PC Hardware News, Reviews & Buying Guides — Page 40 of 61
Daily news digests, benchmark roundups, 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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- Best Controllers for Steam Deck and PC in 2026 — Whether you're docking a Steam Deck or pairing a couch PC, here are the five controllers worth shortlisting in 2026 — across budget… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 10 min read
- Is the Logitech G502 Hero Still the Best FPS Mouse in 2026? — The Logitech G502 Hero launched in 2018 and is still on every shortlist of best FPS mice in 2026. Here's what keeps it there — and where… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 9 min read
- Blue Yeti vs HyperX QuadCast 2 S: Best USB Mic for Streaming — The Blue Yeti and HyperX QuadCast 2 S are the default Twitch-rig microphones. Here's how the pickup pattern, RGB, mute UX, and software… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 9 min read
- SATA SSD vs NVMe for Gaming: Does It Actually Load Faster? — An NVMe SSD is 5-7x the bandwidth of a SATA drive on paper. In actual games, the load-time gap is smaller than the spec sheet suggests… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 9 min read
- Inside the Intel 8087: Decapping a 1980 Math Coprocessor's Microcode — A community decap project recovered the Intel 8087's complete microcode ROM under a microscope. The result: a window into how 1980 math… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 9 min read
- Intel's Bartlett Lake Core 9 273PQE Loses to a 4-Year-Old CPU — Intel's Bartlett Lake refresh isn't aimed at gamers. Side-by-side with a 4-year-old Ryzen 7 5800X, the new Core 9 273PQE looks… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 9 min read
- AMD Instinct MI300X vs Radeon RX 7600 XT: Datacenter vs Desk — The MI300X is a 192 GB HBM3 monster you can't put in a tower; the RX 7600 XT is a $329 16 GB card that ships today. Here's how the gap… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 11 min read
- Running a 1-Trillion-Parameter LLM on 768GB of Cheap Optane — Cheap discontinued Optane DIMMs let you fit a 1T-parameter model in RAM — but throughput, latency, and the math vs. an RTX 3060 12GB tell… Mike Perry · 2026-06-05 · 11 min read
- Samsung's 2026 Odyssey Lineup Adds 5K, 6K and a 360Hz 4K QD-OLED — Samsung's 2026 Odyssey lineup adds 5K and 6K dual-mode panels plus the world's first 360Hz 4K QD-OLED. Here's what it means for monitor… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 6 min read
- Forza Horizon 6 PC Benchmarks: What GPU Hits 60 FPS at 1440p? — An RTX 3060 12GB hits 60 FPS at 1440p High in Forza Horizon 6 with FSR Quality. Full GPU benchmark synthesis from PC Gamer + Hardware… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Build a Silent Windows 98 Gaming PC With a CompactFlash IDE Drive — Replace your Win98 PC's spinning IDE drive with a CompactFlash card. Silent, fast, cold-storage-safe. Bill of materials and setup steps. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Self-Host Jellyfin and Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB in 2026 — A Raspberry Pi 4 8GB runs Home Assistant + Jellyfin together in 2026 if you accept single-stream 1080p transcoding. Full setup and BOM here. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Best Controllers for Retro Gaming and Emulation in 2026 — The 8BitDo Pro 2 is the all-around best controller for retro emulation in 2026. Wired hall-effect via GameSir G7 SE. Five picks, covered. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Ryzen 7 5800X vs 5700X for 1080p Gaming: Which AM4 Chip Wins in 2026? — At 1080p gaming, the Ryzen 7 5800X is ~4% faster than the 5700X. The 5700X runs cooler and cheaper. Here's how to pick on AM4 in 2026. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Best 4K Monitor for PS5 in 2026 (Without Overpaying) — The PS5 outputs 4K 120Hz over HDMI 2.1. Sub-$400 SANSUI and KOORUI panels deliver it. Here's the value pick and what's worth skipping. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- NVIDIA Cosmos 3 vs Ideogram 4.0: Which Open Image Model to Run on 12GB — Ideogram 4.0 ships open weights with native 2K and text rendering. NVIDIA Cosmos 3 hits top arena Elos. Here's how to pick on a 12GB GPU. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Step 3.7 Flash vs Gemma 4 12B: Which Local Model Wins on a 12GB GPU? — Gemma 4 12B fits on a 12GB GPU with a mature toolchain. Step 3.7 Flash claims agentic gains. Here's which to run on an RTX 3060 12GB this… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 7 min read
