PC Hardware News, Reviews & Buying Guides — Page 7 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.
Showing articles 301–350 of 3046.
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- Train a Kick Drum AI Model on 6GB VRAM (Linux Guide) — How to train a generative kick drum model on a budget Linux desktop with only 6GB VRAM, per ROCm and PyTorch documentation and public… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05
- Best Sim Racing Gear for PC in 2026: 5 Picks Tested by Spec — The pragmatic sim-racing shortlist for a first PC rig under $700 — Logitech G29 wheel, Thrustmaster TH8A shifter, 4K mini-LED display… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05 · 12 min read
- Noctua NH-U12S vs Cooler Master ML240L: Which Cools a 5800X? — At stock, the Noctua NH-U12S holds a Ryzen 7 5800X inside spec. Turn Precision Boost Overdrive on and a 240mm AIO earns its price — here… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05 · 9 min read
- Best Budget GPU for RPCS3 PS3 Emulation in 2026 — The 12GB RTX 3060 handles 1080p RPCS3 upscaling comfortably in 2026, but pair it with an eight-core AM4 CPU or the SPU threads become the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05 · 11 min read
- RTX 5090 vs. M5 Max 128GB for Agentic Dev (2026) — RTX 5090 or Apple's M5 Max with 128GB unified memory for agentic coding? A synthesis of specs, memory tradeoffs, and cost for AI dev… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05
- 1440p 500Hz QD-OLED Monitors: 2025 Round-Up — A 2025 synthesis of 1440p 500Hz QD-OLED gaming monitors: which models actually ship, what GPU feeds 500Hz, and cheaper 1440p alternatives… Mike Perry · 2026-08-05
- Old Massive Chieftec Full Tower: Homelab Gem or Junk? — A vintage Chieftec full tower and aging Alphacool water loop turn up cheap on used marketplaces — here's whether they're worth reviving… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Run Chrome's Tiny Gemini Nano AI on PC Without a GPU — Chrome's built-in Gemini Nano model officially requires a GPU. Here's what the requirement actually gates, and what CPU-only workarounds… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Best Upgrades for a DDR4 Gaming PC in 2026 — The best DDR4 gaming PC upgrades in 2026, ranked: RTX 3060 12GB, Crucial BX500 SSD, Ryzen 7 5800X, Samsung 970 EVO Plus, Noctua cooler. Mike Perry · 2026-08-04 · 13 min read
- Ryzen 5 5600G vs Core i7-9700K for 1080p Gaming — The Ryzen 5 5600G and Core i7-9700K are the two DDR4-era 1080p gaming CPUs still worth buying in 2026. Here is when each wins. Mike Perry · 2026-08-04 · 12 min read
- Best Uses for Old RAM Sticks in 2025 — Old RAM sticks rarely die of old age. Here's how to test them, then reuse them in a second PC, NAS, RAM disk, or retro build instead of… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- CPU Fan Angled Left on a New Prebuilt: Normal or Not? — Got your prebuilt delivered today with the CPU fan angled left? Here's how to tell if it's normal cooler rotation or a return-worthy defect. Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Best $500-600 Gaming PC Build for a Ryzen/RX 6600 Rig — A $500-600 gaming PC build guide using a Ryzen 5 5600G and Radeon RX 6600, with a real parts list, socket-compatibility notes, and upgrade… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- 7800X3D vs 5700X3D: Is the AM5 Upgrade Worth It? — 5700X3D prices have spiked while the 7800X3D sits on sale. Here's how the AM5 platform cost, DDR5 tax, and real-world gaming gains… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- ProgramBench: Can LLMs Rebuild Programs From Scratch? — ProgramBench asks LLMs to rebuild real software from binaries and docs. Here's what the evidence shows, and the GPU VRAM it takes to run… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Real Productivity on 32-64GB RAM for Local LLMs — Community reports on running local LLMs in 32-64GB of RAM reveal real coding, document, and privacy workflows — not just hobbyist… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- 4K Mini-LED vs 240 Hz QD-OLED: Which Monitor for Work and Play? — Mini-LED or QD-OLED for a desk that does spreadsheets by day and games by night? The tradeoff is not what marketing suggests — here is the… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04 · 11 min read
