AI image and video generation
Image and video models run on the graphics chip and need graphics memory for the model and the picture.
What matters
- Graphics memory: the model has to fit in it, or it runs slowly from system memory.
- A dedicated NVIDIA graphics chip is what most of these tools list first.
General guidance in our own words. The figures below are the makers' published requirements.
The requirements
| App | Minimum | Recommended | System the list names (the recommended list where there are two) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| InvokeAI with SD 1.5 models | 8 GB memory, 4 GB graphics memory, Nvidia 10xx series or newer, 4 GB VRAM, 512x512 | not published | Windows 10 or newer, macOS 14 or newer, Linux | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| InvokeAI with SDXL models | 16 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, Nvidia 20xx series or newer, 8 GB VRAM, 1024x1024 | not published | Windows 10 or newer, macOS 14 or newer, Linux | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| InvokeAI with FLUX.1 models | 32 GB memory, 10 GB graphics memory, Nvidia 20xx series or newer, 10 GB VRAM, 1024x1024 | not published | Windows 10 or newer, macOS 14 or newer, Linux | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Fooocus | 8 GB memory, 4 GB graphics memory, Nvidia RTX 2000 to 4000 series with 4 GB VRAM; GTX 10 series needs 8 GB; AMD needs 8 GB; CPU-only needs 32 GB RAM and no GPU | not published | Windows or Linux; Mac M1/M2 uses shared memory | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| LM Studio | not published | 16 GB memory, 4 GB graphics memory, At least 4 GB of dedicated VRAM recommended (Windows) | Windows x64 or ARM; macOS 14 or newer on Apple silicon; Ubuntu 20.04+ | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Jan | 8 GB memory, 6 GB graphics memory, 6 GB VRAM minimum for NVIDIA, AMD or Intel Arc GPUs (GPU acceleration) | 16 GB memory | Windows 10 or higher | official page read 2026-10-22 |
Which laptops meet the most of these
The 30 best of 359 listed laptops, compared with each laptop's largest memory option. Memory and graphics memory only. The operating system is not checked: many of these apps and games run only on Windows or only on macOS, so open the source link before you rely on a ranking. A laptop whose maker does not state its graphics memory counts as not meeting any figure that depends on it. The graphics class and processor each maker names are in the source links too.