VRAM capacity decides which models you can run. GPU memory bandwidth decides how fast they run. Storage, PCIe, and system RAM decide how quickly you can load and swap them. While VRAM capacity dominates the conversation—and fairly so, since it limits whether a model fits at all—zooming out to the entire inference process reveals that capacity is just one factor. When you deploy system memory offloading or multi-GPU setups to accommodate oversized models, the rest of your system becomes even more important in determining responsiveness. This guide walks through the full journey from loading...