diff --git a/obliteratus/abliterate.py b/obliteratus/abliterate.py
index 060a4d3..eb10186 100644
--- a/obliteratus/abliterate.py
+++ b/obliteratus/abliterate.py
@@ -737,6 +737,7 @@ class AbliterationPipeline:
         use_whitened_svd: bool | None = None,
         true_iterative_refinement: bool | None = None,
         quantization: str | None = None,
+        gpu_memory_utilization: float = 0.85,
         harmful_prompts: list[str] | None = None,
         harmless_prompts: list[str] | None = None,
         jailbreak_prompts: list[str] | None = None,
@@ -841,6 +842,7 @@ class AbliterationPipeline:
         self.use_whitened_svd = use_whitened_svd if use_whitened_svd is not None else method_cfg.get("use_whitened_svd", False)
         self.true_iterative_refinement = true_iterative_refinement if true_iterative_refinement is not None else method_cfg.get("true_iterative_refinement", False)
         self.quantization = quantization
+        self.gpu_memory_utilization = gpu_memory_utilization
 
         # SOTA techniques (resolve from method or explicit override)
         self.use_jailbreak_contrast = use_jailbreak_contrast if use_jailbreak_contrast is not None else method_cfg.get("use_jailbreak_contrast", False)
@@ -1156,6 +1158,8 @@ class AbliterationPipeline:
             dtype=self.dtype,
             trust_remote_code=self.trust_remote_code,
             quantization=self.quantization,
+            skip_snapshot=True,
+            gpu_memory_utilization=self.gpu_memory_utilization,
         )
 
         summary = self.handle.summary()
diff --git a/obliteratus/cli.py b/obliteratus/cli.py
index 2c5ad85..04ad851 100644
--- a/obliteratus/cli.py
+++ b/obliteratus/cli.py
@@ -253,6 +253,11 @@ def main(argv: list[str] | None = None):
             "--quantization", type=str, default=None, choices=["4bit", "8bit"],
             help="Load model with quantization (4bit or 8bit). Requires bitsandbytes.",
         )
+        p.add_argument(
+            "--gpu-memory-utilization", type=float, default=0.85,
+            help="Fraction of GPU VRAM to make available for model loading (0.0-1.0, default 0.85). "
+                 "Increase toward 1.0 if the GPU is dedicated to this process.",
+        )
         p.add_argument(
             "--large-model", action="store_true", default=False,
             help="Enable conservative defaults for 120B+ models (fewer directions, 1 pass, lower SAE expansion).",
@@ -1070,6 +1075,7 @@ def _cmd_abliterate(args):
         projection_target=getattr(args, "projection_target", None),
         projection_row_fraction=getattr(args, "projection_row_fraction", None),
         quantization=args.quantization,
+        gpu_memory_utilization=getattr(args, "gpu_memory_utilization", 0.85),
         large_model_mode=getattr(args, "large_model", False),
         verify_sample_size=getattr(args, "verify_sample_size", None),
         refusal_max_tokens=getattr(args, "refusal_max_tokens", None),
diff --git a/obliteratus/models/loader.py b/obliteratus/models/loader.py
index 48ccbd5..d85b21a 100644
--- a/obliteratus/models/loader.py
+++ b/obliteratus/models/loader.py
@@ -482,13 +482,12 @@ def _effective_model_memory_gb(estimate_gb: float, quantization: str | None) ->
     return effective_model_memory_gb(estimate_gb, quantization)
 
 
-def _bounded_max_memory() -> dict[int | str, str]:
+def _bounded_max_memory(gpu_memory_utilization: float = 0.85) -> dict[int | str, str]:
     """Build Accelerate memory limits with inference and host headroom."""
     max_memory: dict[int | str, str] = {}
     for index in range(dev.device_count()):
         total = torch.cuda.get_device_properties(index).total_memory
-        reserve = max(int(total * 0.15), 2 * 1024 ** 3)
-        usable = total - reserve
+        usable = int(total * gpu_memory_utilization)
         max_memory[index] = f"{usable // (1024 ** 2)}MiB"
     total_ram, _ = dev._system_memory_gb()
     cpu_budget_gb = int(total_ram * 0.85)
@@ -516,6 +515,7 @@ def load_model(
     quantization: str | None = None,
     offload_folder: str | None = None,
     skip_snapshot: bool | None = None,
+    gpu_memory_utilization: float = 0.85,
     revision: str | None = None,
     local_files_only: bool = False,
 ) -> ModelHandle:
@@ -535,6 +535,8 @@ def load_model(
             None (default): auto-decide based on GPU memory headroom.
             True: always skip (saves memory).
             False: always snapshot (force even for large models).
+        gpu_memory_utilization: Fraction of GPU VRAM to use (0.0-1.0, default 0.85).
+            Increase toward 1.0 if the GPU is dedicated to this process.
         revision: Optional Hub branch, tag, or commit passed to every loader.
         local_files_only: Refuse network access and use only locally cached files.
     """
@@ -694,7 +696,7 @@ def load_model(
                 f"({gpu_gb:.0f} GB) — skipping max_memory constraint"
             )
         elif dev.is_cuda():
-            max_memory = _bounded_max_memory()
+            max_memory = _bounded_max_memory(gpu_memory_utilization)
             load_kwargs["max_memory"] = max_memory
             logger.info(
                 f"GPU memory budget: {', '.join(f'GPU{k}={v}' for k, v in max_memory.items() if k != 'cpu')}"