Lesson 2 • 3 min
Tradeoffs
Engineering decisions and their consequences
Every design choice involves tradeoffs. Understanding them helps you appreciate why Z-Image works the way it does—and what alternatives exist.
Explore the tradeoff space: speed vs quality vs memory
Key tradeoffs
STEPS (8 vs 50)
├─ Fewer steps = faster generation
├─ Fewer steps = potentially lower quality
└─ Z-Image: Distillation recovers quality
MODEL SIZE (6B parameters)
├─ Larger = higher quality, more knowledge
├─ Larger = more memory, slower inference
└─ Z-Image: 6B fits in 16GB VRAM (sweet spot)
LATENT SIZE (128×128)
├─ Smaller = faster attention, less memory
├─ Smaller = less detail preserved
└─ Z-Image: Powerful decoder compensates
CFG SCALE (0 vs 7)
├─ Higher = better prompt following
├─ Higher = requires 2× compute (conditional + unconditional)
└─ Z-Image: CFG=0, guidance baked into distillationQuick Win
You understand the tradeoff space: every choice optimizes for something at the cost of something else.