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M3 Ultra · 512 GB · 512 GB

512 GB unified · 800 GB/s · 384.0 GB addressable by the GPU
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Context length

KV cache at f16, 128K 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 StudioMLX

4 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 M3 Ultra · 512 GB

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 Q8_0 and 128K. 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. Q8_0 · 287.7 GB 16 Runs great
Best for coding DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Frontier coding at 13B active for 128 GB+ machines. Q8_0 · 287.7 GB 16 Runs great
Best reasoning DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Most of V4 Pro's reasoning at 13B active. Q8_0 · 287.7 GB 16 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. Q8_0 · 110.5 GB 6.4 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. Q8_0 · 36.1 GB 16 Runs great
Best for agents DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
Long agent trajectories at 13B active. Q8_0 · 287.7 GB 16 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. Q8_0 · 36.1 GB 16 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. Q8_0 · 38.6 GB 64 Runs great
Best long context DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New
DeepSeek · MIT
A 1M-token window with a compressed latent cache. Q8_0 · 287.7 GB
at 128K context
16 Runs great

Everything that fits

Runs great

68 of 76 · fits with headroom for a longer prompt
ModelParamsQuantWeights +KV 128KTotal VRAM headroom Tok/sRuntime
DeepSeek V4 Flash 284B-A13B New 284B MoE / 13B act Q8_0 281.0 GB 6.05 GB 287.7 GB
96.3 GB free
16 MLX Run
Qwen3 235B-A22B 235B MoE / 22B act Q8_0 232.5 GB 23.50 GB 256.6 GB
127.4 GB free
9.6 MLX Run
Qwen3.5 122B-A10B 125B MoE / 10B act Q8_0 123.7 GB 3.00 GB 127.3 GB
256.7 GB free
21 MLX Run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B 124B MoE / 12B act Q8_0 122.7 GB 1.00 GB 124.3 GB
259.7 GB free
18 MLX Run
Ling 3.0 Flash 124B-A5B New 124B MoE / 5.1B act Q8_0 122.7 GB 0.98 GB 124.3 GB
259.7 GB free
41 MLX Run
Mistral Small 4 119B-A6B 119B MoE / 6.5B act Q8_0 117.8 GB 2.81 GB 121.2 GB
262.8 GB free
32 MLX Run
gpt-oss 120B 117B MoE / 5.1B act MXFP4 60.5 GB 4.50 GB 65.6 GB
318.4 GB free
79 MLX Run
Llama 4 Scout 109B-A17B 109B MoE / 17B act Q8_0 107.9 GB 7.13 GB 115.6 GB
268.4 GB free
12 MLX Run
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct 70.6B Q8_0 69.9 GB 40.00 GB 110.5 GB
273.5 GB free
6.4 MLX Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 70B 70.6B Q8_0 69.9 GB 40.00 GB 110.5 GB
273.5 GB free
6.4 MLX Run
Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 35.9B MoE / 3.3B act Q8_0 35.5 GB 2.50 GB 38.6 GB
345.4 GB free
64 MLX Run
Ornith 1.5 35B-A3B New this week 35.9B MoE / 3.3B act Q8_0 35.5 GB 2.50 GB 38.6 GB
345.4 GB free
64 MLX Run
LLM-jp 4 33B Thinking New this week 33.2B Q8_0 32.9 GB 16.00 GB 49.5 GB
334.5 GB free
14 MLX Run
Qwen3 32B 32.8B Q8_0 32.5 GB 32.00 GB 65.1 GB
318.9 GB free
14 MLX Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B 32.8B Q8_0 32.5 GB 32.00 GB 65.1 GB
318.9 GB free
14 MLX Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 32B 32.8B Q8_0 32.5 GB 32.00 GB 65.1 GB
318.9 GB free
14 MLX Run
Olmo 3.1 32B Instruct 32.2B Q8_0 31.9 GB 4.75 GB 37.2 GB
346.8 GB free
14 MLX Run
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B New 31.6B MoE / 3.2B act Q8_0 31.3 GB 0.75 GB 32.6 GB
351.4 GB free
66 MLX Run
Gemma 4 31B 31.3B Q8_0 31.0 GB 20.78 GB 52.4 GB
331.6 GB free
14 MLX Run
GLM-4.7-Flash 30B-A3B 31.2B MoE / 3B act Q8_0 30.9 GB 6.61 GB 38.1 GB
345.9 GB free
70 MLX Run
Qwen3 30B-A3B 30.5B MoE / 3.3B act Q8_0 30.2 GB 12.00 GB 42.8 GB
341.2 GB free
64 MLX Run
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B 30.5B MoE / 3.3B act Q8_0 30.2 GB 12.00 GB 42.8 GB
