🎮 Interactive RAM Simulator
Play with the sliders to see if a model will run on your system!
16 GB
4096 tokens
Model Size:
4.6 GB
Context Memory:
1.0 GB
Total Required:
5.6 GB
Available (after OS):
13 GB
Will run smoothly!
You have 7.4 GB headroom for other apps
Expected Speed:
~25-35 tokens/sec
💡 Recommendations
- This configuration should work well on your system
Quick RAM Reference
How much RAM do you need for popular GGUF models? Here's a comprehensive reference:
| Model | Parameters | Q4_K_M RAM | Q5_K_M RAM | Q6_K RAM | Q8_0 RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TinyLlama | 1.1B | ~1 GB | ~1.2 GB | ~1.4 GB | ~1.5 GB |
| Llama 3.2 1B | 1B | ~1.5 GB | ~1.8 GB | ~2 GB | ~2.2 GB |
| Qwen 2.5 1.5B | 1.5B | ~2 GB | ~2.3 GB | ~2.6 GB | ~3 GB |
| Phi-2 | 2.7B | ~3 GB | ~3.5 GB | ~4 GB | ~5 GB |
| Llama 3.2 3B | 3B | ~3.5 GB | ~4 GB | ~4.5 GB | ~5.5 GB |
| Mistral 7B | 7B | ~5-6 GB | ~6-7 GB | ~7-8 GB | ~9 GB |
| Llama 3 8B | 8B | ~6 GB | ~7 GB | ~8 GB | ~10 GB |
| Llama 2 13B | 13B | ~9-10 GB | ~11-12 GB | ~13 GB | ~15 GB |
| Mixtral 8x7B | 47B (MoE) | ~26 GB | ~32 GB | ~38 GB | ~50 GB |
| Llama 2 70B | 70B | ~40 GB | ~50 GB | ~55 GB | ~70 GB |
⚠️ Important: These are base model RAM requirements. Add 1-2GB for context window (more for longer contexts) and system overhead. Your OS and other apps also need RAM!
RAM Recommendations by System
8GB RAM
Best models:
TinyLlama 1.1B
Llama 3.2 1B
Qwen 2.5 1.5B
Use Q4_K_M quantization
16GB RAM
Best models:
All 1-3B models
Mistral 7B
Llama 3 8B
Q4_K_M or Q5_K_M
32GB RAM
Best models:
All 7B models
13B models
Mixtral 8x7B
Q5_K_M or Q6_K
64GB+ RAM
Best models:
70B models
Large MoE models
Any quantization
Mistral 7B Memory Deep Dive
Mistral 7B is one of the most popular models. Here's detailed memory info:
Mistral 7B Q4_K_M Memory Breakdown
| Model weights | ~4.1 GB |
| KV cache (2K context) | ~0.5 GB |
| KV cache (8K context) | ~2 GB |
| Compute buffers | ~0.5 GB |
| Total (2K context) | ~5-6 GB |
| Total (8K context) | ~7-8 GB |
💡 Tip: For 16GB RAM systems running Mistral 7B, use 2K-4K context to leave room for your OS and other applications. Reduce context size if you experience slowdowns.
Memory Per Parameter Formula
Quick formula to estimate RAM for any model:
RAM Estimation Formula
RAM (GB) = Parameters (B) × Bytes per Parameter × 1.2 (overhead)
| Quantization | Bytes per Parameter | 7B Model Size |
|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_M | ~0.55 | ~4.6 GB |
| Q5_K_M | ~0.65 | ~5.5 GB |
| Q6_K | ~0.75 | ~6.3 GB |
| Q8_0 | ~1.0 | ~8.4 GB |
| FP16 | ~2.0 | ~16.8 GB |
Context Window Impact
Longer context windows require more RAM. Here's how context affects memory:
| Context Length | 7B Model Extra RAM | 13B Model Extra RAM |
|---|---|---|
| 2,048 tokens | +0.5 GB | +0.8 GB |
| 4,096 tokens | +1 GB | +1.5 GB |
| 8,192 tokens | +2 GB | +3 GB |
| 32,768 tokens | +8 GB | +12 GB |