Products · Synology · NAS
Synology DS3018xs
- Processor
- Intel Xeon D-1500 series
- Memory (RAM)
- 8 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 | 8.0 GB | 5.2 GB | 34 GB/s | 147 of 622 | — |
| Intel Xeon D-1500 series · upgraded to the maker's maximum | 32.0 GB | 26.2 GB | 34 GB/s | 200 of 622 | — |
Specifications 8.0 GB configuration
| Maker | Synology |
|---|---|
| Type | NAS |
| Processor | Intel Xeon D-1500 series NAS (8 GB) |
| Memory (RAM) | 8.0 GB |
| Usable for AI models | 5.2 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 34 GB/s |
| FP16 compute | 0.3 TFLOPS |
| Runs models on | CPU cores |
| Drive bays | 6x 3.5" SATA HDD or 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD |
| NAS system | DSM 7.x |
| Containers (Docker) | Yes |
| Virtual machines | Yes |
| Memory upgrade | DDR4 ECC SODIMM · 2 slots · up to 32.0 GB per the maker · ECC |
| Graphics card options | PCIe: 1 x Gen3 x8 slot (x8 link). |
| Availability | Discontinued (sold used or refurbished) |
| Notes | Intel Pentium D1508. Runs Docker and takes up to 32 GB RAM, but the Intel Pentium D1508 (2C/4T) is a slow, older low-power CPU with no GPU option; only small models are practical. |
| Product page | www.synology.com (opens in a new tab)Discontinued |
Running AI on the Synology DS3018xs
It can, with limits: expect small models only, at modest speed. Models run on its CPU cores, and this configuration leaves about 5.2 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 |
|---|---|
| Ollama + Open WebUI | In a container (Docker) |
| Any Linux guest running llama.cpp / Ollama | In a virtual machine |
AI features from Synology
| Feature | What it does | Where the AI runs |
|---|---|---|
| Synology AI Console (cloud providers) | Admin console that connects Synology Office, MailPlus, Chat, Drive etc. to Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Baidu AI Cloud, Google AI Studio/Vertex AI, OpenAI or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. | Cloud service or another computer |
| AI Console de-identification | Masks names and other sensitive entities before text is sent to a remote AI provider, using small local language models run through Container Manager. | On the NAS |
Best LLMs for the Synology DS3018xs 8.0 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 75/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Gemma 4 E2B | Q4_K_M | 4.2 GB | 13.9 tok/s | Runs well |
| 50Fair quality (C) · 50 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ling 3.0 Tiny (8B-A1.3B) | Q3_K_M | 5.1 GB | 28.8 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 42Fair quality (C) · 42 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR 2 (3B-A0.6B) | Q5_K_M | 3.9 GB | 38.1 tok/s | Runs great |
| 57Good quality (B) · 57 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron Labs Dory 1.0 4B | Q3_K_M | 3.4 GB | 10.4 tok/s | Runs well |
| 55Good quality (B) · 55 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Spark-X2.6 4B | Q3_K_M | 3.3 GB | 10.1 tok/s | Runs well |
| 38Basic quality (D) · 38 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Unlimited OCR (3B-A0.6B) | Q5_K_M | 3.9 GB | 38.1 tok/s | Runs great |
| 57Good quality (B) · 57 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. | MiniCPM5 2B | Q4_K_M | 2.9 GB | 12.7 tok/s | Runs well |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 70/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B | Q2_K | 4.4 GB | 11.7 tok/s | Runs well |
| 36Basic quality (D) · 36 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. | Granite 4.0 H Tiny (7B-A1B) | Q3_K_M | 4.5 GB | 36.5 tok/s | Runs welltight fit |
| 47Fair quality (C) · 47 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nanbeige4.2 3B | Q2_K | 4.2 GB | 12.6 tok/s | Runs well |
Best Image models for the Synology DS3018xs 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72Great quality (A) · 72 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 69/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX.2 [klein] 4B | Q4 GGUF | 4.6 GB | 2.9 min | Very slowtight fit · encoder unloaded after use |
| 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 | 19.8 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 39Basic quality (D) · 39 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 68/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SDXL Turbo | FP8 | 4.2 GB | 19 s | Runs well |
| 82Great quality (A) · 82 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Z-Image Turbo | FP8 | 4.4 GB | 6.8 min | Very slowCPU offload |
| 28Basic quality (D) · 28 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 66/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SD Turbo | FP16 | 3.3 GB | 11 s | Runs great |
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 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. | FLUX.2 [klein] 9B | Q4 GGUF | 4.3 GB | 6.5 min | Very slowCPU offload |
Best Video models for the Synology DS3018xs 8.0 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 57/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | AnimateDiff v3 (SD 1.5) | FP16 | 4.7 GB | 46.5 min | Very slowtight fit |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 52/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LTX-Video 2B | FP8 | 4.0 GB | 68.0 min | 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 | 2.7 h | Very slowtight fit · CPU offload |
Best Decision models for the Synology DS3018xs 8.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 87/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | OpenAI Privacy Filter | Q8_0 | 2.4 GB | 105 ms | Runs great |
| 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 | 1.9 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 | 1.9 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 |
| 87Excellent quality (A+) · 87 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3 Reranker 4B | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 15.1 s | Very 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 |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 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. | zerank-2 | Q5_K_M | 4.2 GB | 15.1 s | Very slow |
| 85Excellent quality (A+) · 85 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 79/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Shieldstral 1.0 3B | Q6_K | 4.4 GB | 14.5 s | Very slow |
Other products with the Intel Xeon D-1500 series NAS (8 GB)
FS1018Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
SA3400DProduct page (opens in a new tab)
SA3200DProduct page (opens in a new tab)
RS3621xs+Product page (opens in a new tab)
RS3621RPxsProduct page (opens in a new tab)
RS3618xsProduct page (opens in a new tab)
RS1619xs+Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
DS1621xs+Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued- ReadyNAS 626X / 628XProduct page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
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.