Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct vs Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct
Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.
Specifications
| Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 41.9B | 14.0B |
| Context | 131K | 4K |
| Architecture | PhiMoEForCausalLM | Phi3ForCausalLM |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Downloads | 138.1K | 11.3K |
| Released | — | Dec 2025 |
VRAM by Quantization: Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct vs Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct
| Quantization | Bits | Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct VRAM | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| BF16 | 16.00 | 84.3 GB | 28.6 GB |
Verdict
Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct needs less VRAM at BF16 (28.6 GB vs 84.3 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct supports a longer context window (131K tokens). Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct is the more widely downloaded of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which needs less VRAM, Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct or Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct?
At BF16, Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct needs 84.3 GB and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct needs 28.6 GB, so Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct is the lighter option to run locally.
- Which has a longer context window, Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct or Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct?
Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct supports 131,072 tokens and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct supports 4,096 tokens.
- What is the difference between Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct?
Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct is a 41.9B model from Microsoft (Phi 3 family), while Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct is a 14.0B model from Microsoft (Phi 3 family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.