Qwen1.5 72B Chat vs Qwen3 Coder Next
Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.
Specifications
| Qwen1.5 72B Chat | Qwen3 Coder Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 72.3B | 79.7B |
| Context | 33K | 262K |
| Architecture | Qwen2ForCausalLM | Qwen3NextForCausalLM |
| License | Other | Apache 2.0 |
| Downloads | 10.1K | 1.0M |
| Released | — | Feb 2026 |
VRAM by Quantization: Qwen1.5 72B Chat vs Qwen3 Coder Next
| Quantization | Bits | Qwen1.5 72B Chat VRAM | Qwen3 Coder Next VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 36.4 GB | 34.3 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 40.9 GB | 39.2 GB |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 37.3 GB | 35.3 GB |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | — | 40.2 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 49.0 GB | 48.2 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | — | 57.2 GB |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | — | 66.1 GB |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | — | 80.1 GB |
Verdict
Qwen3 Coder Next needs less VRAM at Q4_K_M (48.2 GB vs 49.0 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. Qwen3 Coder Next supports a longer context window (262K tokens). Qwen3 Coder Next is the more widely downloaded of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which needs less VRAM, Qwen1.5 72B Chat or Qwen3 Coder Next?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen1.5 72B Chat needs 49.0 GB and Qwen3 Coder Next needs 48.2 GB, so Qwen3 Coder Next is the lighter option to run locally.
- Which has a longer context window, Qwen1.5 72B Chat or Qwen3 Coder Next?
Qwen1.5 72B Chat supports 32,768 tokens and Qwen3 Coder Next supports 262,144 tokens.
- What is the difference between Qwen1.5 72B Chat and Qwen3 Coder Next?
Qwen1.5 72B Chat is a 72.3B model from Alibaba (Qwen family), while Qwen3 Coder Next is a 79.7B model from Alibaba (Qwen family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.