What would I need to run this?
The inverse of the hardware matrix. Pick a model and see the machine to run it, at up to three levels of quality, from a single graphics card up to server-class hardware. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
ACE-Step v1 3.5B
Full model profile →Roughly what a machine to run this would need, at up to three levels of quality. Memory is the deciding factor.
Minimum to run it
Native · ~8GB needed
One 12GB GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GBor a Mac or mini-PC with unified memory, if you prefer no discrete GPU, Mac mini M5 Pro.
At least 32GB of system RAM alongside the card.
around £700–£1,100
What else 12GB runs →Prices are indicative, not quotes
Prices are indicative tiers, not quotes. They move with the market, vary a lot second-hand, and exclude your time, which is often the largest real cost. Hardware also keeps resale value and can be used for other things. Treat these as a rough sense of scale and check current retail before spending.
Looking at it the other way round? The hardware matrix tells you what a machine you already have can run.
What hardware does a model need?
Pick a model above and the speccer works out a whole machine to run it, at up to three quality levels, from a single graphics card to server-class hardware. Memory is the deciding factor. As a rough guide:
- A model up to about 8B runs on the cheapest 12GB card (around £700-£1,100 for a whole build)
- A 32B model wants a 24GB card, such as a used RTX 3090
- A 70B model needs 48GB on one card, or high-memory unified memory (a Mac Studio or mini-PC)
- Models beyond roughly 100 billion parameters are server-class: a single 80GB data-centre GPU at the accessible end, a multi-node cluster at the top, usually rented rather than bought
Prices are indicative tiers, not quotes, and exclude your time. For the reverse question, use the hardware matrix, and to weigh buying against an API, the cost calculator.