Prompt Bites

Quick Answers to Local LLM Questions

30 short-answer guides. VRAM requirements, Ollama picks, hardware comparisons, and setup tips — answered in 60 seconds or less.

AQuantization & VRAM

How much memory you need, which quantization format to pick, and VRAM decision trees.

How Much VRAM Do You Need for a Local LLM?

4 GB handles Phi-4 Mini and Gemma 2B.

What Is Q4_K_M Quantization?

Q4_K_M means 4-bit quantization using k-quant (K) compression at medium (M) quality.

Q4_K_M vs Q8_0: Which Should You Pick?

Use Q4_K_M if you have 8 GB VRAM or less.

Best Ollama Models for RTX 3060 12 GB?

With 12 GB VRAM, the best general model is Llama 3 8B at Q5_K_M.

Best Ollama Models for 4 GB VRAM?

4 GB VRAM is tight but usable.

How Much RAM Does a 7B Model Need?

A 7B model at Q4 quantization needs 5–6 GB of VRAM or RAM.

How Much VRAM for a 70B Model?

A 70B model at Q4_K_M needs approximately 40 GB of VRAM.

Best Local LLM for 6 GB VRAM?

With 6 GB VRAM, Llama 3 8B Q4_K_M is the top pick at ~5.

BOllama

Latest versions, best models, context windows, vision, and CPU-only use.

What Is the Latest Ollama Version?

Check ollama.

Best Ollama Models Right Now?

As of May 2026, the top general Ollama model is Llama 3 8B.

Best Ollama Models for CPU Only?

Without a GPU, Phi-4 Mini at Q4 is the best balance of quality and speed on CPU.

Can You Run Qwen 3 on Ollama?

Yes — Ollama supports all Qwen 3 model sizes from 0.

Which Ollama Models Support Vision?

Ollama supports several vision models: LLaVA, Gemma 3 multimodal, and Qwen-VL.

Which Ollama Models Support 128K Context?

Llama 3.

CTool Comparisons

Two-way comparisons: Ollama vs LM Studio, Jan vs LM Studio, Qwen vs DeepSeek.

Qwen Coder vs DeepSeek Coder: Which Is Better?

Qwen 2.

Ollama vs LM Studio: Which Should You Pick?

If you use a terminal and build with APIs, choose Ollama.

Jan vs LM Studio: Which Is Better?

Jan is fully open source with an extension system.

Best Local LLM Apps for Android?

The top Android apps for running LLMs locally are MLC Chat, Pocketpal, and Termux with Ollama.

Best Frontend for Ollama?

Open WebUI is the best Ollama frontend for most users.

DModel Comparisons

Best 14B models, MoE models, mini PCs, and head-to-head model matchups.

Qwen 14B vs Llama 3 8B: Which Runs Better Locally?

Llama 3 8B fits in 6 GB VRAM and runs faster.

Best 14B Model for Coding?

Qwen 2.

Best Mini PC for Local LLM?

Three mini PCs stand out for local LLM inference: the Mac Mini M4 (fastest, ~18 tok/s), the Minisforum UM790 Pro (most RAM, 64 GB DDR5), and the Beelink SER8 (best value, Ryzen 9 8845HS CPU).

Best MoE Models for Local Coding?

Mixtral 8x7B and DeepSeek V2 are the top MoE coding models for local use.

EHardware-Specific

Best models for your exact GPU: RTX 3060, RTX 3070 Ti, Radeon RX 6800M.

Best Local LLM for Coding with 12 GB VRAM?

Qwen 2.

Best LLM for AMD 5700X + RTX 3070 Ti?

With an RTX 3070 Ti (8 GB VRAM), Llama 3 8B and Mistral 7B at Q4_K_M are the best local LLMs.

Can You Run Local LLMs on a Radeon RX 6800M?

Yes.

FQuick Answers

Yes/no and one-number answers: RAM limits, laptop recommendations.

Can You Run RAG on 2 GB RAM?

A full RAG pipeline requires at least 8 GB RAM.

Best Local LLM for a 16 GB RAM Laptop?

Llama 3 8B Q4_K_M is the best local LLM for a 16 GB RAM laptop without a dedicated GPU.

GPrompt Engineering

Quick definitions and best-of lists for prompt engineering concepts.

What Is the CO-STAR Prompt Framework?

CO-STAR is a six-part prompt structure: Context (background), Objective (task), Style (writing style), Tone (emotional register), Audience (who reads it), Response (output format).

Best LLM Right Now?

For cloud use: GPT-4o leads on general tasks, Claude 3.