Can a Mac Studio replace a V100 instance for fine-tuning 7B parameter models? I am building a "Private Cloud Lab" in my basement to find out.
The goal is simple: Create a completely offline, privacy-preserving AI development environment that rivals the capabilities of a cloud workspace, without the monthly AWS bill.
The Hardware
I'm testing the Apple M-series silicon against consumer NVIDIA cards (RTX 4090s). The unified memory architecture of the Mac is a game changer for inference with large batches, but CUDA support is still the king of training.
The Goal
I want to be able to fine-tune a Mistral-7B model on my own emails, locally, overnight. No data leaves the house. This series will document the thermal throttling issues, the memory bandwidth bottlenecks, and the sheer joy of running a "Sovereign AI" on your desk.
Stay tuned for benchmarks, build guides, and likely some melted cables.