Your rig

CPU only · DDR5 8-channel server · 256 GB

DDR5-4800 ×8 · 307 GB/s · 204.8 GB usable of 256 GB system RAM
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Context length

KV cache at f16, 32K tokens

Quality floor
Q8_0 — near-lossless Q6_K Q5_K_M Q4_K_M — recommended Q3_K_M Q2_K — damaged
KV cache type
Runtime
Ollamallama.cppLM Studio

3 of 5 runtimes drive this device.

Allow CPU offload Include partial-offload fits

Offloaded layers run at 60 GB/s host bandwidth — expect single-digit tokens per second.

Which one should I actually run?

Best models for your CPU only · DDR5 8-channel server

Updated 21 Aug 2026 5 new this week, 14 this month

What do you want to do? Each row is the best-ranked model on that use case's shortlist that fits at Q2_K and 32K. The ordering is editorial; the sizes and speeds are computed. How the shortlists work.

RecommendationModelWhyQuant · totalTok/s est.
Best overall DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Frontier-adjacent at 13B active; the largest model a 128–192 GB machine runs at a useful speed. Q2_K · 112.9 GB 11 Runs great
Best for coding DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Frontier coding at 13B active for 128 GB+ machines. Q2_K · 112.9 GB 11 Runs great
Best reasoning DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Most of V4 Pro's reasoning at 13B active. Q2_K · 112.9 GB 11 Runs great
Best for writing Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
Meta · Llama 3.3 Community
The creative-writing favourite: consistent voice, takes direction, handles fiction framing. Q2_K · 38.1 GB 4.7 Runs great
Best vision Qwen3.8 27B New this week
Alibaba · Apache 2.0
Image and video in, OSWorld 84 — the strongest local vision-language model at 24 GB. Q2_K · 13.4 GB 12 Runs great
Best for agents DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Long agent trajectories at 13B active. Q2_K · 112.9 GB 11 Runs great
Best translation Qwen3.8 27B New this week
Alibaba · Apache 2.0
119 languages, and Qwen translations read as idiomatic rather than literal. Q2_K · 13.4 GB 12 Runs great
Fastest good model Qwen3.6 35B-A3B
Alibaba · Apache 2.0
3.3B active per token: the fastest model that still competes with dense 27Bs. Q2_K · 15.2 GB 44 Runs great
Best long context DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
A 1M-token window with a compressed latent cache. Q2_K · 117.4 GB
at 128K context
11 Runs great