- Grok Imagine 1.5 Brings 720p Image-to-Video — Can You Run It Locally? — Grok Imagine 1.5 just added 720p image-to-video. Here's whether an RTX 3060 12GB can run open alternatives like SVD or CogVideoX locally… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 9 min read
- Open-WebUI vs LM Studio: Best Local LLM Front-End in 2026 — Open-WebUI vs LM Studio in 2026: LM Studio for single-user desktop simplicity, Open-WebUI for self-hosted multi-user with RAG and tools. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Use a Raspberry Pi 4 as a Second Monitor or KVM in 2026 — Turn a spare Raspberry Pi 4 into a second monitor with Spacedesk or a full IP-KVM with PiKVM v3 — two cheap homelab builds under $250. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 9 min read
- Build a Private Security Camera on a Raspberry Pi (Ring Alternative) in 2026 — Build a private Pi 4 security camera with Frigate for $190 — no Ring subscription, recordings stay on a local SATA SSD, 25-100 days of… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 9 min read
- SNES Classic vs Sega Genesis Mini in 2026: Which Is Worth It? — SNES Classic vs Sega Genesis Mini in 2026: 21 first-party Nintendo classics versus 42 Sega games for less money — which mini console to buy. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Best Game Controller for PC and Console in 2026 — Best game controllers in 2026: DualSense for PS5, 8BitDo Pro 2 for PC, GameSir G7 SE for wired competitive, and two retro/Switch picks. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Best SSD for a Local AI / LLM Workstation in 2026 — NVMe Gen3 (WD Blue SN550) for hot model storage + TLC SATA SSD for archives — the best $175 SSD setup for a 2026 AI workstation. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Gemma 4 12B Fits Multimodal AI Into 16GB of RAM — Gemma 4 12B fits in 16GB of unified memory at Q4 — multimodal AI on an APU build at $400 or a 3060 12GB build at $850. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Linux Driver Will Expose Voltage Inputs on Raspberry Pi SBCs — A new Linux IIO driver lets Pi 4 read voltage inputs through standard sysfs — no external ADC chip needed for homelab and monitoring builds. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Step 3.7 Flash Benchmarks: What You Can Actually Run on 12GB — Step 3.7 Flash runs cleanly on a 12GB GPU at Q4_K_M with 42 tok/s on a 3060 12GB — making the 12GB tier viable for 14B-total MoE models. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Perplexity's Local-or-Cloud Router: What Hardware Runs the Local Half — Build for Perplexity's 2026 hybrid router: a 12GB RTX 3060 + Ryzen 7 5700X + 32GB RAM hits the local-half latency budget for under $900. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Ideogram 4.0 Open Weights: Native 2K Image Gen on a 12GB GPU — Run Ideogram 4.0 locally on a 12GB GPU at fp8 with VAE tiling: 28-45 seconds per 2K image on a 3060 12GB and a clean sub-$700 build. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Dumping Big-Box CD-ROM Games in 2026 with an IDE-to-USB Adapter — A practical 2026 workflow for imaging big-box PC game CDs with an IDE-to-USB adapter, from .cue/.bin dumps to Redump verification. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Logitech G920 vs Thrustmaster: Best Beginner Sim Racing Setup 2026 — A beginner sim racing rig in 2026 is about three honest inputs. We compare the Logitech G920, HORI Overdrive, and Thrustmaster TH8A. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- ComfyUI on an RTX 3060 12GB: VRAM Tuning and Image-Gen Throughput — SDXL hits ~3.8 it/s, FLUX.1-dev fits cleanly, and HiDream-O1 works with the right flags — here's the full 12GB tuning guide. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra (550B/55B-Active): What a 12GB Rig Can Run — Full 550B Nemotron 3 Ultra is server-class even at q4 — but the distilled 13B variant runs at 18-22 tok/s on a 12GB RTX 3060. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 12 min read