341.2 GB free
64 MLX Run
Muse Glimmer 30B New 29.8B Q8_0 29.5 GB 1.70 GB 31.8 GB
352.2 GB free
15 MLX Run
Granite 4.1 30B 28.9B Q8_0 28.6 GB 32.00 GB 61.2 GB
322.8 GB free
16 MLX Run
Qwen3.8 27B New this week 27.8B Q8_0 27.5 GB 8.00 GB 36.1 GB
347.9 GB free
16 MLX Run
Qwen3.6 27B 27.8B Q8_0 27.5 GB 8.00 GB 36.1 GB
347.9 GB free
16 MLX Run
Gemma 3 27B 27.4B Q8_0 27.1 GB 10.41 GB 38.1 GB
345.9 GB free
16 MLX Run
Gemma 4 26B-A4B 26.5B MoE / 3.8B act Q8_0 26.2 GB 5.20 GB 32.0 GB
352.0 GB free
55 MLX Run
Devstral Small 2 24B 24B Q8_0 23.7 GB 20.00 GB 44.3 GB
339.7 GB free
19 MLX Run
Mistral Small 3.2 24B 23.6B Q8_0 23.4 GB 20.00 GB 44.0 GB
340.0 GB free
19 MLX Run
gpt-oss 20B 20.9B MoE / 3.6B act MXFP4 10.8 GB 3.00 GB 14.4 GB
369.6 GB free
112 MLX Run
Qwen3 14B 14.8B Q8_0 14.6 GB 20.00 GB 35.2 GB
348.8 GB free
31 MLX Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 14B 14.8B Q8_0 14.6 GB 24.00 GB 39.2 GB
344.8 GB free
31 MLX Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 14B 14.8B Q8_0 14.6 GB 24.00 GB 39.2 GB
344.8 GB free
31 MLX Run
Phi-4 14B 14.7B Q8_0 14.5 GB 3.13 GB 18.3 GB
365.7 GB free
31 MLX Run
Ministral 3 14B 13.9B Q8_0 13.8 GB 20.00 GB 34.4 GB
349.6 GB free
33 MLX Run
Gemma 3 12B 12.2B Q8_0 12.1 GB 8.31 GB 21.0 GB
363.0 GB free
37 MLX Run
Mistral NeMo 12B 12.2B Q8_0 12.1 GB 20.00 GB 32.7 GB
351.3 GB free
37 MLX Run
Gemma 4 12B 12B Q8_0 11.9 GB 8.31 GB 20.8 GB
363.2 GB free
38 MLX Run
Qwen3.5 9B 9.65B Q8_0 9.5 GB 4.00 GB 14.1 GB
369.9 GB free
47 MLX Run
Ornith 1.5 9B New this week 9.41B Q8_0 9.3 GB 4.00 GB 13.9 GB
370.1 GB free
48 MLX Run
Ministral 3 8B 8.92B Q8_0 8.8 GB 17.00 GB 26.4 GB
357.6 GB free
51 MLX Run
Granite 4.1 8B 8.79B Q8_0 8.7 GB 20.00 GB 29.3 GB
354.7 GB free
51 MLX Run
LFM2.5 8B-A1B 8.47B MoE / 1.5B act Q8_0 8.4 GB 1.46 GB 10.4 GB
373.6 GB free
141 MLX Run
Fara 7B 8.29B Q8_0 8.2 GB 6.84 GB 15.6 GB
368.4 GB free
54 MLX Run
Qwen3 8B 8.19B Q8_0 8.1 GB 18.00 GB 26.7 GB
357.3 GB free
55 MLX Run
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct 8.03B Q8_0 7.9 GB 16.00 GB 24.5 GB
359.5 GB free
56 MLX Run
Gemma 4 E4B 8.0B Q8_0 7.9 GB 1.78 GB 10.3 GB
373.7 GB free
56 MLX Run
Ling 3.0 Tiny 7.9B-A1.3B New 7.9B MoE / 1.3B act Q8_0 7.8 GB 0.84 GB 9.3 GB
374.7 GB free
162 MLX Run
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 7B 7.62B Q8_0 7.5 GB 7.00 GB 15.1 GB
368.9 GB free
59 MLX Run
Qwen2.5-Coder 7B 7.62B Q8_0 7.5 GB 7.00 GB 15.1 GB
368.9 GB free
59 MLX Run
Olmo 3 7B Instruct 7.3B Q8_0 7.2 GB 9.50 GB 17.3 GB
366.7 GB free
62 MLX Run
Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 7.25B Q8_0 7.2 GB 4.00 GB 11.8 GB
372.2 GB free
62 MLX Run
Gemma 4 E2B 5.1B Q8_0 5.0 GB 0.89 GB 6.5 GB
377.5 GB free
89 MLX Run
Qwen3.5 4B 4.66B Q8_0 4.6 GB 4.00 GB 9.2 GB
374.8 GB free
97 MLX Run
Gemma 3 4B 4.3B Q8_0 4.3 GB 3.11 GB 8.0 GB
376.0 GB free
105 MLX Run
Qwen3 4B 4.02B Q8_0 4.0 GB 4.50 GB 9.1 GB
374.9 GB free
112 MLX Run
Ministral 3 3B 3.85B Q8_0 3.8 GB 13.00 GB 17.4 GB
366.6 GB free
117 MLX Run
Phi-4-mini 3.8B 3.84B Q8_0 3.8 GB 16.00 GB 20.4 GB
363.6 GB free
118 MLX Run
Granite 4.1 3B 3.4B Q8_0 3.4 GB 10.00 GB 14.0 GB
370.0 GB free
133 MLX Run
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct 3.21B Q8_0 3.2 GB 14.00 GB 17.8 GB
366.2 GB free
141 MLX Run
LFM2.5 2.6B New 2.7B Q8_0 2.7 GB 2.00 GB 5.3 GB
378.7 GB free
167 MLX Run
Qwen3.5 2B 2.27B Q8_0 2.2 GB 1.50 GB 4.3 GB
379.7 GB free
199 MLX Run
Qwen3 1.7B 1.72B Q8_0 1.7 GB 3.50 GB 5.8 GB
378.2 GB free
263 MLX Run
Llama 3.2 1B Instruct 1.24B Q8_0 1.2 GB 4.00 GB 5.8 GB
378.2 GB free
364 MLX Run
Gemma 3 1B 1.0B Q8_0 1.0 GB 0.14 GB 1.7 GB
382.3 GB free
452 MLX Run
Qwen3.5 0.8B 0.87B Q8_0 0.9 GB 1.50 GB 3.0 GB
381.0 GB free
519 MLX Run
Qwen3 0.6B 0.6B Q8_0 0.6 GB 3.50 GB 4.7 GB
379.3 GB free
753 MLX Run

