local ai

2 articles · newest first

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 · 19h ago · 9 min

Hardware

Nvidia's DGX Spark costs 2.4x a Strix Halo mini-PC. it barely beats it on the number everyone checks

both give you ~128GB of unified memory for local AI, and their memory bandwidth is almost the same — 273 vs 256 GB/s. so the $2,700 gap buys something else entirely. here's what, and who it's actually for.

Ravi Malhotra · 2d ago · 6 min