TechFuel HQReal hardware guides from someone who actually uses this stuff.
No sponsored picks. No paid placement. 13 years of building PCs and running servers — just what I use and why.
By Lowell K. Wood IV — 13-year homelabber & PC builder in St. Louis
How We Test
From 2024 through early 2026 I ran a home test bench in St. Louis County, MO — measuring idle power draw at the wall, logging thermals under sustained load, and benchmarking on hardware I bought with my own money. Most of that gear has since been sold or retired (see About and Colophon for the full timeline). Today the site combines my hands-on history with a synthesis of cited third-party benchmarks — ServeTheHome, Phoronix, Tom’s Hardware, TechPowerUp — plus original first-party runs on the rigs I still own (most recently the ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC dataset). No vendor samples, no sponsored content, no paid placement.
Start Here
New to the site? These three guides cover the essentials.
ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Review: First-Party 4K Benchmarks
ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC review with TechFuelHQ benchmarks: 3DMark, Cyberpunk 4K path tracing, DLSS 4 MFG, plus power and thermals across three profiles.
Build GuideAORUS FO48U Review (2026): 48-inch 4K OLED Gaming Monitor
AORUS FO48U review: 48-inch 4K 120Hz OLED with DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1, and a built-in KVM. First-hand daily-driver take, real pricing, pros and cons.
Self-Hosted12 Best Self-Hosted Apps 2026 to Replace SaaS
The 12 best self-hosted apps to replace SaaS in 2026: Immich, Nextcloud AIO, Vaultwarden, Paperless-ngx, Jellyfin, and more, with Docker files and hardware.
First-Party Data & Tools →
Original benchmark data and free calculators you will not find anywhere else.
ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC — First-Party Bench Dataset
First-party 3DMark Time Spy, clocks, thermals, board power, DLSS 4 MFG, and 4K native gaming results from the ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC by TechFuelHQ.
ToolPC Builder: Parts Picker with Compatibility Checks
Interactive PC build picker with 2026 pricing, socket and chipset compatibility checks, PSU wattage validation, and case clearance. CC BY 4.0 parts dataset.
GuidePSU Calculator: Power Supply Wattage Calculator
A free PSU calculator that sizes your power supply from your actual parts. Pick your CPU and GPU to see peak system draw, the minimum PSU wattage, and the size that lands you in the efficiency sweet spot.
Hardware Reviews →
Long-term reviews of gear I bought, ran, and measured myself.
ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Review: First-Party 4K Benchmarks
ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC review with TechFuelHQ benchmarks: 3DMark, Cyberpunk 4K path tracing, DLSS 4 MFG, plus power and thermals across three profiles.
ReviewRyzen 7 7800X3D Review (2026): Still the Gaming CPU Standard
Ryzen 7 7800X3D review from 3 years of daily use: is it still good in 2026? 3D V-Cache gaming lead, where the gap to the 9800X3D/9850X3D actually closes, real thermals, live pricing, and buy advice.
ReviewNZXT Kraken 360 Review: Long-Term on a Ryzen 7 7800X3D (2026)
Long-term NZXT Kraken 360 review from a Ryzen 7 7800X3D build: AM5 install, NZXT CAM software, 3D V-Cache thermals, pump noise, and is the LCD worth it.
ReviewROG STRIX B650-A Gaming WiFi Review: AM5 ATX for the Homelab
ROG STRIX B650-A Gaming WiFi review from a Ryzen 7 7800X3D build: DDR5 tuning, X3D power delivery, WiFi 6E, PCIe slot layout, and what ASUS got wrong.
ReviewEVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GT Review: Gold PSU After the GPU Exit
EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GT long-term review: 80 Plus Gold, fully modular, Seasonic platform, from a brand that left GPUs. Buying new or used and warranty in 2026.
ReviewSamsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB Review (2026): A PCIe 3.0 Keeper
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe review from daily use in a Ryzen 7 7800X3D build: sequential speed, game load times, heat under write, and Gen4 advice for 2026.
Homelab Guides →
Run a home server the smart way: Proxmox, TrueNAS, NAS builds, and mini-PCs.
Proxmox vs TrueNAS vs Unraid: ZFS, btrfs, and Homelab IOPS
Unraid vs TrueNAS vs Proxmox in 2026: which storage platform to pick, how their ZFS and btrfs backends really differ, and the homelab IOPS, redundancy, and rebuild tradeoffs.
HomelabBest Mini PC for a Homelab 2026: MS-01, NUC, SFF
The best mini PC for a homelab in 2026, ranked by budget: MS-01 for dual 10GbE, ASUS NUC 14 for 8W idle, used OptiPlex under $200. Real idle watts and picks.
HardwareHow to Set Up Proxmox on a Mini PC: First VM in Under an Hour
Set up Proxmox VE on a mini PC step by step -- install, storage, networking, and your first VM in under an hour (works on the MS-01, NUC 14 Pro, or EliteDesk 800 G4).
