Intel Arc B580 12GBBudget pick456 GB/s (+256)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 57%.55.1 tok/s decode
Raises estimated decode speed by about 57%.
~$249 MSRP
Neural Chat 7B needs ~8.9 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB has 11.5 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~33 tok/s.
Operating mode
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.
Select quantization to explore
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
35.2 tok/s
TTFT
5493 ms
Safe context
8K
Memory
8.9 GB / 11.5 GB
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.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | C | Runs well | 35.2 tok/s | 2996 ms | 8K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 32.8 tok/s | 5905 ms | 8K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Tight fit | 35.2 tok/s | 7990 ms | 8K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 35.2 tok/s | 6492 ms | 8K |
| RAG | C | Tight fit | 35.2 tok/s | 9987 ms | 8K |
How Neural Chat 7B (7B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB (11.5 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 2.7 GB | Low | C49 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 3.4 GB | Low | C49 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run Neural Chat 7B on your machine.
Run
ollama run neural-chatUpgrade options
Intel Arc B580 12GBBudget pickRaises estimated decode speed by about 57%.
~$249 MSRP
RTX 3060 12GBBest valueRaises estimated decode speed by about 43%.
~$329 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB can run Neural Chat 7B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 32.8 tok/s.
Neural Chat 7B (7B parameters) requires approximately 8.9 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Neural Chat 7B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB, Neural Chat 7B achieves approximately 32.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 5905ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Neural Chat 7B on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB receives a C grade with 32.8 tok/s and 8K context.
On MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB, Neural Chat 7B can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/neural-chat-7b-on-m2-pro-16gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
3.9 GB |
| Medium |
| C50 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 4.3 GB | Medium | C51 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 5.0 GB | High | C52 |
Q6_K | 6 | 5.7 GB | High | C52 |
Q8_0Best for your GPU | 8 | 7.5 GB | Very High | C51 |
F16 | 16 | 14.3 GB | Maximum | F0 |
Not always. MacBook Pro M2 Pro 16GB 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.