Everything that fits

Runs great

70 of 76 · fits with headroom for a longer prompt
ModelParamsQuantWeights +KV 32KTotal VRAM headroom Tok/sRuntime
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 403B MoE / 17B act Q2_K 157.2 GB 0.94 GB 158.7 GB
46.1 GB free
8.6 llama.cpp Run
Ornith 1.5 397B-A17B New this week 397B MoE / 17B act Q2_K 154.8 GB 0.94 GB 156.4 GB
48.4 GB free
8.6 llama.cpp Run
DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New 284B MoE / 13B act Q2_K 110.8 GB 1.51 GB 112.9 GB
91.9 GB free
11 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 235B-A22B 235B MoE / 22B act Q2_K 91.6 GB 5.88 GB 98.1 GB
106.7 GB free
6.7 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.5 122B-A10B 125B MoE / 10B act Q2_K 48.7 GB 0.75 GB 50.1 GB
154.7 GB free
15 llama.cpp Run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B 124B MoE / 12B act Q2_K 48.4 GB 0.25 GB 49.2 GB
155.6 GB free
12 llama.cpp Run
Ling 3.0 Flash 124B-A5B New 124B MoE / 5.1B act Q2_K 48.4 GB 0.25 GB 49.2 GB
155.6 GB free
29 llama.cpp Run
Mistral Small 4 119B-A6B 119B MoE / 6.5B act Q2_K 46.4 GB 0.70 GB 47.7 GB
157.1 GB free
23 llama.cpp Run
gpt-oss 120B 117B MoE / 5.1B act MXFP4 60.5 GB 1.13 GB 62.2 GB
142.6 GB free
22 llama.cpp Run
Llama 4 Scout 109B-A17B 109B MoE / 17B act Q2_K 42.5 GB 2.63 GB 45.7 GB
159.1 GB free
8.6 llama.cpp Run
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct 70.6B Q2_K 27.5 GB 10.00 GB 38.1 GB
166.7 GB free
4.7 llama.cpp Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 70B 70.6B Q2_K 27.5 GB 10.00 GB 38.1 GB
166.7 GB free
4.7 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 35.9B MoE / 3.3B act Q2_K 14.0 GB 0.63 GB 15.2 GB
189.6 GB free
44 llama.cpp Run
Ornith 1.5 35B-A3B New this week 35.9B MoE / 3.3B act Q2_K 14.0 GB 0.63 GB 15.2 GB
189.6 GB free
44 llama.cpp Run
LLM-jp 4 33B Thinking New this week 33.2B Q2_K 12.9 GB 8.00 GB 21.5 GB
183.3 GB free
9.9 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 32B 32.8B Q2_K 12.8 GB 8.00 GB 21.4 GB
183.4 GB free
10 llama.cpp Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B 32.8B Q2_K 12.8 GB 8.00 GB 21.4 GB
183.4 GB free
10 llama.cpp Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 32B 32.8B Q2_K 12.8 GB 8.00 GB 21.4 GB
183.4 GB free
10 llama.cpp Run
Olmo 3.1 32B Instruct 32.2B Q2_K 12.6 GB 2.75 GB 15.9 GB
188.9 GB free
10 llama.cpp Run
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B New 31.6B MoE / 3.2B act Q2_K 12.3 GB 0.19 GB 13.1 GB
191.7 GB free
46 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 4 31B 31.3B Q2_K 12.2 GB 5.78 GB 18.6 GB
186.2 GB free
11 llama.cpp Run
GLM-4.7-Flash 30B-A3B 31.2B MoE / 3B act Q2_K 12.2 GB 1.65 GB 14.4 GB
190.4 GB free
49 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 30B-A3B 30.5B MoE / 3.3B act Q2_K 11.9 GB 3.00 GB 15.5 GB
189.3 GB free
44 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B 30.5B MoE / 3.3B act Q2_K 11.9 GB 3.00 GB 15.5 GB
189.3 GB free
44 llama.cpp Run
Muse Glimmer 30B New 29.8B Q2_K 11.6 GB 0.48 GB 12.7 GB
192.1 GB free
11 llama.cpp Run
Granite 4.1 30B 28.9B Q2_K 11.3 GB 8.00 GB 19.9 GB
184.9 GB free
11 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.8 27B New this week 27.8B Q2_K 10.8 GB 2.00 GB 13.4 GB
191.4 GB free
12 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.6 27B 27.8B Q2_K 10.8 GB 2.00 GB 13.4 GB
191.4 GB free
12 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 3 27B 27.4B Q2_K 10.7 GB 2.91 GB 14.2 GB
190.6 GB free
12 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 4 26B-A4B 26.5B MoE / 3.8B act Q2_K 10.3 GB 1.45 GB 12.4 GB
192.4 GB free
39 llama.cpp Run
Devstral Small 2 24B 24B Q2_K 9.4 GB 5.00 GB 15.0 GB
189.8 GB free
14 llama.cpp Run
Mistral Small 3.2 24B 23.6B Q2_K 9.2 GB 5.00 GB 14.8 GB
190.0 GB free
14 llama.cpp Run
gpt-oss 20B 20.9B MoE / 3.6B act MXFP4 10.8 GB 0.75 GB 12.2 GB
192.6 GB free
31 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 14B 14.8B Q2_K 5.8 GB 5.00 GB 11.4 GB
193.4 GB free
22 llama.cpp Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 14B 14.8B Q2_K 5.8 GB 6.00 GB 12.4 GB
192.4 GB free
22 llama.cpp Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 14B 14.8B Q2_K 5.8 GB 6.00 GB 12.4 GB
192.4 GB free
22 llama.cpp Run
Phi-4 14B 14.7B Q2_K 5.7 GB 3.13 GB 9.5 GB
195.3 GB free
22 llama.cpp Run
Ministral 3 14B 13.9B Q2_K 5.4 GB 5.00 GB 11.0 GB
193.8 GB free
24 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 3 12B 12.2B Q2_K 4.8 GB 2.31 GB 7.7 GB
197.1 GB free
27 llama.cpp Run
Mistral NeMo 12B 12.2B Q2_K 4.8 GB 5.00 GB 10.4 GB
194.4 GB free
27 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 4 12B 12B Q2_K 4.7 GB 2.31 GB 7.6 GB
197.2 GB free
27 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.5 9B 9.65B Q2_K 3.8 GB 1.00 GB 5.4 GB
199.4 GB free
34 llama.cpp Run
Ornith 1.5 9B New this week 9.41B Q2_K 3.7 GB 1.00 GB 5.3 GB
199.5 GB free
35 llama.cpp Run
Ministral 3 8B 8.92B Q2_K 3.5 GB 4.25 GB 8.3 GB
196.5 GB free
37 llama.cpp Run
Granite 4.1 8B 8.79B Q2_K 3.4 GB 5.00 GB 9.0 GB
195.8 GB free
38 llama.cpp Run
LFM2.5 8B-A1B 8.47B MoE / 1.5B act Q2_K 3.3 GB 0.38 GB 4.3 GB
200.5 GB free
98 llama.cpp Run
Fara 7B 8.29B Q2_K 3.2 GB 1.75 GB 5.6 GB
199.2 GB free
40 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 8B 8.19B Q2_K 3.2 GB 4.50 GB 8.3 GB
196.5 GB free
40 llama.cpp Run
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct 8.03B Q2_K 3.1 GB 4.00 GB 7.7 GB
197.1 GB free
41 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 4 E4B 8.0B Q2_K 3.1 GB 0.47 GB 4.2 GB
200.6 GB free
41 llama.cpp Run
Ling 3.0 Tiny 7.9B-A1.3B New 7.9B MoE / 1.3B act Q2_K 3.1 GB 0.21 GB 3.9 GB
200.9 GB free
113 llama.cpp Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 7B 7.62B Q2_K 3.0 GB 1.75 GB 5.3 GB
199.5 GB free
43 llama.cpp Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 7B 7.62B Q2_K 3.0 GB 1.75 GB 5.3 GB
199.5 GB free
43 llama.cpp Run
Olmo 3 7B Instruct 7.3B Q2_K 2.8 GB 5.50 GB 8.9 GB
195.9 GB free
45 llama.cpp Run
Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 7.25B Q2_K 2.8 GB 4.00 GB 7.4 GB
197.4 GB free
46 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 4 E2B 5.1B Q2_K 2.0 GB 0.23 GB 2.8 GB
202.0 GB free
65 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.5 4B 4.66B Q2_K 1.8 GB 1.00 GB 3.4 GB
201.4 GB free
71 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 3 4B 4.3B Q2_K 1.7 GB 0.86 GB 3.1 GB
201.7 GB free
77 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 4B 4.02B Q2_K 1.6 GB 4.50 GB 6.7 GB
198.1 GB free
82 llama.cpp Run
Ministral 3 3B 3.85B Q2_K 1.5 GB 3.25 GB 5.4 GB
199.4 GB free
86 llama.cpp Run
Phi-4-mini 3.8B 3.84B Q2_K 1.5 GB 4.00 GB 6.1 GB
198.7 GB free
86 llama.cpp Run
Granite 4.1 3B 3.4B Q2_K 1.3 GB 2.50 GB 4.4 GB
200.4 GB free
97 llama.cpp Run
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct 3.21B Q2_K 1.3 GB 3.50 GB 5.4 GB
199.4 GB free
103 llama.cpp Run
LFM2.5 2.6B New 2.7B Q2_K 1.1 GB 0.50 GB 2.2 GB
202.6 GB free
122 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.5 2B 2.27B Q2_K 0.9 GB 0.38 GB 1.9 GB
202.9 GB free
145 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 1.7B 1.72B Q2_K 0.7 GB 3.50 GB 4.8 GB
200.0 GB free
192 llama.cpp Run
Llama 3.2 1B Instruct 1.24B Q2_K 0.5 GB 1.00 GB 2.1 GB
202.7 GB free
266 llama.cpp Run
Gemma 3 1B 1.0B Q2_K 0.4 GB 0.14 GB 1.1 GB
203.7 GB free
330 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3.5 0.8B 0.87B Q2_K 0.3 GB 0.38 GB 1.3 GB
203.5 GB free
379 llama.cpp Run
Qwen3 0.6B 0.6B Q2_K 0.2 GB 3.50 GB 4.3 GB
200.5 GB free
550 llama.cpp Run

