Methodology

Every recommendation on LocalRig traces back to a number, and every number is either measured first-party on hardware we already own or compiled from a named public source. This page explains how that testing and sourcing works, so you can judge the guides for yourself.

How we cover hardware we cannot buy

LocalRig cannot rent or buy every GPU. The working coverage model is compiling tokens-per-second and other performance metrics from trusted public accounts: Hugging Face and Unsloth model cards and benches, official lab GitHub releases, the Ollama library, llama.cpp issues with a pinned config, and named X posts that publish a reproducible setup (model, quantization, runtime, and hardware). Those figures are always labeled community-cited and "not independently verified by LocalRig." They are planning ranges, not guarantees — results vary with runtime version, CUDA build, PCIe lanes, and thermal state.

First-party benchmarks

When LocalRig reports a first-party result, it means the hardware was actually run on a machine we already had. Each first-party benchmark records the exact machine and memory configuration, the runtime and its version (for example llama.cpp build b9820 or Ollama 0.30.11), the model and quantization (for example Llama 3.1 8B Q4_K_M), and the date the data was collected. That data date is shown on the article, because inference performance shifts as runtimes and drivers change. First-party is a bonus when the silicon is in the house. It is not required before a guide can cite a public number.

Prices and availability

Price and availability claims carry a data date and are refreshed on a rolling basis (targeted at 90 days or sooner for fast-moving parts). The used-GPU market in particular moves with each new NVIDIA release, so guides tell you to verify current listings before buying rather than trusting a stale figure.

How recommendations are decided

• Fit before speed. VRAM determines what you can run; memory bandwidth determines how fast it runs. Compute (FLOPS) matters far less for token generation, so it is weighted accordingly.
• Best-fit, not best-paying. Picks are never ranked by affiliate commission. When a used card, a non-affiliate part, or renting in the cloud is the better answer, that's what the guide says.
• No invented figures. If a benchmark wasn't run and no source exists, the guide states the uncertainty instead of filling it with a made-up number.
• Scope stated plainly. Each guide includes a "Who this is NOT for" section so you can tell fast whether it answers your situation.

Corrections

If a number looks wrong or has gone stale, email [email protected] and it will be checked against the source. See also the about and affiliate disclosure pages.