Checking Your System Specifications

In the previous sections, we discussed the importance of your computer's hardware components like the Central Processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) with its dedicated Video RAM (VRAM). These components significantly affect how well and how quickly you can run Large Language Models locally. Now, let's find out the specific details of your system. Knowing your hardware specifications is the first practical step towards understanding what kinds of models your computer can handle.

Fortunately, you don't need specialized tools to find this information. Your operating system has built-in utilities that provide these details. Here’s how to check your system specifications on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Checking Specifications on Windows

Windows provides several ways to view your system hardware. Here are two common methods:

1. Using System Information:

This tool gives a comprehensive overview of your hardware and software.

• Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
• Type msinfo32 and press Enter.
• The "System Summary" page will open. Look for:
  • Processor: This shows your CPU model and speed.
  • Installed Physical Memory (RAM): This shows the total amount of RAM installed in your system (e.g., 16.0 GB).
• To find your GPU details, navigate to Components > Display in the left-hand pane. Look for:
  • Name: This shows your graphics card model (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, Intel Arc A770).
  • Adapter RAM: This often indicates the amount of VRAM available on your dedicated GPU. Note that integrated graphics (often part of the CPU) might show memory shared with system RAM.

2. Using Task Manager:

Task Manager provides a quick, real-time view of your hardware usage and specifications.

• Right-click the taskbar at the bottom of your screen and select "Task Manager", or press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
• If you see a simplified view, click "More details".
• Go to the "Performance" tab.
• Click on:
  • CPU: Shows your processor model name at the top right.
  • Memory: Shows your total installed RAM at the top right (e.g., 32.0 GB).
  • GPU 0, GPU 1, etc.: If you have one or more GPUs, they will be listed here. Click on each one.
    • The model name is shown at the top right.
    • Scroll down in the GPU view to find Dedicated GPU Memory. This is your VRAM amount. If it shows 0.0 GB or a very small amount, you might be looking at integrated graphics that share system RAM. Look for another GPU entry if you have a dedicated graphics card.

Checking Specifications on macOS

Finding hardware details on macOS is straightforward using the "About This Mac" utility.

• Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of your screen.
• Select About This Mac.
• An overview window appears, showing:
  • Processor or Chip: Displays your CPU type (e.g., Intel Core i7, Apple M2).
  • Memory: Shows your total installed RAM (e.g., 16 GB).
• For more detailed graphics information, including VRAM:
  • In the "About This Mac" window, click System Report... (on older macOS versions) or go to System Settings > General > About, then scroll down and click System Report... (on newer macOS versions like Ventura and Sonoma).
  • In the System Report window, navigate to Hardware > Graphics/Displays in the left-hand sidebar.
  • Select your graphics card listed under "Video Card". Look for information labeled VRAM (Total) or similar. This shows the amount of dedicated video memory.
  • Note: For Macs with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 series chips), the memory is "unified," meaning the CPU and GPU share the same pool of memory. The system report will show the total unified memory amount, which serves as both RAM and VRAM.

Checking Specifications on Linux

Linux offers flexibility, meaning the exact steps can vary depending on your distribution (like Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint) and desktop environment (like GNOME, KDE, XFCE). However, the command line provides universal methods.

1. Using the Terminal (Command Line):

Open your terminal application.

• CPU: Run one of these commands:
  • lscpu | grep "Model name" (Often the clearest output)
  • cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name" | uniq These commands will output your processor's model name.
• RAM: Run the command:
  • free -h Look for the total value in the Mem: row. The -h flag makes the output human-readable (e.g., 15G for 16 Gigabytes, accounting for system representation).
• GPU and VRAM: Identifying the GPU and its VRAM can be slightly more involved.
  • To identify the GPU model, use:
    • lspci | grep -i vga
    • Or be more specific if you know the vendor: lspci | grep -i nvidia or lspci | grep -i amd This command lists your graphics controller(s).
  • To find VRAM:
    • NVIDIA GPUs: If you have NVIDIA drivers installed, the command nvidia-smi provides detailed information, including the total VRAM (Memory Usage section often shows used/total).
    • AMD/Intel GPUs: Information might be available through commands like radeontop (for AMD, may need installation) or by inspecting system logs (dmesg | grep -i vram) or specific graphics utility output. Identifying VRAM for non-NVIDIA cards via a single universal command can sometimes be tricky. Checking the output of lspci -v for your VGA device might also provide memory size details under "prefetchable memory".

2. Using GUI System Monitoring Tools:

Most desktop environments come with a graphical system monitor.

• Search for "System Monitor", "Usage", or similar in your application menu (e.g., GNOME System Monitor, KSysGuard in KDE).
• These tools typically have tabs or sections for "Resources" or "System" that display CPU model, total RAM, and sometimes basic GPU information graphically. VRAM specifics might still require the command line methods mentioned above.

Once you have gathered information about your CPU, RAM, and GPU/VRAM, you'll be better equipped to understand the performance you can expect when running different local LLMs and to choose appropriate models and tools in the upcoming chapters. Keep these specifications handy as we proceed.