Products · Netgear · NAS
Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X
- Processor
- Intel Xeon D-1500 series
- Memory (RAM)
- 4 or 32 GB
- Released
- 2017
Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued Full AI report
Configurations
Pick one to see which models it runs. More memory lets larger models fit; bandwidth sets how fast they answer.
| Configuration | Memory | Usable for AI | Bandwidth | LLMs that run well | Launch price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Xeon D-1500 series | 4.0 GB | 2.0 GB | 34 GB/s | 65 of 622 | — |
| Intel Xeon D-1500 series · community-tested upgrade, above the maker's stated maximum | 32.0 GB | 26.2 GB | 34 GB/s | 200 of 622 | — |
Specifications 4.0 GB configuration
| Maker | Netgear |
|---|---|
| Type | NAS |
| Processor | Intel Xeon D-1500 series NAS (4 GB) |
| Memory (RAM) | 4.0 GB |
| Usable for AI models | 2.0 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 34 GB/s |
| FP16 compute | 0.3 TFLOPS |
| Runs models on | CPU cores |
| Drive bays | 4x (RN524X), 6x (RN526X) or 8x (RN528X) 3.5" SATA |
| NAS system | ReadyNAS OS 6 |
| Containers (Docker) | Yes |
| Virtual machines | No |
| Memory upgrade | DDR4 ECC · 2 slots · 32.0 GB reported working by owners · ECC |
| Availability | Discontinued (sold used or refurbished) |
| Notes | Intel Pentium D-1508 dual-core 2.2 GHz (per third-party copies of the Netgear datasheet and AnandTech; netgear.com…. End-of-life x86-64 hardware where a model could only run through an unsupported community Docker install or by replacing ReadyNAS OS with another Linux; 4 GB as shipped and a dual-core CPU keep it to tiny models. |
| Product page | kb.netgear.com (opens in a new tab)Discontinued |
Running AI on the Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X
It can, with limits: expect small models only, at modest speed. Models run on its CPU cores, and this configuration leaves about 2.0 GB for them after the NAS system and its storage services. The grades below assume the NAS isn’t busy with backups or media work at the same time. More memory is the upgrade that matters most: see the configurations.
Apps you can install to run models
| App | How it installs |
|---|---|
| Docker CE CLI | In a container (Docker) |
Best LLMs for the Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X 4.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53Fair quality (C) · 53 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LFM3 1.7B | Q4_K_M | 1.9 GB | 18.5 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 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. | PaddleOCR-VL 1.6 0.9B | Q4_K_M | 1.5 GB | 33.3 tok/s | Runs great |
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiniCPM-OCR 1.0 1.3B | Q4_K_M | 1.7 GB | 24.6 tok/s | Runs well |
| 42Fair quality (C) · 42 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. | LFM3-VL 2B | Q3_K_M | 1.8 GB | 21.5 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 34Basic quality (D) · 34 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. | MiniCPM5 1B | Q4_K_M | 1.6 GB | 29.6 tok/s | Runs well |
| 33Basic quality (D) · 33 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. | MiniCPM-V 4.7 1B | Q3_K_M | 1.6 GB | 26.7 tok/s | Runs well |
| 26Basic quality (D) · 26 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LFM2.5 1.2B Instruct | Q3_K_M | 1.4 GB | 35.3 tok/s | Runs great |
| 24Basic quality (D) · 24 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3.5 0.8B | Q4_K_M | 1.4 GB | 36.8 tok/s | Runs great |
| 33Basic quality (D) · 33 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | TMax 2B | Q3_K_M | 1.8 GB | 22.0 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 33Basic quality (D) · 33 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 64/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3.5 2B | Q3_K_M | 2.0 GB | 18.2 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
Best Image models for the Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X 4.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 54/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SDXL Turbo | FP8 | 1.6 GB | 24 s | Runs wellCPU offload |
| 28Basic quality (D) · 28 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 51/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SD Turbo | FP16 | 1.3 GB | 15 s | Runs wellCPU offload |
| 42Fair quality (C) · 42 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 48/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Realistic Vision V5.1 | FP16 | 1.3 GB | 3.6 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 40Fair quality (C) · 40 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 47/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | DreamShaper 8 | FP16 | 1.3 GB | 3.6 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 30Basic quality (D) · 30 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 47/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LCM DreamShaper v7 | FP16 | 1.3 GB | 45 s | SlowCPU offload |
| 35Basic quality (D) · 35 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 45/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Stable Diffusion 1.5 | FP16 | 1.3 GB | 3.6 min | Very slowCPU offload |
Best Video models for the Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X 4.0 GB
None of the video models in our catalog fit in this much memory.
Best Decision models for the Netgear ReadyNAS 524X / 526X / 528X 4.0 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 81/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3.5 | Q8_0 | 1.6 GB | 2.3 s | Very slow |
| 84Great quality (A) · 84 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Jina Reranker v3 | Q8_0 | 1.6 GB | 2.3 s | Very slow |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | GLiNER2.5 Decide | Q8_0 | 1.2 GB | 996 ms | Slow |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 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. | FRIDA-Decisions | Q8_0 | 1.7 GB | 1.7 s | Very slow |
| 68Good quality (B) · 68 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. | Llama Prompt Guard 2 22M | Q8_0 | 0.7 GB | 291 ms | Runs well |
| 80Great quality (A) · 80 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. | Qwen3 Reranker 0.6B | Q8_0 | 1.6 GB | 2.3 s | Very slow |
| 76Great quality (A) · 76 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. | Llama Prompt Guard 2 86M | Q8_0 | 1.0 GB | 1.1 s | Slow |
| 74Great quality (A) · 74 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. | GLiClass ModernBERT Large v3 | Q8_0 | 1.1 GB | 813 ms | Slow |
Spec sources
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.