buying guide

6 articles · newest first

Hardware

I put three budget GPUs head-to-head for local AI — only one earns its higher price

Arc B580, RX 9060 XT 16GB, and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB are all fighting for the same budget local-AI buyer in 2026. Real prices and real bandwidth numbers settle it.

Ravi Malhotra · 5d ago · 6 min

Hardware

nvidia's third GPU price hike of 2026 just landed — I ran the real $/GB math for local AI

GDDR7 modules and TSMC wafer costs just pushed every RTX 50 card higher this week — but the ugliest number isn't the one everyone's quoting.

Ravi Malhotra · 5d ago · 6 min

Hardware

nvidia's about to hike GPU prices again — here's the actual buy-or-wait math for local AI

A third price hike in one year is reportedly coming for the RTX 50 series — and if you're buying VRAM for local AI, not frame rates, the calculation isn't the same as 'wait for a sale.'

Ravi Malhotra · 6d ago · 7 min

Hardware

the RTX 5060 just jumped $75 overnight in China — and that's usually how it starts

A $299 budget GPU got $75 pricier in 72 hours flat. Here's the actual chain of events, and the honest call on buying now versus waiting.

Ravi Malhotra · Aug 1 · 7 min

AI

buying a used RTX 3090 for local AI? the 5-minute check that saves you from a $1,000 mistake

A used 3090 is still the best VRAM-per-dollar card for local AI — but many were mining cards, and the memory runs hot. Here's exactly what to check before you hand over the cash.

Ravi Malhotra · Jul 28 · 9 min

AI

should you build a local-AI rig in 2026? my honest answer is 'probably not' — with one big exception

this is the question I get more than any other, and my answer disappoints people. the hardware is genuinely capable now. the maths usually still doesn't work — unless one specific thing is true for you.

Lena Fischer · Jul 20 · 9 min