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Internlm2 5 7B Chat — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility

Chat

Internlm2 5 7B Chat is a 7B-parameter open language model from InternLM in the InternLM family. It supports a context window of up to 32,768 tokens. At Q4_K_M it needs about 4.77 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.

7B params · dense33K contextOther37.8K downloads200 likes
S

Runs great on a 24 GB GPU

Runs from8 GB Q4_K_M · 16KBest on24 GB Q4_K_M · ~137 tok/s · 32KMacs from16 GB Q4_K_M · ~29 tok/s

Other

Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB

Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate

Run Internlm2 5 7B Chat

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 internlm/internlm2_5-7b-chat --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 RTX 3060 12GB (5 GB headroom) · Q4_K_M

Generation speed
~49 tok/s
generation speed
Cost per 1M output tokens
$0.47
per 1M output tokens

How Much VRAM Does Internlm2 5 7B Chat Need?

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

QuantizationVRAM+32KOn RTX 4090 (reference)
3.5 GB7.6 GB2-bit · K-quant — 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvementsFits: 32K context · ~185 tok/s
4.0 GB8 GB3-bit medium — 3-bit medium quantizationFits: 32K context · ~165 tok/s
4.8 GB8.8 GB4-bit medium — 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spotFits: 32K context · ~137 tok/s
5.6 GB9.6 GB5-bit medium — 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoffFits: 32K context · ~118 tok/s
6.3 GB10.4 GB6-bit, very good — 6-bit quantization, very good qualityFits: 32K context · ~103 tok/s
7.6 GB11.6 GB8-bit, near-lossless — 8-bit quantization, near-losslessFits: 32K context · ~87 tok/s
14.6 GB18.6 GB16-bit · bfloat — Brain floating point 16 — preferred for trainingFits: 32K context · ~45 tok/s
est.calculated, no published file yet

Selected Q4_K_M

4-bit medium quantization

6.7GBat 16K context

Weights
4.2 GB
KV cache
2.2 GB
Overhead
0.3 GB

Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · 17.4 GB free · ~137 tok/s

≥50 tok/s needs ≥367 GB/s · RTX 5090 ~244, RTX 3090 Ti ~137

Which Hardware Can Run Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

Q4_K_M · 4.8 GB

Internlm2 5 7B Chat (Q4_K_M) requires 4.8 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 7+ GB is recommended. Using the full 33K context window can add up to 4.0 GB, bringing total usage to 8.8 GB. 52 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. 151 devices with unified memory can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat, including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256GB), Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB).

By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at Q4_K_M
8 GB · RTX 4060Q4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~37 tok/s · 16K8 GB tier →
12 GB · RTX 3060 12GBQ4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~49 tok/s · 32K12 GB tier →
16 GB · RTX 5060 Ti 16GBQ4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~61 tok/s · 32K16 GB tier →
24 GB · RTX 4090referenceQ4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~137 tok/s · 32K24 GB tier →
Mac 32 GB · Mac Mini M4Q4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~18 tok/s · 32KMacs →
Mac 64 GB · Mac Studio M4 MaxQ4_K_M · 6.7 GB · ~80 tok/s · 32KMacs →

Alternatives to Internlm2 5 7B Chat

InternLM family · 7 models →

Similar models

6
ModelScoreVRAMtok/sWhy it is similar
Olmo 3 7B InstructAllen AI—8.4 GB~114same size
Mathstral 7B v0.1Mistral AI—6.8 GB~133same size
Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3Mistral AI—6.8 GB~133same size
Phi 3 Small 8k InstructMicrosoft—16.2 GB~43same size
CodeQwen1.5 7BAlibaba—5.7 GB~137same size
Starling LM 7B BetaNexusflow—5.7 GB~133same size

Specifications

Publisher
InternLM
Family
InternLM
Parameters
7B
Architecture
InternLM2ForCausalLM
Context Length
32,768 tokens
Vocabulary Size
92,544
Release Date
2024-06-27
License
Other

Frequently Asked Questions

How much VRAM does Internlm2 5 7B Chat need?

Internlm2 5 7B Chat requires 4.8 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 14.6 GB at BF16. Full 33K context adds up to 4.0 GB (8.8 GB total).

VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead

Weights = 7B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 4.2 GB

KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.6 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 ≈ 4.6 GB (at full 33K context)

VRAM usage by quantization

4.8 GB
8.8 GB

Learn more about VRAM estimation →

What's the best quantization for Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

For Internlm2 5 7B Chat, Q4_K_M (4.8 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_M (5.6 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 3.5 GB.

VRAM requirement by quantization

Q2_K
3.5 GB
Q4_K_M ★
4.8 GB
Q5_K_M
5.6 GB
Q6_K
6.3 GB
Q8_0
7.6 GB
BF16
14.6 GB

★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.

Learn more about quantization →

Can I run Internlm2 5 7B Chat on a Mac?

Yes — Mac Mini M2 Pro (16 GB) and 133 other Macs can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At Q4_K_M you need at least 4.8 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead).

Can I run Internlm2 5 7B Chat locally?

Yes — Internlm2 5 7B Chat can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.

How fast is Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

At Q4_K_M, Internlm2 5 7B Chat can reach ~1006 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~137 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 ÷ 4.77 × 0.65 = ~1090 tok/s

Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (4.8 GB)

~1090 tok/s
~137 tok/s
~1090 tok/s
~1006 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 Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

At Q4_K_M, the download is about 4.20 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 14.00 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 2.98 GB.

Which GPUs can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

52 consumer GPUs can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat at Q4_K_M. Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. 52 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.

Which devices can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat?

151 devices with unified memory can run Internlm2 5 7B Chat at Q4_K_M (4.8 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.