Prerequisites

If you want to join me on my journey, you need to meet a few prerequisites. Unfortunately, the world of AI is very ressource‑hungry…

The most important are (in case you have a supported GPU of your own):

  1. VRAM
  2. RAM (if the models are too big for the graphics card’s memory)
  3. The computational power of the graphics card
  4. Disk space (a few gigabytes can add up quickly)
  5. A fast internet connection (those gigabytes still need to be downloaded first)
  6. Finally, the CPU

If you do not have a supported GPU in your computer:

  1. Time
  2. CPU
  3. RAM
  4. Disk space
  5. Internet connection

You should also have some basic knowledge of using Linux or Windows and be able to install the desired system. Most content and tutorials on this site will quickly push a beginner to their limits, so you should be able to search for solutions independently if problems arise.

If you use an AMD graphics card, you should definitely use Linux (as of December 2024), because only there is ROCm (the AMD equivalent of NVIDIA’s CUDA) supported. Even then you may encounter insurmountable hurdles. The AMD path is rocky.