HomelabTurn an Old Gaming PC Into a Proxmox Server in 2026: Step-by-Step
Build a Proxmox gaming server from an old gaming PC: the four BIOS toggles, Proxmox VE 8 install, GPU passthrough, idle-wattage math, and when to skip it.
ComparisonProxmox vs ESXi in 2026: Free ESXi Is Back, But Does It Matter?
Proxmox vs ESXi in 2026: free ESXi 8.0U3e returns but caps at 2 CPUs and 8 vCPUs/VM, while Proxmox VE 9.2 is fully open with no caps. Licensing and verdict.
ComparisonBest Budget NAS Build 2026: 4-Bay DIY in the Drive + RAM Crunch
Budget NAS build 2026: 4-bay AOOSTAR WTR Pro barebone under $400, then the 2026 double squeeze - both HDD and DDR5 RAM prices spiked. Recert drives, TrueNAS/Unraid/OMV.
PC Hardware & Builds →
Parts picks and full build guides, from a budget AM5 box to a flagship 4K rig.
The $1,500 RTX 5060 Ti Mid-Range 1440p Build for 2026
A real $1,500 build I'd put my own money in: RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, Ryzen 7 7700, 32GB DDR5-6000, 2TB Gen4. May 2026 prices, parts list, and 1440p benchmarks.
Build GuideDDR5 RAM Buying Guide 2026: What It Actually Costs Now
What DDR5 actually costs in July 2026 during the AI-driven memory shortage: live 32GB, 64GB and per-GB kit prices, the multiplier off the pre-shortage floor, the CL30 sweet spot, and which kit to buy for Ryzen or Intel.
Build GuideAORUS FO48U Review (2026): 48-inch 4K OLED Gaming Monitor
AORUS FO48U review: 48-inch 4K 120Hz OLED with DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1, and a built-in KVM. First-hand daily-driver take, real pricing, pros and cons.
GPU Reviews →
Head-to-head GPU comparisons with real 1440p and 4K numbers.
RTX 5070 Ti vs RX 9070 XT: Which GPU Wins at $600–750?
RTX 5070 Ti vs RX 9070 XT for 1440p and 4K gaming: VRAM, rasterization vs ray tracing, DLSS 4 vs FSR 4, power draw, and which to buy for your workload.
GPUBest GPU for 4K Gaming 2026: Which Tier Makes Sense
4K gaming GPU picks for 2026: RTX 5080, 5070 Ti, 5070, RX 9070 XT. Where each fits, the VRAM and performance 4K needs, and how DLSS 4 MFG factors in.
GPU ReviewsRTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9060 XT: The Honest 1440p Showdown for 2026
RTX 5060 Ti vs RX 9060 XT at 1440p: 8-game FPS, a 1% raster tie, the real 2026 street-price gap, ray tracing, DLSS 4 vs FSR 4, the 8GB trap, and a clear pick by use case.
Networking →
Home and homelab networking: 10GbE, VLANs, PoE, and firewalls.
10GbE Homelab Networking on a Budget: A 2026 Guide
Build a 10GbE homelab link for $50 with used Mellanox ConnectX-3 cards and DACs. Three full-stack tiers, four switches compared, plus when 2.5GbE is enough.
networkingHomelab Firewall & Router: pfSense vs OPNsense vs MikroTik
pfSense Plus, OPNsense 26.1, MikroTik RouterOS 7, and UniFi 4.1 compared on a real homelab bench: throughput, IDS, multi-WAN, and where each one falls down.
NetworkingBest Homelab Networking Gear Under $200 (2026): Routers & APs
Best homelab router under $200 in 2026: MikroTik RB5009, UniFi Cloud Gateway Max, GL.iNet Flint 2 and MikroTik hAP ax3 compared on speed, ports and VPN, plus switches and Wi-Fi 7 APs.
Self-Hosted →
Replace monthly subscriptions with apps you host yourself.
12 Best Self-Hosted Apps 2026 to Replace SaaS
The 12 best self-hosted apps to replace SaaS in 2026: Immich, Nextcloud AIO, Vaultwarden, Paperless-ngx, Jellyfin, and more, with Docker files and hardware.
ArticleJellyfin vs Plex (2026): The Honest Comparison
Jellyfin vs Plex in 2026: free open source vs polished paywall. Full breakdown on transcoding, mobile apps, remote access, and a verdict by use case.
TutorialProxmox Cluster Setup: 2-Node and 3-Node HA (2026)
Build a Proxmox cluster from scratch: 2-node vs 3-node, corosync quorum, NFS or Ceph storage, live migration, HA groups, and fencing, with config.
TutorialSelf-Hosting Essentials: What to Self-Host First and Why
Six self-hosted services in the right order, with real hardware needs: Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Immich, and Home Assistant.