What should I do when my local AI model on an old PC just sits idle?

[AuroraS]

If a local AI model on an older PC just sits idle, the most common cause is a mismatch between the model’s requirements and the available hardware. Limited CPU capabilities, low RAM, or slow disk I/O can prevent the model from initializing without showing obvious errors. Check system resource usage during startup and switch to a smaller or quantized model if needed. On older machines, reducing context size and avoiding unsupported acceleration options usually resolves the issue.

[SavannahL]

So I finally got around to trying to set up a local AI model on my old gaming PC, following a guide I found. I managed to get the model loaded, but when I went to run my first prompt, it just… sat there. The fan kicked on like a jet engine, but the command line didn’t show any error or output for a solid ten minutes. I’m not sure if it’s silently working through something huge, if my hardware is just too weak, or if I botched a step in the setup. Has anyone else hit a wall right at the finish line like this?

[Mila92]

yeah i have chased that jet engine moment with a local ai model. no output for ten minutes while the fan screams can feel like something huge is loading or like the system is balancing memory. it might be waiting on gpu memory or a big tokenization warm up, hard to tell without logs

[Emily_G]

from a dev brain point of view this usually means the model is cranking through something heavyweight and not flushing output yet. check resource usage and whether the process is stuck in a loop or just waiting on memory. in a tight pc those gpus can chew through power and memory and stall the display output while things get settled as the model allocates buffers

[Mila.T]

could be that you loaded the wrong file or the prompt formatting is off. i once saw a local ai model sit quiet because it was waiting for a closing token or a newline that never comes. a tiny misstep in the input can derail the whole thing

[HannahW]

skeptical take guides for local ai models are full of caveats and outdated steps. silence plus loud fan could be a sign the process never started properly. a quick sanity check with a simple test prompt and a fixed local ai model file might reveal if the build is at fault

[BrandonCS]

reframing maybe the issue isnt finishing the setup but what done means here with a local ai model. if you are hoping for instant replies you are stacking expectations on hardware that may just be maxed out. the point could be exploring where the bottleneck sits before you blame the guide

[Jason97]

one practical angle have you peeked at the process list or logs to see if the local ai model is sleeping or io bound. if you can spare a moment to confirm what the program is actually doing you will probably spot where the stall sits