Reference estimate · Ollama
Start with memory fit, then check the model's task and setup instructions. A verdict estimates compatibility; it does not measure answer quality or speed.
Illustrative 8-core CPU and 500 GB free disk, so these estimates do not check your actual CPU or storage. Available RAM, GPU budget, free VRAM and driver version are unknown. The engine applies memory reserves. GPU paths assume a working supported driver/backend; runtime-version compatibility is not checked. Apple memory is one shared pool. One GPU is evaluated; memory is not pooled across cards.
This configuration is not saved as your PC, and does not add to the completed-scan counter.
Editorial examples chosen for their documented tasks, all Q4_K_M at 4,096 tokens. Check the verdict before downloading. These are estimates, not benchmark rankings.
A small instruction-tuned model for trying local chat with more memory headroom. Review summaries against the source text.
Task and build source · Catalog checked 2026-09-13
Est. memory 2.9 GB · high confidence
Model fits within the unified memory GPU allocation.
ollama run llama3.2:3bAn 8B instruction-tuned alternative to compare on your own prompts. It needs more memory than the 3B example and can still give incorrect answers.
Task and build source · Catalog checked 2026-09-13
Est. memory 5.8 GB · high confidence
Model fits within the unified memory GPU allocation.
ollama run llama3.1:8bA code-focused instruct build. Review generated changes and run your tests; a memory fit is not evidence that its code is correct.
Task and build source · Catalog checked 2026-09-13
Est. memory 5.3 GB · high confidence
Model fits within the unified memory GPU allocation.
ollama run qwen2.5-coder:7bA 14B instruct build for comparing answers when memory allows. Larger size does not establish better results for every task.
Task and build source · Catalog checked 2026-09-13
Est. memory 10.2 GB · high confidence
Model fits within the unified memory GPU allocation.
ollama run qwen2.5:14bAfter opening Ollama's prompt, enter /set parameter num_ctx 4096 to match this calculation, within the model's supported maximum. Install a current Ollama release that supports the build. Setup and troubleshooting.
16 GB system/unified memory · 4,096 token context · 165 good/excellent fits from 220 catalog defaults.
Showing up to 20 builds, fits first and smallest memory first. These technical defaults include base and embedding models. They are not a recommendation ranking. A model's documented maximum context still applies.
| Model / exact build | Download | Est. memory | Result on this example PC |
|---|---|---|---|
| snowflake-arctic-embed snowflake-arctic-embed:22m Est. memory: 0.6 GB Download: 0.0 GB | 0.0 GB | 0.6 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| all-minilm all-minilm:22m Est. memory: 0.6 GB Download: 0.0 GB | 0.0 GB | 0.6 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| granite-embedding granite-embedding:30m Est. memory: 0.6 GB Download: 0.1 GB | 0.1 GB | 0.6 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| smollm smollm:135m-base-v0.2-q4_K_M Exceeds documented context maximum (2,048). Memory estimate only. Est. memory: 0.6 GB Download: 0.1 GB | 0.1 GB | 0.6 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| smollm2 smollm2:135m-instruct-q4_K_M Est. memory: 0.6 GB Download: 0.1 GB | 0.1 GB | 0.6 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| embeddinggemma embeddinggemma:300m-qat-q4_0 Exceeds documented context maximum (2,048). Memory estimate only. Est. memory: 0.8 GB Download: 0.2 GB | 0.2 GB | 0.8 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| nomic-embed-text nomic-embed-text:137m-v1.5-fp16 Exceeds documented context maximum (2,048). Memory estimate only. Est. memory: 0.9 GB Download: 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 0.9 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| functiongemma functiongemma:270m Est. memory: 0.9 GB Download: 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 0.9 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| qwen2 qwen2:0.5b-instruct-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.0 GB Download: 0.4 GB | 0.4 GB | 1.0 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| reader-lm reader-lm:0.5b-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.0 GB Download: 0.4 GB | 0.4 GB | 1.0 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| qwen2.5 qwen2.5:0.5b-base-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.0 GB Download: 0.4 GB | 0.4 GB | 1.0 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| qwen2.5-coder qwen2.5-coder:0.5b-base-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.0 GB Download: 0.4 GB | 0.4 GB | 1.0 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| qwen qwen:0.5b-text-v1.5-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.0 GB Download: 0.4 GB | 0.4 GB | 1.0 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| qwen3 qwen3:0.6b Est. memory: 1.2 GB Download: 0.5 GB | 0.5 GB | 1.2 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| minicpm-v4.6 minicpm-v4.6:1b Est. memory: 1.2 GB Download: 1.5 GB | 1.5 GB | 1.2 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| paraphrase-multilingual paraphrase-multilingual:278m Est. memory: 1.2 GB Download: 0.5 GB | 0.5 GB | 1.2 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| tinydolphin tinydolphin:1.1b-v2.8-q4_K_M Est. memory: 1.4 GB Download: 0.6 GB | 0.6 GB | 1.4 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| tinyllama tinyllama:1.1b-chat-v0.6-q4_K_M Exceeds documented context maximum (2,048). Memory estimate only. Est. memory: 1.4 GB Download: 0.6 GB | 0.6 GB | 1.4 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| mxbai-embed-large mxbai-embed-large:335m Est. memory: 1.4 GB Download: 0.6 GB | 0.6 GB | 1.4 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||
| bge-large bge-large:335m Est. memory: 1.4 GB Download: 0.6 GB | 0.6 GB | 1.4 GB | Excellent fit low confidence |
How this result was calculated
Assumptions and missing information
GB uses 1,024³ bytes. Memory includes weights, context cache and runtime overhead. | |||