Old PC vs New AI: Can a 2015 Desktop Actually Run Gemma 4? (2B vs 4B Benchmark) (opens in new tab)

Running modern AI models locally on older hardware sounds almost impossible. But with smaller models like Gemma 4 and tools like Ollama, local AI is starting to become surprisingly accessible even on aging machines. I still have my old desktop computer, bought back in 2015. It is still fast enough for development and even for playing some of my favorite games. At this point, it feels like a member of the family (it’s actually older than my oldest kid). The only thing it could never really han...