#local-llm
27 posts tagged with #local-llm
Every article below is hand-written, technically reviewed, and focused on local-llm. Posts cover real-world architecture decisions, code-level implementation patterns, and trade-offs you'll only discover after shipping production systems.
Developer Tools Run Local LLMs in VS Code: No Copilot Plan [2026]
VS Code now wires Ollama and LM Studio straight into Copilot Chat's model picker — no CLI, no Continue.dev, no Copilot subscription. Here's the full 2026 setup, both paths compared, plus the troubleshooting nobody documents.
AI and Machine Learning Gemma 4 26B CPU Inference Benchmark: 5 tok/s Production Math [2026]
A $300 Xeon from 2013 runs Gemma 4 26B at 5 tok/s with no GPU. Here's the memory bandwidth math, quantization tradeoffs, and production decision framework nobody else is covering.
AI and Machine Learning RTX 4060 Ti vs RTX 4070 for Local LLM Inference in 2026
I'd pick the RTX 4060 Ti if you're running sub-13B models solo on a tight budget, and the RTX 4070 if VRAM headroom and generation speed actually matter to your workflow. The $150 price gap is real, but so is the performance cliff you hit at 16GB models.
AI and Machine Learning The Complete Guide to AI Hardware in 2026
A complete 2026 guide to AI hardware — covering GPUs, Apple Silicon, edge devices, CPUs, and the semiconductor supply chain — so you can choose the right setup for running local LLMs and AI workloads without wasting money.
Technology LM Studio vs Ollama 2026: 3 Shifts That Change Everything
LM Studio and Ollama have converged so much in 2026 that every old comparison is wrong — here's what actually matters now for choosing your local LLM tool.
AI and Machine Learning Local LLM Cost vs Cloud API: 2026 Break-Even Math [Calculator]
A workload-specific break-even framework with real per-token math — hardware amortization vs. API spend — for coding, RAG, and batch workloads in 2026.
AI and Machine Learning LLM Quantization Levels Compared: Q4_K_M vs Q8_0 vs FP16 [2026]
The practitioner's guide to choosing between Q4_K_M, Q5_K_S, Q8_0, and FP16 quantization for local LLMs — with real perplexity numbers, throughput benchmarks, and per-use-case recommendations.
![GGUF vs GPTQ vs EXL2: LLM Quantization Compared [2026]](https://img.kunalganglani.com/images/vzekdneq/production/34e429bea58e21d5119b5baad6b9efe44974be77-1200x675.webp?auto=format&fit=max&q=75&w=600)
AI and Machine Learning GGUF vs GPTQ vs EXL2: LLM Quantization Compared [2026]
A head-to-head comparison of GGUF, GPTQ, and EXL2 quantization formats with real quality, speed, and VRAM trade-offs — updated for the 2026 Hugging Face acquisition of ggml.ai.
![Fine-Tune Open-Source LLMs: LoRA, QLoRA, Gemma 4 [2026]](https://img.kunalganglani.com/images/vzekdneq/production/bbdfb150ddb4280a3411f8cbcf4d7f0f54cfdf63-1200x675.webp?auto=format&fit=max&q=75&w=600)
AI and Machine Learning Fine-Tune Open-Source LLMs: LoRA, QLoRA, Gemma 4 [2026]
A practical 2026 guide to fine-tuning open-source LLMs with LoRA and QLoRA using Unsloth + Gemma 4 — including GPU requirements, hyperparameter defaults, evaluation setup, and when to just prompt instead.
![Linux vs Windows vs macOS for Local AI [2026 Compared]](https://img.kunalganglani.com/images/vzekdneq/production/649947e748ba7040e11ca2a4012c16e535f4ca37-1200x675.webp?auto=format&fit=max&q=75&w=600)
AI and Machine Learning Linux vs Windows vs macOS for Local AI [2026 Compared]
Your OS choice affects local LLM inference speed more than your model pick. Here's the benchmark-driven breakdown of Linux, Windows, and macOS for local AI in 2026.
![GLM-5.2 vs Claude Fable 5: Open-Source AI Challenges the Throne [2026]](https://img.kunalganglani.com/images/vzekdneq/production/def90c1fb8ed7133b55d3c4e9e53af34f4fb6312-1200x675.webp?auto=format&fit=max&q=75&w=600)
AI and Machine Learning GLM-5.2 vs Claude Fable 5: Open-Source AI Challenges the Throne [2026]
Zhipu AI's 753B open-weight GLM-5.2 is the highest-ranking open-source model on lmarena.ai, challenging Claude Fable 5 across WebDev and Agent benchmarks — and it's already runnable locally via Ollama.
