GB rig from about 30M tokens/month… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- llama.cpp vs Ollama on an RTX 3060 12GB: Which for Solo Chat? — Ollama installs in one command and ships sensible defaults. llama.cpp gives you the flags. On a solo RTX 3060 12GB in 2026, here is which… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Work: An Agent for Whole Workflows — OpenAI's new ChatGPT Work agent chains multi-step tasks — retrieval, summarization, drafting — and puts fresh pressure on the… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Qwen3.6-27B vs Coder-Next: Which Local Coding Model Wins? — Qwen3.6-27B needs 16GB of VRAM at q4. Coder-Next-13B fits an RTX 3060 12GB at q4 with headroom. On a budget local coding rig in 2026, that… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Sony Ends Physical PlayStation Disc Production by 2028 — The reported 2028 sunset target for new PlayStation disc pressing does not disable your existing discs, but it does change how you should… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Are We the Last Generation of PC Builders? — Motherboard shipments are down sharply at ASUS and ASRock as AI server demand reshapes silicon economics. What this means for PC builders… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Intel Arc vs NVIDIA 2026: Local LLM Tokens per Dollar — Intel Arc B580, A770 16GB, and Arc Pro B60 24GB vs NVIDIA — community benchmarks and published specs map the tokens-per-dollar gap in 2026… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- SteamDSXL Yay or Nay? Dual-Screen Steam Deck Dock Review — SteamDSXL adds a second screen to the Steam Deck for NDS, 3DS, and Wii U emulation. Here's what community reports reveal about real-world… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- AMD Revives Zen 2: Ryzen 7 4700LE in $800 RTX 3050 Prebuilts — AMD's Ryzen 7 4700LE resurfaces Zen 2 in $800 RTX 3050 prebuilts. Synthesis of public benchmarks and community analysis breaks down who… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Why PSU Fans Aren't Built for Repairability — PSU fans resist easy replacement due to high-voltage safety requirements, integrated thermal tuning, and proprietary connectors… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Alienware AW3426DW Review: QD-OLED Ultrawide Gaming at $699 — Alienware's QD-OLED ultrawide brings near-infinite contrast and 175Hz gaming to 3440×1440 at $699, based on specs and reviews from Tom's… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Re-Review: DDR4's Last Gaming Champion in 2026 — Is the Ryzen 7 5800X3D still worth it in 2026? For AM4 owners feeling CPU-bound, yes — Tom's Hardware's re-review confirms the 3D V-Cache… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Best 4K Monitor for PS5 and PC Under $500: KOORUI QD-Mini LED vs Samsung Odyssey — Best 27-inch 4K gaming monitor under $500 for PS5 and PC? KOORUI QD-Mini LED wins on HDR peak brightness; Samsung Odyssey wins on polish… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Best Budget AM4 CPU for a 2026 AI + Gaming Build: 5800X vs 5700X vs 5600G — Which AM4 Ryzen for a 2026 gaming + AI build? The 5700X wins on price and thermals, the 5800X earns its slot for LLM offload, the 5600G is… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Replace a Dying IDE Drive With CompactFlash in a Win98 Retro PC — How to boot Windows 98 from a CompactFlash card in a retro PC. A Transcend CF133 plus a passive CF-to-IDE adapter gives you a silent… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Adafruit's Cyberdeck Raspberry Pi Music Workstation Guide Lands — Adafruit's fresh cyberdeck build guide pairs a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB with dual displays and a Linux audio stack. Here is what the base board… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- OpenAI Just Beat Every Human at AtCoder — Can You Run a Coding LLM Locally? — What hardware runs a capable local coding LLM in 2026? A 12GB card, an 8-core Ryzen, and 32GB DDR4 handle 7-14B code models at full-speed… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- Can the RTX 3060 12GB Run Qwen3-27B Locally in 2026? — A 12GB RTX 3060 runs Qwen3-27B, but not fully in VRAM. Expect CPU offload, single-digit tokens per second on 27B at q4, and 14B as the… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 10 min read
- AMD Ryzen AI Halo ($4K) vs a $900 RTX 3060 12GB Local-LLM Build: Buy or Build? — $4K Ryzen AI Halo box or $900 RTX 3060 12GB DIY rig? Buy the Halo only for sustained 30B-plus workloads; the DIY rig wins on price… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09 · 9 min read
- Lossless Scaling on Steam Deck: Is It Worth It? — Lossless Scaling adds frame generation and upscaling to any Windows game — but Steam Deck's SteamOS blocks it. Here's when the $7 tool is… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2W: Privacy-Preserving Ring Alternative — Ring's cloud model raises real data-sharing concerns. Here's how the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W enables a fully local, encrypted home camera… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- 20GB Homelab Memory Left: What to Add Next — With 20 GB of homelab RAM free, the top uses are ZFS ARC caching, local LLM inference on 8B models, and additional Proxmox VMs — here is… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Steam Deck: Linux's Trojan Horse for PC Gamers — SteamOS's Proton layer runs most of Steam's library on Linux. Here's how Steam Deck is quietly converting Windows gamers and what it means… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- MSI Raider 16 Max HX Review: Elite Gaming and Creator Power — MSI Raider 16 Max HX pairs Intel HX silicon with high-TDP NVIDIA graphics and a wide-gamut OLED display for creators and gamers who demand… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- MSI MPG 322UR QD-OLED X24: 4K 240Hz Performance Analyzed — MSI's 32-inch QD-OLED combines native 4K with 240Hz refresh and per-pixel OLED contrast — here's what public benchmarks say about real… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- Acer Nitro 65 Review: Solid Gaming, Connectivity Caveats — The Acer Nitro 65 pairs an RTX 4060 with a 144 Hz IPS panel for capable 1080p gaming, but port selection gaps and thermal constraints… Mike Perry · 2026-07-09