Won't fit in VRAM

8 models · some are possible with CPU offload
ModelParamsQuantWeights +KV 128KTotal Over budget Tok/sRuntime
Kimi K3 2.8T-A104B New 2780B MoE / 104B act Q8_0 2750.9 GB 3.38 GB 2754.9 GB +2370.9 GB ~2.0 MLX Why
Qwen3.8 2.4T-A95B New 2446B MoE / 95B act Q8_0 2420.4 GB 11.50 GB 2432.5 GB +2048.5 GB ~2.2 MLX Why
DeepSeek V4 Pro 1.6T-A49B New 1650B MoE / 49B act Q8_0 1632.7 GB 8.58 GB 1641.9 GB +1257.9 GB ~4.3 MLX Why
Kimi K2.6 1T-A32B 1027B MoE / 32B act Q8_0 1016.2 GB 8.58 GB 1025.4 GB +641.4 GB ~6.6 MLX Why
GLM-5.2 744B-A40B 753B MoE / 40B act Q8_0 745.1 GB 10.97 GB 756.7 GB +372.7 GB ~5.3 MLX Why
DeepSeek-R1 671B 671B MoE / 37B act Q8_0 664.0 GB 8.58 GB 673.2 GB +289.2 GB ~5.7 MLX Why
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 403B MoE / 17B act Q8_0 398.8 GB 3.75 GB 403.1 GB +19.1 GB ~12 MLX Why
Ornith 1.5 397B-A17B New this week 397B MoE / 17B act Q8_0 392.8 GB 3.75 GB 397.2 GB +13.2 GB ~12 MLX Why

Totals = quantised weights + f16 KV cache at 128K tokens + 0.6 GB runtime overhead, against 384.0 GB usable unified memory. Tokens per second are estimated from 800 GB/s peak memory bandwidth at batch 1 — not measured. Read the method.