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IFMK2HorizonForCausalLM

K2 Horizon 3.7B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility

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K2 Horizon 3.7B is a 5.1B-parameter open language model from IFM. It supports a context window of up to 524,288 tokens. At BF16 it needs about 10.61 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.

5.1B params · dense524K contextApache 2.012.4K downloads74 likes
A

Runs well on a 24 GB GPU

Runs from12 GB BF16 · 16KBest on24 GB BF16 · ~62 tok/s · 128KMacs from16 GB BF16 · ~13 tok/s

Apache 2.0

Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB

Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate

Run K2 Horizon 3.7B

One recommended way. Every other method, OS and quant is in the step-by-step guide.

Recommended

vLLM
one command · needs vLLM installed
$vllm serve IFM/K2-Horizon-3.7B --max-model-len 16384

vLLM repo with its own quantisation

Download: Weights on Hugging Face

install, OS, other quants

Other ways

each opens step-by-step

Run in cloud

Fits on Tesla P40 (24 GB) (12 GB headroom) · BF16

Generation speed
~21 tok/s
generation speed
Cost per 1M output tokens
$1.59
per 1M output tokens

How Much VRAM Does K2 Horizon 3.7B Need?

Select a quantization level; the listed hardware adheres to it.

QuantizationVRAM+32KOn RTX 4090 (reference)
10.6 GB13.4 GB16-bit · bfloat — Brain floating point 16 — preferred for trainingFits: 128K context · ~62 tok/s
est.calculated, no published file yet

Selected BF16

Brain floating point 16

11.9GBat 16K context

Weights
10.1 GB
KV cache
1.5 GB
Overhead
0.3 GB

Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · 12.1 GB free · ~62 tok/s

≥50 tok/s needs ≥815 GB/s · RTX 5090 ~110, RTX 3090 Ti ~62

Which Hardware Can Run K2 Horizon 3.7B?

BF16 · 10.6 GB

K2 Horizon 3.7B (BF16) requires 10.6 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 14+ GB is recommended. Using the full 524K context window can add up to 48.1 GB, bringing total usage to 58.7 GB. 38 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. 150 devices with unified memory can run K2 Horizon 3.7B, including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256GB), Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB), Mac Mini M2 Pro (16 GB).

By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at BF16
8 GB · RTX 4060Doesn't fit — smallest quant needs 11.9 GB8 GB tier →
12 GB · RTX 3060 12GBBF16 · 11.9 GB · ~22 tok/s · 16K12 GB tier →
16 GB · RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBF16 · 11.9 GB · ~27 tok/s · 32K16 GB tier →
24 GB · RTX 4090referenceBF16 · 11.9 GB · ~62 tok/s · 128K24 GB tier →
Mac 32 GB · Mac Mini M4BF16 · 11.9 GB · ~8 tok/s · 128KMacs →
Mac 64 GB · Mac Studio M4 MaxBF16 · 11.9 GB · ~36 tok/s · 512KMacs →

Alternatives to K2 Horizon 3.7B

Similar models

3
ModelScoreVRAMtok/sWhy it is similar
Gemma 4 E2BGoogle—3.5 GB~191same size
Molmo2 4BAllen AI—4.7 GB~193same size
Gemma 3n E2B ITGoogle—5.9 GB~183same size

Specifications

Publisher
IFM
Parameters
5.1B
Architecture
K2HorizonForCausalLM
Context Length
524,288 tokens
Vocabulary Size
250,624
Release Date
2026-09-01
License
Apache 2.0

Frequently Asked Questions

How much VRAM does K2 Horizon 3.7B need?

K2 Horizon 3.7B requires 10.6 GB of VRAM at BF16. Full 524K context adds up to 48.1 GB (58.7 GB total).

VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead

Weights = 5.1B × 16 bits ÷ 8 = 10.1 GB

KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.5 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)

Fit ratings and hardware model lists check this model with room for a 16K-token context, which needs a little more memory.

KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 48.6 GB (at full 524K context)

VRAM usage by quantization

10.6 GB
58.7 GB

Learn more about VRAM estimation →

Can I run K2 Horizon 3.7B on a Mac?

Yes — Mac Mini M2 Pro (16 GB) and 133 other Macs can run K2 Horizon 3.7B. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At BF16 you need at least 10.6 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead).

Can I run K2 Horizon 3.7B locally?

Yes — K2 Horizon 3.7B can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.

How fast is K2 Horizon 3.7B?

At BF16, K2 Horizon 3.7B can reach ~452 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~62 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.

tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency

Example: NVIDIA B200 → 8000 ÷ 10.61 × 0.65 = ~490 tok/s

Estimated speed at BF16 (10.6 GB)

~490 tok/s
~62 tok/s
~490 tok/s
~452 tok/s

Real-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.

Learn more about tok/s estimation →

What's the download size of K2 Horizon 3.7B?

At BF16, the download is about 10.12 GB.

Which GPUs can run K2 Horizon 3.7B?

38 consumer GPUs can run K2 Horizon 3.7B at BF16. Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. 26 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.

Which devices can run K2 Horizon 3.7B?

150 devices with unified memory can run K2 Horizon 3.7B at BF16 (10.6 GB), including AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point) Laptop, ASUS Ascent GX10, Beelink GTR9 Pro (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB), Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.