It loads the model's weights into GPU memory once and keeps them there. That's the whole trick: the model stays resident, so after the first load, answers start almost immediately instead of re-reading gigabytes from disk every time.

Lizard chooses it automatically when:

• you have a DirectX 12 graphics card (including built-in Intel Iris Xe), and
• the model actually fits in that card's memory alongside everything else running.

What you'll notice:

• First load takes a few seconds while shaders compile. That result is cached on disk, so every load after is near-instant — even for a different model, or after restarting.
• Memory use is lower than you'd expect for the file size, because of how the weights are packed.

If it isn't being used, it's usually one of two things: no DirectX 12 adapter, or the model is bigger than the card. Lizard then hands the work to Caterpillar instead — that's by design, not a failure.

More detail: https://lizard-llm.qendryx.com/product.html

What card are you running, and what does your first-load time look like?