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Runs Faster on Linux Than Windows 11 — Phoronix's cross-OS suite has the 9950X3D2 4-9% faster on Linux 6.x — including the cache-sensitive workloads where X3D should win on… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- ComfyUI for NVIDIA Cosmos 3 on an RTX 3060 12GB: Setup + Limits — Cosmos 3 leads the open-weights generation race in 2026. Here is the full ComfyUI workflow, low-VRAM flags, and real benchmarks on an RTX… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Nemotron 3 Ultra vs MiniMax M3: Best Open Model for a 12GB Rig — Nemotron 3 Ultra and MiniMax M3 lead the open leaderboards in 2026. Here is which one actually runs well on a 12GB RTX 3060 at q4, with… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Ryzen 5 5600G vs Core i7-9700K for a Budget 1080p Gaming Build — The Ryzen 5 5600G usually wins as a fresh 2026 budget build: lower cost, live AM4 upgrade path, usable iGPU, and quieter cooling. The… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 12 min read
- Logitech G502 Hero in 2026: Is the $40 Classic Still the Mouse to Beat? — The Logitech G502 Hero is still the $40 wired mouse to beat in 2026 — eleven buttons, a flagship HERO sensor, and a track record no rival… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 13 min read
- Logitech G502 Hero in 2026: Is the FPS Mouse King Still Worth It? — The Logitech G502 Hero is still the best $32 gaming mouse in 2026 for medium-to-large hands and mixed FPS + MMO play — here's the honest… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Logitech G29 vs HORI vs Thrustmaster: Best Sim Racing Wheel for Beginners — Beginner sim racing wheel guide: the $280 Logitech G29 wins for PS5+PC, the HORI DLX handles Xbox. Add a shifter later; don't buy under… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Cosmos3-Super on an RTX 3060 12GB: Can the #1 Open-Weights Image Model Run Local? — Yes — an RTX 3060 12GB runs Cosmos3-Super at 1024px in 14.8s/image with fp8 weights. Full VRAM, speed, and quantization-quality data inside. Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- FIDECO vs Unitek vs Vantec: Best IDE-to-USB Adapter for Dumping Retro Drives — FIDECO, Unitek, and Vantec each cover IDE-to-USB differently. Here is which adapter to buy for dumping retro drives — and the CF card that… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 13 min read
- Asus ROG Harpe II Extreme Brings a 65K-DPI Sensor — and a Gold Price Tag — Asus's gold-accented ROG Harpe II Extreme lands with a 65K-DPI sensor. Here is what the spec really buys — and why the cheaper G502 Hero… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 10 min read
- Logitech G920 vs HORI Racing Wheel: Best Starter Sim Wheel in 2026 — Logitech G920 or HORI Racing Wheel Overdrive for your first sim setup? The G920 wins on force feedback; the HORI wins on price. Here is… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Nous Hermes Desktop: A Local AI Agent for Your Own Hardware — Nous Hermes Desktop is an open-source cross-platform AI agent that runs on your own machine. Here is the local backend and GPU floor that… Mike Perry · 2026-06-04 · 11 min read
- Installing 3dfx Voodoo Glide Drivers on Windows 98 in 2026 — Installing 3dfx Voodoo Glide drivers on Windows 98 in 2026 is more art than science. Here is the exact driver sequence, BIOS lottery, and… Mike Perry · 2026-06-01 · 10 min read
- Best SATA SSD to Revive an Old Gaming PC in 2026 — Replacing the spinning hard drive in an aging gaming PC is the cheapest worthwhile upgrade you can make. Here are the SATA SSDs that punch… Mike Perry · 2026-06-01 · 10 min read
- HiDream-O1-Image on an RTX 3060 12GB: Does It Fit? — Can a 12GB RTX 3060 actually run HiDream-O1-Image, the open-weights model topping the late-2026 artificial-analysis text-to-image… Mike Perry · 2026-06-01 · 10 min read
- Intel Arc Pro B70 vs RTX 3060 12GB for Local LLMs — Intel's Arc Pro B70 brings 16GB of VRAM and the new llm-scaler-vllm 1.4 stack — but does it actually outrun a used RTX 3060 12GB for local… Mike Perry · 2026-06-01 · 10 min read
- Open-Source Layer Brings Reflex and Anti-Lag 2 to All GPUs — A new open-source 'low_latency_layer' project is shipping vendor-neutral Reflex and Anti-Lag 2 behavior to non-supported GPUs. Here is… Mike Perry · 2026-06-01 · 9 min read