MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GBBudget pick
C89.8 tok/s decode
~$1,999 MSRP
Can it run?
Runs well
Using Q4_K_M in Ollama
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
201.0 tok/s
TTFT
963 ms
Safe context
43K
Memory
4.4 GB / 12.0 GB
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs well | 201.0 tok/s | 1401 ms | 87K |
| Chat | C | Runs well | 201.0 tok/s | 525 ms | 22K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 201.0 tok/s | 963 ms | 43K |
| RAG | C | Runs well | 201.0 tok/s | 1751 ms | 87K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 201.0 tok/s | 1138 ms | 43K |
How gemma 2b (2B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB (12.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 0.8 GB | Low | D31 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 1.0 GB | Low | D31 |
NVFP4 | 4 | 1.1 GB | Medium | D32 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 1.2 GB | Medium | D32 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 1.4 GB | High | D32 |
Q6_K | 6 | 1.6 GB | High | D32 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 2.1 GB | Very High | D33 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 4.1 GB | Maximum | D37 |
Upgrade options
~$1,999 MSRP