Ollama users seek 4GB-safe models

This is the local-LLM equivalent of "pick two": speed, quality, and portability do not all show up on a 4 GB laptop GPU. The thread is useful because it reframes the question from "what is the best model?" to "what can this hardware actually sustain?"

• –4 GB VRAM makes 3B-4B class models the realistic ceiling once quantization and context are accounted for.
• –Qwen3.5 4B is exactly the sort of recommendation that keeps surfacing for this tier: capable enough for light reasoning, small enough to stay usable.
• –Ollama keeps the workflow low-friction for terminal-first users and fits naturally into VS Code plus Claude Code-style setups.
• –For brainstorming and quick reasoning, local models are a solid fallback; for agentic coding, they will still feel like a compromise.