- $100 CPU Shootout: Ryzen 5 5500 vs Core i3-14100F vs i3-12100F — Ryzen 5 5500, Core i3-14100F, and Core i3-12100F benchmarked on DDR4: which $100 CPU wins for gaming, productivity, and total platform… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- Advanced Shader Delivery on the RX 9070 XT: Benchmark Results — AMD's Advanced Shader Delivery on the RX 9070 XT cuts load times and stutter in shader-heavy DX12 titles, per AMD's published data and… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- News: Mistral Enters Robotics With Robostral Navigate 8B — Mistral's Robostral Navigate is an 8B vision-language model built for monocular robot navigation. Weights are out; here's what to build… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 3 min read
- News: ChatGPT Now Listens and Talks at Once — OpenAI shipped full-duplex voice for ChatGPT — you can interrupt it and it can interrupt you. Here's the mic + headphone upgrade that… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 4 min read
- Mount a 90s Big-Box CD-ROM ISO on Win98 Without a CD Drive — Two working methods to install big-box 90s CD-ROM games on a Win98 machine without a working CD drive — CompactFlash + IDE adapter setup. Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 7 min read
- Noctua NH-U12S vs ML240L RGB on a Ryzen 7 5800X — For a stock AMD Ryzen 7 5800X in a case with real airflow, a well-mounted Noctua NH-U12S is enough — as of 2026 it holds all-core… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 11 min read
- Crucial BX500 vs Samsung 970 EVO Plus: SATA vs NVMe Boot Drive — Samsung's 970 EVO Plus NVMe vs Crucial's BX500 SATA — the boot-drive comparison for 2026 builds, with real boot and game-load timings. Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 7 min read
- Build a Privacy-First Ring Alternative on a Raspberry Pi 4 in 2026 — A Pi 4 8GB running Frigate handles motion + person + package detection with local storage on NVMe. No cloud, no monthly bill, no third… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 6 min read
- Mistral Robostral Navigate: An 8B Model Steers Robots From One Camera — Robostral Navigate 8B does monocular navigation with one webcam. The compute split that makes it work: Pi 4 for safety, RTX 3060 for the… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 7 min read
- ChatGPT Full-Duplex Voice: What Real-Time Speech Needs on Your Desk — ChatGPT's full-duplex voice mode exposes every weakness in your audio path. The mic + headphone picks that make it feel like a real… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 6 min read
- Gemini API Adds MCP + Background Execution: Build a Local Agent Host — Google added MCP tools and background execution to the Gemini API. A Raspberry Pi 4 8GB hosts the plumbing; a used RTX 3060 handles the… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 7 min read
- Fable 5 as Manager: The Delegate-to-Sonnet-5 Cost Pattern — The manager pattern for agentic coding: Fable 5 to plan, Sonnet 5 to execute, a local 7B to finish. Cost math and the RTX 3060 12GB build. Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 7 min read
- Grok 4.5 Ranks #4 on GDPval: Cloud-vs-Local Math for 2026 — Grok 4.5 landed #4 on GDPval-AA v2 with aggressive pricing — here's the break-even math against a used RTX 3060 12GB local rig for 2026… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08 · 9 min read
- AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE Review: Thoroughly Midrange — The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE brings RDNA 4 ray tracing, FSR 4 upscaling, and a competitive efficiency envelope to the 1440p midrange — here… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- Hands-On: Asus ROG Harpe II Extreme Edition 20 Gaming Mouse — Asus' ROG Harpe II Extreme Edition 20 pairs 24K gold-plated Omron switches with a 65,536-DPI optical sensor and 12,000Hz polling for its… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- Single vs. Dual Channel Memory: Intel Core Ultra 7 270K — Dual-channel DDR5-6000 roughly doubles memory bandwidth on Arrow Lake — public benchmarks show 10–18% gaming gains and near-2× LLM… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- What Is AI? A Practical 2026 Guide for Makers — What AI actually is in 2026, how the math works, and what hardware makers need for local LLMs, image generation, and edge inference… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- Ethernet WiFi Router on a Pi Pico 2W: What's Possible — The $6 Raspberry Pi Pico 2W can run a basic NAT router bridging Wi-Fi to wired Ethernet — here's what community builds achieve and where… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08
- Raycast FPS in COBOL: Can a 60-Year-Old Language Render 3D? — Community builders are proving COBOL can render pseudo-3D FPS scenes — if you bridge its fixed-point arithmetic to modern GPU shims and… Mike Perry · 2026-07-08