Developer Tools Homelab AI Coding Server: Run OpenCode Across All Devices [2026]
How to set up OpenCode as a persistent, PR-gated AI coding server on your homelab — accessible from every device, isolated from production, and free from vendor lock-in.
AI and Machine Learning GLM 5.2: China's Open Frontier Model Dropped the Day Anthropic Got Banned [2026]
On June 13, 2026, the US government cracked down on Anthropic's Claude Fable 5. Hours later, China's ZhipuAI open-sourced GLM 5.2 under MIT license — with a 1M context window and frontier-grade coding scores. This is what happened, why it matters, and how to use it today.
AI and Machine Learning Local Agentic Coding Workflow in 2026: What YouTube Tutorials Get Right (And the Production Gaps That'll Burn You)
Local agentic coding is genuinely viable in mid-2026 — but the YouTube tutorials showing you how skip the failure modes that matter most in production. Here's the full picture.
Technology Hermes Agent Desktop Free With Local LLMs: The Claude Code Alternative Nobody's Billing You For [2026]
Hermes Agent runs a full coding agent on your local machine with zero API costs. Here's which models actually work, the hardware you need, and how to set it up.
AI and Machine Learning Gemma 4 12B vs GPT-4o Mini vs Claude Haiku: Is Google's Local LLM Good Enough to Replace API Calls? [2026]
I ran Gemma's 12B model locally via Ollama and compared it against GPT-4o Mini and Claude Haiku on real dev tasks — here's when the free local model actually beats paid APIs.
Developer Tools vLLM vs Ollama 2026: Production Power or Developer Ease?
vLLM wins for high-throughput production deployments where every token/second counts; Ollama wins for local developer workflows where setup speed and portability matter most. Pick wrong and you'll either over-engineer a side project or under-power a real API.
AI and Machine Learning RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 for AI in 2026: Which GPU Actually Wins?
The RTX 5090 wins for bleeding-edge AI training and large model inference, but the RTX 4090 remains the smarter buy for most local AI workloads in 2026. Here's exactly when each GPU earns its place.
AI and Machine Learning Apple Silicon vs NVIDIA GPU for Local LLMs in 2026: Which Wins?
NVIDIA wins on raw throughput and ecosystem depth for serious multi-GPU workloads; Apple Silicon wins on memory bandwidth per dollar and zero-friction local inference for solo developers. Your budget and batch size decide the rest.
AI and Machine Learning Intel Arc B580 vs RTX 4060 for AI Workloads in 2026: Which Budget GPU Actually Wins?
The RTX 4060 wins for production AI pipelines thanks to CUDA's mature ecosystem, but the Intel Arc B580 wins on raw memory bandwidth and value per dollar for local LLM inference. Your choice comes down to software stack, not just specs.
AI and Machine Learning Run Gemma 3 Locally on Windows: The VRAM Guide Nobody Gave You [2026]
I break down exactly how much VRAM you need for every Gemma 3 model size, the Ollama setup on Windows with NVIDIA GPUs, and the performance tweaks that actually matter.
Technology Portable LLM on a USB Stick: Offline AI Setup [2026]
Run a full LLM from a USB drive with zero internet. Covers Ollama portable setup, LM Studio on external drives, USB Uncensored LLM migration, and GGUF model selection with real performance numbers.
AI and Machine Learning Fine-Tuning Gemma 2 for Code Generation: 31 Percentage Points of Accuracy for Under $15 [2026 Guide]
I fine-tuned Google's Gemma 2 9B model for Python code generation using QLoRA on a single GPU. Accuracy jumped from 42% to 73% — here's exactly how, what it cost, and what I learned.
AI and Machine Learning Local LLM vs Claude for Coding: $500 GPU Benchmarked [2026]
I benchmarked an RTX 4070 Ti Super against Claude Sonnet 5 across 50 real developer tasks. Updated for Qwen3-Coder, new pricing, and how to use Claude Code with a local LLM backend.
Technology AMD ROCm vs CUDA for Local AI [2026 Compared]
After months of running LLMs on AMD hardware, here's the brutally honest comparison of ROCm vs CUDA that no marketing page will give you — covering real performance, setup friction, and which GPUs actually work.
AI and Machine Learning Apple's M5 Max Just Made the Case for Local AI Development. NVIDIA Should Pay Attention.
128GB of unified memory at 614 GB/s in a laptop. The M5 Max isn't just a faster chip — it's a completely different approach to running large language models locally.
Technology Local LLM Hardware Guide 2026: VRAM, GPUs, and Setup [Tested]
Every VRAM tier, GPU option, and runtime tool mapped out for running local LLMs in 2026 — from budget CPU-only rigs to RTX 5090 and Apple Silicon M5 workstations.