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Hardware Lab

What AI can you run with 16 GB of VRAM?

A graphics card with 16 GB of memory runs 56 of the 59 tools in the Free Market that work on your own computer. 3 need a bigger card: AI Toolkit, HunyuanVideo, and Mochi 1.

For language models, 16 GB holds a model of up to about 21 billion parameters at the common Q4 quality level, entirely on the card, which is the fast way to run it. Bigger models still run if you have enough main memory, but several times slower.

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Tools that need a graphics card and fit in 16 GB

vLLM screenshot
Training4.7

vLLM iconvLLM

A high-speed engine for serving language models to many users at once.

  • For tinkerers
  • Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
LTX-Video screenshot
Video4.1

LTX-Video iconLTX-Video

A fast video generation model built to produce clips quickly on consumer graphics cards.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights, check license terms
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Kohya's GUI screenshot
Training4.1

Kohya's GUI iconKohya's GUI

Teach an image model a new style, face, or product from a handful of pictures.

  • Some setup
  • Windows · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Wan 2.1 screenshot
Video4.0

Wan 2.1 iconWan 2.1

An open video generation model that turns text or a still image into short clips.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
ComfyUI screenshot
Images4.8

ComfyUI iconComfyUI

Build image and video generation workflows by connecting blocks, with full control over every step.

  • Some setup
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, GPL-3.0
Models
Open weights, your choice
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Unsloth screenshot
Training4.6

Unsloth iconUnsloth

Fine-tune language models on your own data, faster and with much less memory.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Strata screenshotNew
Chat models4.4

Strata iconStrata

Runs very large language models on an ordinary gaming PC by spreading them across the graphics card, memory and SSD.

  • Some setup
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, MIT
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
InvokeAI screenshot
Images4.3

InvokeAI iconInvokeAI

A polished creative studio for image generation, with a canvas, layers, and tools aimed at artists.

  • Easy install
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights, your choice
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Segment Anything 2 screenshot
Video4.1

Segment Anything 2 iconSegment Anything 2

Selects and tracks any object through a video from a single click, for masking and effects work.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
AudioCraft (MusicGen) screenshot
Music4.1

AudioCraft (MusicGen) iconAudioCraft (MusicGen)

Generates music and sound effects from a text description.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, MIT
Models
Weights are non-commercial
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
Stable Audio Tools screenshot
Music3.8

Stable Audio Tools iconStable Audio Tools

Training and generation code for Stable Audio models, for music loops and sound design.

  • For tinkerers
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, MIT
Models
Open weights, check license terms
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it
ACE-Step screenshot
Music3.6

ACE-Step iconACE-Step

Creates full songs with vocals from lyrics and a style description.

  • Some setup
  • Windows · Mac · Linux
Code
Open source, Apache-2.0
Models
Open weights
Runs
On your computer
Real cost
Free
Get it