Hardware requirements
What hardware do I need to run Ministral 3 3B?
3.85B
256K context
Apache 2.0
At Q4_K_M the weights are 2.2 GB; with an 8K KV cache and runtime overhead that is 3.6 GB, so it wants a 8 GB card to run with headroom — in practice 8 GB VRAM: GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and 7 others. Every figure below is computed from the model’s published shape against each device’s usable memory; tokens per second are estimates. The method.
Minimum practical
8 GB VRAM
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q8_0, 5.2 GB of 7.0 GB, ~97 tok/s, up to 25K context.
the smallest card that holds it at all, at Q3_K_M — the lowest quantisation worth running
Recommended
8 GB VRAM
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q4_K_M, 3.6 GB of 7.0 GB, ~170 tok/s, up to 41K context.
runs the recommended quantisation with headroom at 8K context
High quality
8 GB VRAM
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q8_0, 5.2 GB of 7.0 GB, ~97 tok/s, up to 25K context.
near-lossless Q8_0 with headroom
Long context
24 GB VRAM
GeForce RTX 4090 — Q4_K_M, 15.8 GB of 22.4 GB, ~282 tok/s at 128K.
128K tokens (or the model’s maximum) at the recommended quantisation
Apple Silicon
16 GB unified
M1 · 16 GB — Q4_K_M, 3.6 GB of 10.7 GB, ~18 tok/s, up to 78K context.
smallest Mac that runs the recommended quantisation with headroom
CPU only
32 GB RAM
CPU only · DDR4 dual-channel — Q8_0, 5.2 GB of 25.6 GB, ~5.6 tok/s, up to 208K context.
no GPU — weights stream from system RAM
How much VRAM at each quantisation
| Quant | Weights | +KV 8K | +KV 32K | +KV 128K | Total @ 8K | Needs | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 7.2 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 8.6 GB | 12 GB card | Reference |
| Q8_0 | 3.8 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 5.2 GB | 8 GB card | −0.1% ppl |
| Q6_K | 2.9 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 4.4 GB | 8 GB card | −0.4% ppl |
| Q5_K_M | 2.5 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 4.0 GB | 8 GB card | −0.8% ppl |
| Q4_K_M | 2.2 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 3.6 GB | 8 GB card | −1.9% ppl |
| Q3_K_M | 1.8 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 3.2 GB | 8 GB card | −5.4% ppl |
| Q2_K | 1.5 GB | 0.81 GB | 3.25 GB | 13.0 GB | 2.9 GB | 8 GB card | −15% ppl |
Totals add 0.6 GB runtime overhead and an f16 KV cache; "needs" is the smallest discrete card class whose usable memory (after display and driver reserve) leaves 15% headroom. A q8_0 cache roughly halves the KV columns.
NVIDIA · GeForce
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5090 | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 501 | yes | Check |
| GeForce RTX 5080 | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 268 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 251 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 5070 | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 188 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 125 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 5060 | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 125 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4090 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 282 | yes | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4080 Super | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 206 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4080 | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 201 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 188 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Ti | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 141 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Super | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 141 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4070 | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 141 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 81 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4060 Ti | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 81 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4060 | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 76 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 282 | yes | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3090 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 262 | yes | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 255 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 255 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3080 | 10 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 59K | 213 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 170 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3070 | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 125 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 125 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 101 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | 11 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 68K | 172 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 94 | no | Check |
| GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | 11 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 68K | 135 | no | Check |
NVIDIA · GeForce laptop
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 251 | yes | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 161 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 121 | no | Check |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 72 | no | Check |
NVIDIA · Workstation
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 6000 Ada | 48 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 268 | yes | Check |
| RTX 5000 Ada | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 161 | yes | Check |
| RTX 4000 Ada | 20 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 153K | 101 | tight | Check |
| RTX 2000 Ada | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 63 | no | Check |
| RTX A6000 | 48 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 215 | yes | Check |
| RTX A5000 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 215 | yes | Check |
| RTX A4000 | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 125 | no | Check |
NVIDIA · Data centre
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L40S | 48 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 242 | yes | Check |
| L4 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 84 | yes | Check |
| A10 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 168 | yes | Check |
| A100 40 GB | 40 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 435 | yes | Check |
| A100 80 GB | 80 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 570 | yes | Check |
| H100 PCIe | 80 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 559 | yes | Check |
| H100 SXM | 80 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 937 | yes | Check |
| H200 SXM | 141 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 1342 | yes | Check |
| Tesla P40 | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 97 | yes | Check |
AMD · Radeon
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radeon RX 9070 XT | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 180 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 9070 | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 180 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 193K | 268 | yes | Check |
| Radeon RX 7900 XT | 20 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 153K | 224 | tight | Check |
| Radeon RX 7900 GRE | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 161 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 7800 XT | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 174 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 7700 XT | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 121 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 7600 XT | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 81 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 6900 XT | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 143 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 6800 XT | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 143 | no | Check |
| Radeon RX 6700 XT | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 107 | no | Check |
AMD · Radeon Pro
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radeon Pro W7900 | 48 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 242 | yes | Check |
| Radeon Pro W7800 | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 161 | yes | Check |
AMD · Instinct
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instinct MI210 | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 458 | yes | Check |
| Instinct MI300X | 192 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 1482 | yes | Check |
AMD · Ryzen AI Max
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen AI Max+ 395 · 128 GB | 128 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 66 | yes | Check |
| Ryzen AI Max+ 395 · 64 GB | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 66 | yes | Check |
Apple · Apple Silicon
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 · 16 GB | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 78K | 18 | no | Check |
| M1 Pro · 32 GB | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 209K | 52 | yes | Check |
| M1 Max · 64 GB | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 103 | yes | Check |
| M1 Ultra · 128 GB | 128 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 207 | yes | Check |
| M2 · 24 GB | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 150K | 26 | tight | Check |
| M2 Pro · 32 GB | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 209K | 52 | yes | Check |
| M2 Max · 96 GB | 96 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 103 | yes | Check |
| M2 Ultra · 192 GB | 192 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 207 | yes | Check |
| M3 · 24 GB | 24 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 150K | 26 | tight | Check |
| M3 Pro · 36 GB | 36 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 238K | 39 | yes | Check |
| M3 Max · 64 GB | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 103 | yes | Check |
| M3 Max · 128 GB | 128 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 103 | yes | Check |
| M3 Ultra · 256 GB | 256 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 207 | yes | Check |
| M3 Ultra · 512 GB | 512 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 207 | yes | Check |
| M4 · 32 GB | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 209K | 31 | yes | Check |
| M4 Pro · 48 GB | 48 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 70 | yes | Check |
| M4 Pro · 64 GB | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 70 | yes | Check |
| M4 Max · 64 GB | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 106 | yes | Check |
| M4 Max · 128 GB | 128 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 141 | yes | Check |
Intel · Arc
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arc B580 | 12 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 77K | 128 | no | Check |
| Arc B570 | 10 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 59K | 106 | no | Check |
| Arc A770 16 GB | 16 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 114K | 157 | no | Check |
| Arc A750 | 8 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 41K | 143 | no | Check |
CPU · CPU + system RAM
| Device | Memory | Best quant with headroom | Fits at all | Max context @ Q4_K_M | Tok/s est. | 128K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU only · DDR4 dual-channel | 32 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 224K | 9.9 | yes | Check |
| CPU only · DDR5 dual-channel | 64 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 17 | yes | Check |
| CPU only · DDR5 8-channel server | 256 GB | Q8_0 | Q8_0 | 256K | 59 | yes | Check |