Real hardware guides from someone who actually uses this stuff.
No sponsored picks. No affiliate-first recommendations. 13 years of building PCs and running servers — just what I use and why.
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 affiliate-first picks.
New to the site? These three guides cover the essentials.
Best Mini PC for a Homelab 2026: MS-01, NUC, SFF
The best mini PC for a homelab in 2026 by budget: MS-01 for 10GbE, ASUS NUC 14 for low idle, used OptiPlex under $200. Specs, idle watts, and picks.
Self-Hosted12 Best Self-Hosted Apps 2026 to Replace SaaS: Immich, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden + 9 More
The 12 best self-hosted apps to actually replace your SaaS subscriptions in 2026: Immich (Google Photos), Nextcloud AIO (Dropbox), Vaultwarden (1Password), Paperless-ngx, Jellyfin, plus 7 more. Docker compose files and hardware requirements included.
Best Mini PC for a Homelab 2026: MS-01, NUC, SFF
The best mini PC for a homelab in 2026 by budget: MS-01 for 10GbE, ASUS NUC 14 for low idle, used OptiPlex under $200. Specs, idle watts, and picks.
HomelabTurn an Old Gaming PC Into a Proxmox Server in 2026: Step-by-Step
Step-by-step: turn a 2018-era gaming PC into a Proxmox VE 8 homelab server. BIOS settings, install, GPU passthrough, idle wattage.
ComparisonProxmox vs ESXi in 2026: Free ESXi Is Back, But Does It Matter?
Free ESXi 8.0 returned with limits. Proxmox VE is open source with no VM caps. Real benchmarks, feature comparison, and an honest verdict on which hypervisor wins for homelabs in 2026.
ComparisonBest Budget NAS Build 2026: 4-Bay Home NAS Under $400 (AOOSTAR + TrueNAS / Unraid)
Build a 4-bay home NAS in 2026 for under $400 barebone. AOOSTAR WTR Pro N100 vs 5825U, used HP EliteDesk + DAS, and the DIY 4U rack path. TrueNAS CE 25.10, Unraid 7, OpenMediaVault 7 compared with cited prices.
DDR5 RAM Buying Guide for 2026: Stop Overpaying for Speed You Can't Feel
DDR5-6000 to 6400 is the smart money in 2026. Real benchmark scores, specific kit recommendations at 32GB, 64GB, and 96GB, and the gotchas nobody warns you about.
Build GuideAORUS FO48U Review (2026): 48-inch 4K OLED Gaming Monitor with DP 1.4 + KVM
Gigabyte AORUS FO48U review 2026: 48-inch 4K 120Hz OLED, DisplayPort 1.4, four HDMI 2.1, built-in KVM. $700-$1,199 street price, manufacturer specs cited, honest pros and cons.
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 ($300/$600/$1000), four switches compared, plus a verdict on when 2.5GbE is enough.
networkingThe 2026 Homelab Firewall & Router Stack: pfSense vs OPNsense vs MikroTik vs UniFi — Honest Trade-offs
pfSense Plus, OPNsense 25.10, 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, Switches, Wi-Fi 7 APs
The 2026 budget homelab networking picks: MikroTik CRS305 + RB5009UG, Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra, TP-Link EAP783 Wi-Fi 7 AP, all under $200. Cited prices, manufacturer specs, honest tradeoffs.
12 Best Self-Hosted Apps 2026 to Replace SaaS: Immich, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden + 9 More
The 12 best self-hosted apps to actually replace your SaaS subscriptions in 2026: Immich (Google Photos), Nextcloud AIO (Dropbox), Vaultwarden (1Password), Paperless-ngx, Jellyfin, plus 7 more. Docker compose files and hardware requirements included.
TutorialSelf-Hosting Essentials: What to Self-Host First and Why
Six self-hosted services in the right order, with real hardware requirements for each. Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Immich, and Home Assistant — what you actually need to run them.
PC Builder — Pick parts, check compatibility, get an honest total
Interactive PC build picker with real 2026 pricing, socket and chipset compatibility checks, PSU wattage validation, and case clearance. CC BY 4.0 parts dataset.
GuideASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC — First-Party Bench Dataset (2026-06-09)
First-party 3DMark Time Spy, clocks, thermals, board power, DLSS 4 MFG, and 8-game 4K native results from the ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC, captured by TechFuelHQ. Open data under CC BY 4.0.