- Best GPU for ComfyUI and SDXL Under $400 in 2026 — 12 GB VRAM is the 2026 floor for SDXL + ControlNet stacks. The RTX 3060 12GB is the cheapest current-market card that clears it — here is… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04 · 12 min read
- Best SATA SSDs for Older PCs and Retro Builds in 2026 — The five best SATA SSDs for older PCs and retro builds in 2026, mapped to interface generation — Crucial BX500, SanDisk PLUS, Transcend… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04 · 12 min read
- Have Qwen Said Anything About Further Qwen 3.6 Models? — No confirmed Qwen roadmap ties Qwen 3.6 to 9B/122B/397B AMD Instinct tiers — the claim's own hardware specs don't match AMD's published… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Steam Deck Randomly Awakens? Causes & Fixes (2026) — Steam Deck waking up randomly in a bag or dock usually traces to USB wake triggers, accidental button presses, or SteamOS suspend bugs… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Automated Cabinet Lighting With a Raspberry Pi: Build Guide — How a Raspberry Pi, a door sensor, and an addressable LED strip combine into automated cabinet lighting — parts, wiring, power budgeting… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Best Gaming Headset in 2026 for Gaming and Music — Choosing a 2026 gaming headset that also sounds great for music means weighing driver quality, wired vs. wireless latency, and open- vs… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Steam Deck LCD 6TB Man-Cave Setup: Storage & One-Cable Dock — A realistic guide to a 6TB Steam Deck LCD library: NVMe and microSD limits, NAS storage over Ethernet, and a clutter-free one-cable dock… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Best Midrange GPU for 1440p Ultra Gaming in 2026 — A synthesis of public GPU specs and benchmark trends to help you pick a $500-$600 midrange graphics card for 1440p ultra settings in 2026. Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Minecraft on Raspberry Pi via Vulkan: 2026 Setup Guide — How Minecraft runs on Raspberry Pi through Mesa's Vulkan-backed graphics stack, with setup steps, model comparisons, and realistic… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- $400 Qwen 3.6-27B Setup: Is the Dual RTX 3060 Claim Real? — A $400 dual RTX 3060 12GB build claims 30-50 t/s on Qwen 3.6-27B. Here is what the VRAM math and multi-GPU bandwidth limits actually… Mike Perry · 2026-08-04
- Custom Steam Controller Startup: Reviving OG Big Picture Mode — How to bring back Steam's original Big Picture Mode look and pair it with a modern controller setup, based on public Steam documentation… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03
- GameSir G7 SE vs DualSense for PC Gaming: Which Controller Wins? — Hall-effect sticks kill drift, DualSense haptics deliver PC feel — pick the one whose feature you would miss most. Here is the honest… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03 · 12 min read
- Best SSD for Raspberry Pi Boot (2026): USB SATA vs NVMe — Pi 5 NVMe on the $12 M.2 HAT+ read 452 MB/s (Gen 2) and 876 MB/s (Gen 3) vs 90.5 MB/s microSD. Which SSD to boot a Pi 4 or Pi 5 from in… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03 · 14 min read
- Best Budget Streaming Gear for Twitch in 2026 — A $300 budget covers the two things Twitch viewers actually notice — clean audio and even lighting. These five picks earn every dollar… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03 · 15 min read
- Best Classic Retro RPGs to Play in 2026 (Top 15) — A synthesis guide to the best classic retro RPGs — Chrono Trigger to Fallout 2 — plus what hardware runs them well today. Mike Perry · 2026-08-03
- Dual GPU Llama.cpp Speedup: What Actually Helps — Does a second GPU actually speed up llama.cpp, or mainly add VRAM? A synthesis of split-mode behavior, ROCm vs CUDA, and real dual-GPU… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03
