Is unified memory on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB as fast as VRAM for Solar Open 100B i1?

Not always. Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB can often fit larger models thanks to unified memory, but a discrete GPU with dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM may still decode faster once the model fits. For this combination, the important distinction is capacity versus sustained throughput.

Can Solar Open 100B i1 run on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB?

YES — Runs Great

C46Usable

Estimated from fit model

Solar Open 100B i1 needs ~101.3 GB VRAM. Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB has 184.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 101.3 GB, 9.1 tok/s, Runs well

101.3 GB required184.3 GB available

55% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

9.1 tok/s

TTFT

21205 ms

Safe context

129K

Memory

101.3 GB / 184.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights61.0 GB

KV Cache11.7 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom27.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsSolar Open 100B i1 on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 9.1 tok/s decode · 21.2s TTFT (warm) · 23 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Shared-memory contention still exists

The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs well	9.1 tok/s	11566 ms	129K
Coding	C	Runs well	9.1 tok/s	21205 ms	129K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	9.1 tok/s	30844 ms	129K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	9.1 tok/s	25061 ms	129K
RAG	C	Runs well	9.1 tok/s	38555 ms	129K

Quantization options

How Solar Open 100B i1 (100B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB (184.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	39.0 GB	Low	C40
Q3_K_S	3	49.0 GB	Low	C41
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Solar Open 100B i1 on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-mradermacher--solar-open-100b-i1-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Solar Open 100B i1 well

AMD Instinct MI350X 288GBBudget pick

288 GB VRAM (+32)8000 GB/s (+7181)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 952%.95.7 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 952%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$8,000 MSRP

AMD Instinct MI300X 192GBBest value

5300 GB/s (+4481)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 645%.67.8 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 645%.

~$15,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB run Solar Open 100B i1?

Yes, Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB can run Solar Open 100B i1 with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 9.1 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Solar Open 100B i1 need?

Solar Open 100B i1 (100B parameters) requires approximately 101.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Solar Open 100B i1?

The recommended quantization for Solar Open 100B i1 is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Solar Open 100B i1 run at on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB?

On Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB, Solar Open 100B i1 achieves approximately 9.1 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 21205ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB run Solar Open 100B i1 for coding?

For coding workloads, Solar Open 100B i1 on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB receives a C grade with 9.1 tok/s and 129K context.

What context window can Solar Open 100B i1 use on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB?

On Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB, Solar Open 100B i1 can safely use up to 129K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB See all hardware for Solar Open 100B i1

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