Whittle Next 27B A3B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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Whittle Next 27B A3B is a 27.6B-parameter open language model from logic65. It supports a context window of up to 262,144 tokens. At Q4_K_M it needs about 16.92 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
4.5K downloads
20 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- logic65
- Parameters
- 27.6B
- Architecture
- Qwen4ExpForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 262,144 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 248,320
- Release Date
- 2026-09-03
- License
- Apache 2.0
Get Started
HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does Whittle Next 27B A3B Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_Kest. | 3.40 | 12.1 GB | 22.8 GB | 11.72 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 13.8 GB | 24.5 GB | 13.44 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 16.9 GB | 27.6 GB | 16.54 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 20.0 GB | 30.7 GB | 19.64 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 23.1 GB | 33.8 GB | 22.74 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 27.9 GB | 38.6 GB | 27.57 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
| BF16est. | 16.00 | 55.5 GB | 66.2 GB | 55.14 GB | Brain floating point 16 — preferred for training |
est.= calculated VRAM estimate; no published GGUF file found for that quantization yet. Other rows are verified against real community uploads.
Which GPUs Can Run Whittle Next 27B A3B?
Q4_K_M · 16.9 GBWhittle Next 27B A3B (Q4_K_M) requires 16.9 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 22+ GB is recommended. Using the full 262K context window can add up to 10.7 GB, bringing total usage to 27.6 GB. 8 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Which Devices Can Run Whittle Next 27B A3B?
Q4_K_M · 16.9 GB41 devices with unified memory can run Whittle Next 27B A3B, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, Mac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomDecent
— Enough memory, may be tightWhere to Download Whittle Next 27B A3B
Community quantizations of this model — GGUF for llama.cpp, Ollama, and LM Studio, plus AWQ/MLX variants where available.
Related Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Whittle Next 27B A3B need?
Whittle Next 27B A3B requires 16.9 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 55.5 GB at BF16. Full 262K context adds up to 10.7 GB (27.6 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 27.6B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 16.5 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.4 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 11.1 GB (at full 262K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M16.9 GBQ4_K_M + full context27.6 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 run Whittle Next 27B A3B?
Yes, at Q6_K (23.1 GB) or lower. Higher quantizations like Q8_0 (27.9 GB) exceed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's 24 GB.
- What's the best quantization for Whittle Next 27B A3B?
For Whittle Next 27B A3B, Q4_K_M (16.9 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_M (20.0 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 12.1 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
Q2_K12.1 GBQ4_K_M ★16.9 GBQ5_K_M20.0 GBQ6_K23.1 GBQ8_027.9 GBBF1655.5 GB★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Whittle Next 27B A3B on a Mac?
Whittle Next 27B A3B requires at least 12.1 GB at Q2_K, 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 Whittle Next 27B A3B locally?
Yes — Whittle Next 27B A3B can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 16.9 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Whittle Next 27B A3B?
At Q4_K_M, Whittle Next 27B A3B can reach ~114 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~129 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 ÷ 16.9 × 0.65 = ~345 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (16.9 GB)
~345 tok/s~129 tok/s~345 tok/s~299 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Whittle Next 27B A3B?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 16.54 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 55.14 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 11.72 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Whittle Next 27B A3B?
8 consumer GPUs can run Whittle Next 27B A3B at Q4_K_M (16.9 GB). Top options include NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. 1 GPU have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
- Which devices can run Whittle Next 27B A3B?
41 devices with unified memory can run Whittle Next 27B A3B at Q4_K_M (16.9 GB), including AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point) Laptop, ASUS Ascent GX10, Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025, Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB), Beelink GTR9 Pro (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.