Would CUDA be a better path than Intel Arc A550M 8GB for Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B?

Often yes, if your goal is the easiest setup and the widest runtime support. Intel can offer attractive memory capacity, but CUDA still tends to win on tooling maturity, guides, kernels, and model coverage for local AI.

Can Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B run on Intel Arc A550M 8GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B feels slow on Intel Arc A550M 8GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

BARELY — Tight on Memory

D30Poor

Estimated from fit model

Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B needs ~9.5 GB VRAM. Intel Arc A550M 8GB has 8.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload

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) — 9.5 GB, 8.8 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~1 GB host RAM)

9.5 GB required8.0 GB available

119% VRAM needed

1.5 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~1 GB host RAM)

Decode

8.8 tok/s

TTFT

21947 ms

Safe context

Memory

9.5 GB / 8.0 GB

Offload

20%

Memory breakdown

Weights6.5 GB

KV Cache1.3 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsNous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B on Intel Arc A550M 8GB
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: 8.8 tok/s decode · 21.9s TTFT (warm) · 22 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 20% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Runtime ecosystem is narrower than CUDA

Intel GPUs can look attractive on memory per dollar, but local AI tooling, kernels, and model coverage are still broader and easier on CUDA today.

Best improvement path

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Prefer CUDA if you want the path of least resistance

If your goal is maximum runtime coverage, easier troubleshooting, and better support for new local AI releases, CUDA is usually still the safer upgrade path.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	D	Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	10.2 tok/s	10366 ms	4K
Coding	D	Very compromised (needs ~1 GB host RAM)	8.8 tok/s	21947 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	6.8 tok/s	41463 ms	4K
Reasoning	D	Very compromised (needs ~1 GB host RAM)	8.8 tok/s	25938 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	6.8 tok/s	51829 ms

Quantization options

How Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B (10.699999809265137B params) fits at each quantization level on Intel Arc A550M 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.2 GB	Low	C53
Q3_K_SBest for your GPU	3	5.2 GB	Low	C53

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-thebloke--nous-hermes-2-solar-10-7b-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B well

Intel Arc B570 10GBBudget pick

10 GB VRAM (+2)380 GB/s (+156)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.31.4 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 257%.

~$219 MSRP

Intel Arc B580 12GBBest value

12 GB VRAM (+4)456 GB/s (+232)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.33.5 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 281%.

~$249 MSRP

Intel Arc A770 16GBIntel upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+8)560 GB/s (+336)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.38.6 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 339%.

~$349 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Intel Arc A550M 8GB run Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B?

Yes, Intel Arc A550M 8GB can run Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B with a D grade (Very compromised (needs ~1 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 8.8 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B need?

Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B (10.699999809265137B parameters) requires approximately 9.5 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B?

The recommended quantization for Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B run at on Intel Arc A550M 8GB?

On Intel Arc A550M 8GB, Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B achieves approximately 8.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 21947ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Intel Arc A550M 8GB run Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B for coding?

For coding workloads, Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B on Intel Arc A550M 8GB receives a D grade with 8.8 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B use on Intel Arc A550M 8GB?

On Intel Arc A550M 8GB, Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for Intel Arc A550M 8GB See all hardware for Nous Hermes 2 SOLAR 10.7B

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