Products · Synology · NAS
Synology RS818+
- Processor
- Intel Atom C2538
- Memory (RAM)
- 8 or 16 GB
- Released
- 2018
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 Atom C2538 · ships without memory; with 8 GB fitted | 8.0 GB | 5.2 GB | 13 GB/s | 28 of 622 | — |
| Intel Atom C2538 · ships without memory; with 16 GB fitted | 16.0 GB | 12.0 GB | 13 GB/s | 28 of 622 | — |
Specifications 16.0 GB configuration
| Maker | Synology |
|---|---|
| Type | NAS |
| Processor | Intel Atom C2538 NAS (16 GB) · ships without memory; with 16 GB fitted |
| Memory (RAM) | 16.0 GB |
| Usable for AI models | 12.0 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 13 GB/s |
| FP16 compute | 0.0 TFLOPS |
| Runs models on | CPU cores |
| Drive bays | 4x 3.5" SATA HDD or 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD |
| NAS system | DSM 7.x |
| Containers (Docker) | Yes |
| Virtual machines | Yes |
| Memory upgrade | DDR3 non-ECC SODIMM · 2 slots · up to 16.0 GB per the maker · non-ECC |
| Graphics card options | PCIe: 1 x Gen2 x8 slot (x4 link). |
| Availability | Discontinued (sold used or refurbished) |
| Notes | Intel Atom C2538. Runs Docker and takes up to 16 GB RAM, but the Intel Atom C2538 (4C/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 RS818+
It can, with limits: expect small models only, at modest speed. Models run on its CPU cores, and this configuration leaves about 12.0 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 RS818+ 16.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 79Great quality (A) · 79 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | K2 Horizon 7B | Q6_K | 10.1 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 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. | Gemma 4 12B | Q4_K_M | 9.5 GB | 0.5 tok/s | Very slow |
| 77Great quality (A) · 77 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9B | Q6_K | 9.5 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 77Great quality (A) · 77 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | SenseNova Loop 9B Preview | Q6_K | 10.0 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 75/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ornith 1.5 9B | Q6_K | 9.7 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 75Great quality (A) · 75 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 75/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3.5 9B | Q6_K | 9.7 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Ornith 1.0 9B | Q6_K | 9.7 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 73Great quality (A) · 73 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | TMax 9B | Q6_K | 9.2 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
| 70Great quality (A) · 70 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 73/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B | Q8_0 | 10.2 GB | 0.6 tok/s | Very slow |
| 69Good quality (B) · 69 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | UI-Mate 9B | Q6_K | 9.5 GB | 0.4 tok/s | Very slow |
Best Image models for the Synology RS818+ 16.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84Great quality (A) · 84 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 78/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX 3 Image Klein | Q4 GGUF | 10.2 GB | 78.0 min | Very slow |
| 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | FLUX.2 [klein] 4B | FP8 | 10.2 GB | 10.3 min | Very slow |
| 78Great quality (A) · 78 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Z-Image Turbo | Q4 GGUF | 10.1 GB | 34.2 min | Very slow |
| 76Great quality (A) · 76 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Z-Image | Q4 GGUF | 10.1 GB | 3.9 h | Very slow |
| 79Great quality (A) · 79 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 74/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | ERNIE-Image Turbo | Q4 GGUF | 11.3 GB | 43.8 min | Very slowtight fit |
| 87Excellent quality (A+) · 87 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8 GGUF, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | ERNIE-Image | Q8 GGUF | 11.2 GB | 5.0 h | Very slowtight fit · encoder unloaded after use |
Best Video models for the Synology RS818+ 16.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83Great quality (A) · 83 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 62/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Bernini-R A14B (video generation + editing) | FP8 | 10.7 GB | 160.1 h | Very slowtight fit · CPU offload |
| 49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 61/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | LTX-Video 2B | FP8 | 10.8 GB | 4.3 h | Very slowtight fit |
| 74Great quality (A) · 74 of 100: how capable the model is at FP8, whatever it runs on. Match score 60/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | HY-OmniWeaving (8.3B, unified video) | FP8 | 7.8 GB | 117.8 h | Very slowCPU offload |
| 55Good quality (B) · 55 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 60/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Wan 2.1 T2V 1.3B | FP16 | 8.4 GB | 47.9 h | Very slowencoder unloaded after use |
| 55Good quality (B) · 55 of 100: how capable the model is at FP16, whatever it runs on. Match score 60/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Wan 2.1 VACE 1.3B | FP16 | 10.1 GB | 51.9 h | Very slowencoder unloaded after use |
Best Decision models for the Synology RS818+ 16.0 GB
| Quality | Model | Quant | Memory | Speed | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90Excellent quality (A+) · 90 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. | Qwen3 Reranker 4B | Q8_0 | 6.1 GB | 275.9 s | Very slow |
| 89Excellent quality (A+) · 89 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 80/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. | Qwen3 Reranker 8B | Q6_K | 8.6 GB | 561.3 s | Very slow |
| 88Excellent quality (A+) · 88 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. | zerank-2 | Q8_0 | 6.1 GB | 275.9 s | Very slow |
| 90Excellent quality (A+) · 90 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. | Skywork Reward V2 Llama 3.1 8B | Q8_0 | 10.4 GB | 1,113.0 s | Very slowtight fit |
| 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 | 2.4 GB | 41.2 s | Very slow |
| 86Excellent quality (A+) · 86 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. | Shieldstral 1.0 3B | Q8_0 | 5.9 GB | 264.2 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 | 2.4 GB | 41.2 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. | Intern-Decision 4B | Q8_0 | 6.4 GB | 156.6 s | Very slow |
Other products with the Intel Atom C2538 NAS (16 GB)
RS1219+Product page (opens in a new tab)Discontinued
RS818RP+Product 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.