I have finally tested it : large models can be run on low RAM / no VRAM
A user on Reddit's r/LocalLLaMA subreddit has demonstrated that large language models can be run on systems with very limited RAM and no dedicated GPU. The user tested models like Gemma 4 12B and StepFun Flash 3.7 198B MoE on a laptop with only 2.6 GiB of free RAM. The results showed that even with these constraints, the models were capable of processing prompts and generating responses, suggesting broader accessibility for running LLMs on consumer hardware. AI
IMPACT Demonstrates that large language models can be run on consumer-grade hardware with minimal RAM, potentially lowering the barrier to entry for local LLM deployment.