- GPU VRAM Guide: Running a 5GB TTS Model Locally — A synthesis of GPU specs and community reports on running small TTS models with a 5GB VRAM footprint, from budget cards to 12GB… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03
- What Non-Gaming Tasks People Actually Run on Steam Deck — Steam Deck's desktop mode turns Valve's handheld into a portable Linux PC for coding, office work, media playback, and tinkering, per… Mike Perry · 2026-08-03
- Running a 26B LLM Locally With No GPU: The CPU Setup Guide — A 26B-parameter model can run on CPU alone if RAM and quantization are matched—here's the memory math, format choice, and realistic speed… Mike Perry · 2026-07-31
- Training an LLM in Swift, Part 1: Matrix Mult Speed — How Swift's Accelerate, SIMD, and Metal stack take matrix multiplication from naive Gflop/s loops to Tflop/s-class LLM training throughput. Mike Perry · 2026-07-31
- Best Raspberry Pi Setup for Home Assistant in 2026 — A 24/7 Home Assistant hub lives or dies by three choices: RAM tier, storage endurance, and cooling. Here is the setup that survives years… Mike Perry · 2026-07-31 · 13 min read
- Best Sim Racing Wheels for PC and Console in 2026 — A buying guide to the sim racing wheels that survive daily use in 2026 — G29, G920, HORI Overdrive, TH8A shifter, and where direct-drive… Mike Perry · 2026-07-31 · 13 min read
- Noctua NH-U12S vs ML240L RGB: Best Cooler for a 5800X — The 5800X punishes weak coolers by clocking down, not by crashing. Here is how the Noctua NH-U12S, ML240L RGB, and Kraken M22 actually… Mike Perry · 2026-07-31 · 11 min read
- Console to Gaming PC: What Changes in 2025 — What actually changes when a console gamer moves to PC in 2025 — frame rates, budgets, upgrade paths, and the accessories the switch… Mike Perry · 2026-07-31
- How Secure Is My Homelab Compared to Big Companies? — Enterprise breaches dominate headlines, but homelabs face a different threat model. Here's how VLANs, TPM 2.0, and patching close the gap. Mike Perry · 2026-07-31
- AI Technologies We'll Realistically See in Our Lifetimes — A grounded look at which AI-driven technologies—drug discovery, robotics, climate modeling, BCIs—are backed by real evidence versus hype. Mike Perry · 2026-07-30
- Did Anyone Actually Ditch iCloud or Google One for Self-Hosting? — Community reports on fully replacing iCloud+ or Google One with self-hosted storage — what actually works, what breaks, and the real cost… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30
- Best Quiet PC Cooling Upgrades in 2026 — Best quiet PC cooling upgrades in 2026: CPU coolers, case fans, AIOs, and the SSD swap that most guides miss. Diagnose the source before… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30 · 12 min read
- Raspberry Pi 4 8GB vs Ryzen 5 5600G: Which Homelab Box Wins in 2026? — Pi 4 8GB vs Ryzen 5 5600G for a 2026 homelab: transcoding, storage, idle power, service fit — with 3-year TCO and the honest recommendation. Mike Perry · 2026-07-30 · 11 min read
- ASRock Arc B580 12GB vs RTX 3060 12GB for 1440p Gaming in 2026 — The Arc B580 undercuts the RTX 3060 12GB on price and matches it on VRAM, but resizable BAR, driver maturity and per-title behavior change… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30 · 11 min read
- LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Steam Deck FPS — How LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight performs on Steam Deck, which AMD desktop GPUs scale best, and the optimization settings… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30
- DIY NVIDIA 3D Vision Emitter: Building One with an RP2040 — Official NVIDIA 3D Vision emitters are discontinued and scarce. Here's how hobbyists use an RP2040 board to build a replacement — and… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30
- GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code vs OpenCode Benchmark 2026 — Community tests pit GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, OpenCode and Pi against the same open model. Here's what a same-model harness test can… Mike Perry · 2026-07-30