diff --git a/modules/models_settings.py b/modules/models_settings.py
index 3a2400d4..6b9493ca 100644
--- a/modules/models_settings.py
+++ b/modules/models_settings.py
@@ -379,12 +379,15 @@ def estimate_vram(gguf_file, gpu_layers, ctx_size, cache_type):
     return vram
 
 
-def get_nvidia_free_vram():
+def get_nvidia_vram(return_free=True):
     """
-    Calculates the total free VRAM across all NVIDIA GPUs by parsing nvidia-smi output.
+    Calculates VRAM statistics across all NVIDIA GPUs by parsing nvidia-smi output.
+
+    Args:
+        return_free (bool): If True, returns free VRAM. If False, returns total VRAM.
 
     Returns:
-        int: The total free VRAM in MiB summed across all detected NVIDIA GPUs.
+        int: Either the total free VRAM or total VRAM in MiB summed across all detected NVIDIA GPUs.
              Returns -1 if nvidia-smi command fails (not found, error, etc.).
              Returns 0 if nvidia-smi succeeds but no GPU memory info found.
     """
@@ -412,17 +415,21 @@ def get_nvidia_free_vram():
             # No GPUs found in expected format
             return 0
 
+        total_vram_mib = 0
         total_free_vram_mib = 0
+
         for used_mem_str, total_mem_str in matches:
             try:
                 used_mib = int(used_mem_str)
                 total_mib = int(total_mem_str)
+                total_vram_mib += total_mib
                 total_free_vram_mib += (total_mib - used_mib)
             except ValueError:
                 # Skip malformed entries
                 pass
 
-        return total_free_vram_mib
+        # Return either free or total VRAM based on the flag
+        return total_free_vram_mib if return_free else total_vram_mib
 
     except FileNotFoundError:
         # nvidia-smi not found (likely no NVIDIA drivers installed)
@@ -473,8 +480,10 @@ def update_gpu_layers_and_vram(loader, model, gpu_layers, ctx_size, cache_type,
             # No user setting, auto-adjust from the maximum
             current_layers = max_layers  # Start from max
 
-            # Auto-adjust based on available VRAM
-            available_vram = get_nvidia_free_vram()
+            # Auto-adjust based on available/total VRAM
+            # If a model is loaded and it's for the UI, use the total VRAM to avoid confusion
+            return_free = False if (for_ui and shared.model_name not in [None, 'None']) else True
+            available_vram = get_nvidia_vram(return_free=return_free)
             if available_vram > 0:
                 tolerance = 906
                 while current_layers > 0 and estimate_vram(model, current_layers, ctx_size, cache_type) > available_vram - tolerance: