Hardware · Intel
What AI models can the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB) run?
- RAM
- 8.0 GB
- Usable for models
- 5.2 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 19 GB/s
- Runs models on
- CPU cores
- Released
- 2017
A NAS with this chip runs models on its processor cores, so memory speed sets the pace: small models (about 1-4B) answer at a usable speed, bigger ones are slow. We plan around 5.2 GB for models, what is left after the NAS system and its storage services. Models run in a container (Docker) or the maker’s app store, and speeds assume the NAS isn’t busy with storage work.
More about this hardware
| Maker | Intel |
|---|---|
| Type | NAS (network attached storage) processor |
| Share of memory for models | 65% (what the NAS system and its storage services typically leave free at this size) |
| Chip | Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 |
| AI accelerator | None. Models run on the processor cores. |
| NAS models with this chip | Asustor AS6508T · Asustor AS6510T · Asustor AS6504RS · Asustor AS6504RD · Asustor AS6512RD · Synology RS820RP+ · Synology RS820+ · Synology RS2818RP+ · Synology RS2418RP+ · Synology RS2418+ · Synology DS2419+II · Synology DS2419+ · Synology DS1819+ · Synology DS1618+ · Synology DVA3221 · Synology DVA3219 · TerraMaster T9-450 · TerraMaster T12-450 · TerraMaster U8-450 · Buffalo TeraStation WS5020 IoT 2025 desktop (WS5220DN / WS5420DN) · Buffalo TeraStation WS5020 IoT 2025 rackmount (WS5420RN) · Netgear ReadyNAS 426 / 428 (RN426, RN428) · iXsystems TrueNAS Mini X |
| Memory type | System RAM, shared with the NAS operating system and its storage services |
| Bandwidth figure | 19.2 GB/s, estimated, see the note below |
| Note | One profile for every NAS built on this chip. Memory speed is an estimate from the chip’s supported memory in a typical NAS fitting; a unit with one memory module runs slower than one with two. Speed assumes the NAS is not busy with storage work. |
| Specifications | www.asustor.com |
Apps that run models well on the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
13 products with the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
AS6508TProduct page (opens in a new tab)
AS6510TProduct page (opens in a new tab)
AS6504RSProduct page (opens in a new tab)
AS6504RDProduct page (opens in a new tab)
AS6512RDProduct page (opens in a new tab)
RS820RP+Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
RS820+Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
DVA3221Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
T9-450Product page (opens in a new tab)
T12-450Product page (opens in a new tab)
U8-450Product page (opens in a new tab)
TeraStation WS5020 IoT 2025 desktop (WS5220DN / WS5420DN)Product page (opens in a new tab)
TeraStation WS5020 IoT 2025 rackmount (WS5420RN)Product page (opens in a new tab)
Best LLMs for the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 71/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Gemma 4 E2B | Q4_K_M | 4.2 GB | 4.3 tok/s | Slow |
| 57Good quality (B) · 57 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron Labs Dory 1.0 4B | Q3_K_M | 3.4 GB | 3.2 tok/s | Slow |
| 58Good quality (B) · 58 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiniCPM5 2B | Q5_K_M | 3.2 GB | 3.2 tok/s | Slow |
| 55Good quality (B) · 55 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Spark-X2.6 4B | Q3_K_M | 3.3 GB | 3.1 tok/s | Slow |
| 57Good quality (B) · 57 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nanbeige4.2 3B | Q3_K_M | 4.5 GB | 3.0 tok/s | Slowtight fit |
| 41Fair quality (C) · 41 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR 2 (3B-A0.6B) | Q4_K_M | 3.6 GB | 15.5 tok/s | Runs well |
| 42Fair quality (C) · 42 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 67/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ling 3.0 Tiny (8B-A1.3B) | Q2_K | 4.4 GB | 11.9 tok/s | Runs well |
| 51Fair quality (C) · 51 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 67/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | TMax 4B | Q3_K_M | 3.3 GB | 3.0 tok/s | Slow |
| 54Fair quality (C) · 54 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B | Q2_K | 5.0 GB | 1.7 tok/s | Very slowtight fit |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B | Q2_K | 4.4 GB | 3.6 tok/s | Slow |
| 38Basic quality (D) · 38 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR (3B-A0.6B) | Q4_K_M | 3.6 GB | 15.5 tok/s | Runs well |
| 53Fair quality (C) · 53 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ornith 1.5 9B | Q2_K | 5.1 GB | 1.7 tok/s | Very slowtight fit |
Best Image models for the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90Excellent quality (A+) · 90 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX 3 Image Klein | Q8 GGUF | 4.3 GB | 57.8 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 72Great quality (A) · 72 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 67/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX.2 [klein] 4B | Q4 GGUF | 4.6 GB | 8.5 min | Very slowtight fit · encoder unloaded after use |
| 82Great quality (A) · 82 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Z-Image Turbo | FP8 | 4.4 GB | 19.8 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 81Great quality (A) · 81 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 64/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | ERNIE-Image | Q4 GGUF | 4.1 GB | 3.9 h | Very slowCPU offload |
| 81Great quality (A) · 81 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 64/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MOSS-Image SFT | Q8 GGUF | 4.1 GB | 2.4 h | Very slowCPU offload |
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 64/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SDXL Turbo | FP8 | 4.2 GB | 55 s | Slow |
Best Video models for the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35Basic quality (D) · 35 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 55/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | AnimateDiff v3 (SD 1.5) | FP16 | 4.7 GB | 2.3 h | Very slowtight fit |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 50/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LTX-Video 2B | FP8 | 4.0 GB | 3.3 h | Very slowCPU offload |
| 44Fair quality (C) · 44 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 46/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | CogVideoX 2B | FP8 | 4.7 GB | 7.9 h | Very slowtight fit · CPU offload |
Best Decision models for the Intel Atom C3538 / C3558 NAS (8 GB)
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86Excellent quality (A+) · 86 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3.5 | Q8_0 | 1.9 GB | 17.2 s | Very slow |
| 87Excellent quality (A+) · 87 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3 Reranker 4B | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 114.8 s | Very slow |
| 84Great quality (A) · 84 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3 | Q8_0 | 1.9 GB | 17.2 s | Very slow |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | zerank-2 | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 114.8 s | Very slow |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Shieldstral 1.0 3B | Q6_K | 4.4 GB | 110.1 s | Very slow |
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | OpenAI Privacy Filter | Q8_0 | 2.4 GB | 777 ms | Slow |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | GLiNER2.5 Decide | Q8_0 | 1.2 GB | 7.6 s | Very slow |
| 82Great quality (A) · 82 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | mxbai-rerank-large v2 | Q8_0 | 2.7 GB | 44.1 s | Very slow |
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.