Running local LLMs, RAG, and agents on a 16GB laptop without a GPU
Running , RAG systems, and agent apps locally can be painfully slow on a normal laptop without a GPU. A 16GB HP EliteBook may be enough for learning and small tests, but the lack of a GPU becomes the main speed limit.
The goal is to build and test LLM, RAG, and agent projects on the current machine without buying a GPU laptop or paying for cloud compute. No specific workaround, benchmark, or tool recommendation is provided.
Key points
- The goal is to run LLMs, RAG, and agents locally without a GPU.
- The available machine is a 16GB HP EliteBook.
- The main blocker is slow performance caused by the GPU bottleneck.
- The cost angle is avoiding new hardware or cloud compute while learning and building.
- No concrete workaround or performance data is included.