RunAIHow.comLearn How To Run LocallyUpdated: OCTOBER 2026Blog
Practical guides on running AI models on your own hardware.
Welcome to RunAIHow: What This Site Is and How to Use It
New here? A two-minute tour of the three panels — compatibility, token cost, and local vs cloud — and how to answer 'can my PC run this AI model?' in under a minute.
September 20, 2026 · 5 min read · Read guide →
Getting Started with Ollama: Install and Run AI Models on Your Own Machine
A beginner-friendly guide to installing Ollama on Windows, macOS, and Linux, pulling your first model, using the built-in API, and picking a model that fits your GPU.
September 17, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
Build Your Own Private ChatGPT: Ollama + Open WebUI on Any PC
Turn Ollama into a full ChatGPT-style experience with chat history, document uploads, and multi-user access — running entirely on your own hardware.
September 18, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
How Much VRAM Do You Actually Need? Context, Quantization, and the Math Nobody Explains
Weights vs KV-cache, the real VRAM formula, and worked examples from 1B to 70B — how to size a GPU for the model and context length you actually want.
September 18, 2026 · 8 min read · Read guide →
Best Budget GPUs for Local AI in 2026: RTX 5060 Ti 16GB vs RTX 3090 vs RX 7900 XTX
VRAM capacity, memory bandwidth, power draw, and software support — which sub-$1000 card runs the models you care about fastest, and when used wins.
September 18, 2026 · 9 min read · Read guide →
Q4 vs Q8 vs FP16: What Quantization Actually Costs You in Quality and Memory
What those Q4_K_M labels really mean, how much quality each level gives up, why the sweet spot exists, and how to read our VRAM estimates correctly.
September 19, 2026 · 8 min read · Read guide →
Cloud API Bills Adding Up? Finding Your Local-vs-Cloud Break-Even Point
A worked financial example: GPU price, electricity, and token volume — how to tell after how many months your own hardware beats paying per token.
September 19, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
LM Studio vs Ollama: Which Local AI App Should You Use?
Two popular ways to run models on your desktop — a practical comparison of setup, model discovery, interfaces, APIs, and who each tool is really for.
September 20, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
Context Windows Explained: What 8K vs 128K Actually Means for You
What a context window holds, why models forget, how much of your documents actually fit, and what long contexts cost in VRAM.
September 20, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
Why a '235B' Model Runs Like a 22B: Mixture-of-Experts Explained
Total parameters vs active parameters — how MoE models deliver big-model quality with small-model speed, and how to read names like Qwen3-235B-A22B.
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read · Read guide →
Local AI on Apple Silicon: How Far Can 16GB, 36GB, or 128GB Go?
Unified memory changes the rules — which Macs run which models, what the bandwidth numbers really deliver, and the honest limits of laptop-class chips.
September 20, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
Tokens Per Second Explained: Why Memory Bandwidth Beats Everything
The decode-speed formula, what 10 vs 50 vs 100 tokens per second actually feels like, and why a slower 'gaming' GPU can beat a faster one at AI.
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read · Read guide →
PSUs, Cooling, and 24/7 Inference: Building a PC That Can Run AI All Day
Sustained AI loads are unlike gaming — power supply sizing, airflow, dust, and noise for a machine that pins its GPU for hours at a time.
September 20, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
RAG vs Fine-Tuning: Making a Model Know Your Documents
Two very different ways to customize an AI — what each costs, when retrieval beats training, and how Open WebUI's document chat fits in.
September 20, 2026 · 7 min read · Read guide →
GGUF Files Explained: What You're Actually Downloading
Inside the file format behind Ollama and llama.cpp — how to read names like 'qwen2.5-32b-q4_k_m', where files live, and how to manage disk space.
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read · Read guide →
Buying a Used GPU for AI: The 10-Point Checklist
Local AI lives at 100% load for hours — how to test VRAM, thermals, and honesty before you hand over cash for a secondhand card.
September 20, 2026 · 8 min read · Read guide →
Prompt Caching and Batch APIs: Legit Ways to Cut Your Cloud Bill 50-90%
Before buying hardware, make sure you're not overpaying the cloud — cached inputs, batch processing, and model-tier choices that change the math.
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read · Read guide →
Building a Dual-GPU 48GB Rig for 70B Models: A Practical Guide
Two mid-range cards can out-muscle one flagship — pairing, layer splitting, motherboard and PSU planning, and the honest performance expectations.
September 20, 2026 · 8 min read · Read guide →
More guides coming soon — stay tuned.