Stable Diffusion: hardware requirements
Local image generation with your own models.
Hardware tiers
| Tier | CPU | RAM | Storage | GPU | VRAM | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum sensible | 8 cores | 16 GB | 1 TB (ssd) | ai | 8 GB VRAM | 1 GbE |
| Recommended | 12 cores | 32 GB | 2 TB (ssd) | ai | 12 GB VRAM | 1 GbE |
| Comfortable | 16 cores | 64 GB | 4 TB (ssd) | ai | 24 GB VRAM | 2.5 GbE |
| Overkill | 26 cores | 103 GB | 8 TB (ssd) | ai | 24 GB VRAM | 2.5 GbE |
- Minimum sensible: The smallest build that genuinely works — tight, focused, no fluff.
- Recommended: The sweet spot: handles the service plus the usual side-services.
- Comfortable: Real headroom — this service will never be the bottleneck.
- Overkill: More than you will ever use for this service alone — spend the money elsewhere.
Beyond Comfortable — 16 cores, 64 GB RAM, 4 TB: headroom you will never use for this service alone.
Size it exactly
Pick the image model class — VRAM scales with model size.
You need about 8 GB of VRAM for this.
Runs well with
Local AI inference, AI experimentation
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM does Stable Diffusion need?
16 GB is the sensible minimum, 32 GB covers most real setups, and 64 GB gives comfortable headroom.
How many CPU cores does Stable Diffusion need?
8 cores are the minimum, 12 cores the sweet spot, and 16 cores comfortable when shared with other services.
Can I run several services on one machine?
Yes — most services share resources. Use the planner and select several services; the engine sums and overlaps the requirements instead of stacking them.
What if I already have hardware?
Register it in My hardware and the analysis shows exactly which services your current system can comfortably run — including an honest “do nothing”.