What models are currently good for running coding tasks? I just ran Qwen3-14B-Q6_K.gguf with llama.cpp on my card with 16GB of vram (+32GB ddr4), but I get really close to filling the entire vram on a single short conversation, so I am looking for some (smaller) alternatives to test.
I might throw OpenCode container in the mix next, if that is relevant information.
spoiler
podman run --rm --replace --pull=newer \
--name llama \
-p 8080:8080 \
-v ./llama_models:/models:Z \
--device /dev/dri/card1:/dev/dri/card1 \
--device /dev/dri/renderD128:/dev/dri/renderD128 \
ghcr.io/ggml-org/llama.cpp:full-vulkan \
--server \
-m /models/Qwen3-14B-Q6_K.gguf \
-ngl 99 \
-fa on \
-c 16384 \
--temp 0.6 \
--top-k 20 \
--top-p 0.95 \
--jinja \
--host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080
I came across an
stickerarticle recently which talked about sites/tools that tell you what could run on your machine (canirun.ai and llmfit).whichllm seems to tell what gives you the best results on your hardware.
Thanks!
I’ve had good results with this model on my 16GB card. gemma-4-26B-A4B-it-ultra-uncensored-heretic
I’d suggest using koboldcpp.
I run
gemma4:26bin 16 GB of RAM. It’s slow on my test rig with only 2 GB VRAM but it should fit 16 GB VRAM fine. I have one of those AMD BC-250 crypto mining units setup as a gaming rig, but my plan was to also run ollama on it.gemma4:26bwas the model I planned to make the default. I haven’t messed with it yet since I’m playing through my Steam catalog that was waiting for me to have a PC that could run them lol.Qwen 3.6 35B. It’s A3B so it fits with space to spare for context. Just make sure you have
--cpu-moe.Thanks! Why the --cpu-moe flag though? And can you share your parameter section (the after --server part), if you’re running llama?
I use model preset file but that just contains the equivalent of command line options. Here’s what I have for Qwen:
[Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-MTP-Q4_K_XL] m = /models/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-MTP/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf mmproj = /models/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-MTP/mmproj-BF16.gguf spec-type = draft-mtp spec-draft-n-max = 2 chat-template-kwargs = {"preserve_thinking": true} temp = 1.0 top-p = 0.95 top-k = 20 min-p = 0.0 presence-penalty = 1.5 repeat-penalty = 1.0I don’t use
cpu-moebecause I have enough VRAM for the whole model. If you have 16GB VRAM, you addcpu-moewhich makes llama.cpp put only the active layers on the GPU. Keeps the rest of them in system RAM. Then it swaps them around as needed. The result is lower but still decent speed. On my hw, this model does 90-100tps when fully in VRAM. When using cpu-moe, I think it falls to 40-50tps, if I remember correctly.




