Best local LLMs for the Intel Xeon D-1500 series NAS (16 GB)

Each list assumes the context that task needs, so a model that fits for chat may rank lower for long documents.

General chat at 8K context

  1. 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 83/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. K2 Horizon 7B Q4_K_M · 3.6 tok/s · Slow
  2. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  3. 73Great quality (A) · 73 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Ornith 1.5 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  4. 72Great quality (A) · 72 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Qwen3.5 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  5. 71Great quality (A) · 71 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Ornith 1.0 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow

Coding at 32K context

  1. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 83/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Mellum2.1 Thinking (12B-A2.5B) Q4_K_M · 12.3 tok/s · Runs well
  2. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow
  3. 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. K2 Horizon 7B Q4_K_M · 3.6 tok/s · Slow (tight fit)
  4. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  5. 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Maple Preview (20B-A1B) Q3_K_M · 25.5 tok/s · Runs well (tight fit)

Reasoning at 32K context

  1. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 83/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Mellum2.1 Thinking (12B-A2.5B) Q4_K_M · 12.3 tok/s · Runs well
  2. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow
  3. 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. K2 Horizon 7B Q4_K_M · 3.6 tok/s · Slow (tight fit)
  4. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  5. 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Maple Preview (20B-A1B) Q3_K_M · 25.5 tok/s · Runs well (tight fit)

Documents (RAG) at 32K context

  1. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  2. 73Great quality (A) · 73 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Ornith 1.5 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  3. 72Great quality (A) · 72 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Qwen3.5 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  4. 71Great quality (A) · 71 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Ornith 1.0 9B Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  5. 70Great quality (A) · 70 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. TMax 9B Q4_K_M · 3.6 tok/s · Slow

Agents & tools at 64K context

  1. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 83/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Mellum2.1 Thinking (12B-A2.5B) Q4_K_M · 12.3 tok/s · Runs well
  2. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 82/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow
  3. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow (tight fit)
  4. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. UI-Mate 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow
  5. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. UI-Venus 2 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow

Reverse engineering at 32K context

  1. 66Good quality (B) · 66 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Mellum2.1 Thinking (12B-A2.5B) Q4_K_M · 12.3 tok/s · Runs well
  2. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B Q4_K_M · 3.4 tok/s · Slow
  3. 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. K2 Horizon 7B Q4_K_M · 3.6 tok/s · Slow (tight fit)
  4. 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. SenseNova Loop 9B Preview Q4_K_M · 3.3 tok/s · Slow
  5. 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Maple Preview (20B-A1B) Q3_K_M · 25.5 tok/s · Runs well (tight fit)

Estimates come from published hardware specs and our open formulas, not from running the model on your machine. Real speed varies with runtime, drivers and settings. Numbers marked “Measured” come from a linked benchmark.

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