Instella 3B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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Instella 3B is a 3.1B-parameter open language model from amd. It supports a context window of up to 4,096 tokens. At BF16 it needs about 7.28 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
178 downloads
42 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- amd
- Parameters
- 3.1B
- Architecture
- InstellaForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 4,096 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 50,304
- Release Date
- 2025-11-14
- License
- Other
Get Started
HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does Instella 3B Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BF16 | 16.00 | 7.3 GB | 8.0 GB | 6.23 GB | Brain floating point 16 — preferred for training |
Which GPUs Can Run Instella 3B?
BF16 · 7.3 GBInstella 3B (BF16) requires 7.3 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 10+ GB is recommended. Using the full 4K context window can add up to 0.8 GB, bringing total usage to 8.0 GB. 35 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Which Devices Can Run Instella 3B?
BF16 · 7.3 GB33 devices with unified memory can run Instella 3B, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, MacBook Air 13" M3 (8 GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomDecent
— Enough memory, may be tightRelated Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Instella 3B need?
Instella 3B requires 7.3 GB of VRAM at BF16. Full 4K context adds up to 0.8 GB (8.0 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 3.1B × 16 bits ÷ 8 = 6.2 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 1.1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 1.8 GB (at full 4K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
BF167.3 GBBF16 + full context8.0 GB- Can I run Instella 3B on a Mac?
Instella 3B requires at least 7.3 GB at BF16, which exceeds the unified memory of most consumer Macs. You would need a Mac Studio or Mac Pro with a high-memory configuration.
- Can I run Instella 3B locally?
Yes — Instella 3B can run locally on consumer hardware. At BF16 quantization it needs 7.3 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Instella 3B?
At BF16, Instella 3B can reach ~400 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~90 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: AMD Instinct MI300X → 5300 ÷ 7.3 × 0.55 = ~400 tok/s
Estimated speed at BF16 (7.3 GB)
~400 tok/s~90 tok/s~299 tok/s~248 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Instella 3B?
At BF16, the download is about 6.23 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Instella 3B?
35 consumer GPUs can run Instella 3B at BF16 (7.3 GB). Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, AMD Radeon RX 7600. 27 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
- Which devices can run Instella 3B?
33 devices with unified memory can run Instella 3B at BF16 (7.3 GB), including Mac Mini M4 (16 GB), Mac Mini M4 (32 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.