Won't fit in VRAM

6 models · some are possible with CPU offload
ModelParamsQuantWeights +KV 32KTotal Over budget Tok/sRuntime
Kimi K3 2.8T-A104B New 2780B MoE / 104B act Q2_K 1084.2 GB 0.84 GB 1085.6 GB +880.8 GB ~1.4 llama.cpp Why
Qwen3.8 2.4T-A95B New 2446B MoE / 95B act Q2_K 953.9 GB 2.88 GB 957.4 GB +752.6 GB ~1.5 llama.cpp Why
DeepSeek V4 Pro 1.6T-A49B New 1650B MoE / 49B act Q2_K 643.5 GB 2.14 GB 646.2 GB +441.4 GB ~3.0 llama.cpp Why
Kimi K2.6 1T-A32B 1027B MoE / 32B act Q2_K 400.5 GB 2.14 GB 403.3 GB +198.5 GB ~4.6 llama.cpp Why
GLM-5.2 744B-A40B 753B MoE / 40B act Q2_K 293.7 GB 2.74 GB 297.0 GB +92.2 GB ~3.7 llama.cpp Why
DeepSeek-R1 671B 671B MoE / 37B act Q2_K 261.7 GB 2.14 GB 264.4 GB +59.6 GB ~4.0 llama.cpp Why

Totals = quantised weights + f16 KV cache at 32K tokens + 0.6 GB runtime overhead, against 204.8 GB usable system RAM. Tokens per second are estimated from 307 GB/s peak memory bandwidth at batch 1 — not measured. Read the method.