Magistral Small 2509 — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
ChatMagistral Small 2509 (also called Magistral Small 1.2) is Mistral AI's small reasoning model, built on Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct with added chain-of-thought reasoning trained through supervised fine-tuning on Magistral Medium traces followed by reinforcement learning. Unlike the text-only Magistral Small 1.1, this 1.2 release adds a vision encoder, so it can reason over images as well as text, wrapping its reasoning trace in dedicated [THINK]/[/THINK] tokens. It supports dozens of languages and is small enough to fit on a single consumer GPU once quantized. Context length is 131,072 tokens, though the card notes performance may degrade somewhat past 40,000 tokens. It is released under the Apache 2.0 license, permitting unrestricted commercial and research use, and was published in September 2025.
Runs well on a 24 GB GPU
Runs from 12 GB (IQ2_M · 16K)Best on 24 GB (Q4_K_M · ~43 tok/s · 32K)Macs from 16 GB (IQ2_M · ~16 tok/s)
Score 85.6#80 of 106 open#22 of 36 that fit 24 GBApache 2.0
Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB
Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate
llmrun Composite Score →
85.6
- 90% range 81.0–90.3
- #80 of 106 open models
- #22 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Run Magistral Small 2509
One recommended way. Every other method, OS and quant is in the step-by-step guide.Each way opens a step-by-step guide for your OS and quant.
Recommended
ollama run hf.co/unsloth/Magistral-Small-2509-GGUF:Q4_K_MQ4_K_M fits fully on the RTX 4090 · 5.9 GB free · 16K context
Download: Magistral-Small-2509-Q4_K_M.gguf14.33 GBunsloth
Ways to runOther ways
each opens step-by-stepRun in cloud
Your own private copy · Q4_K_M · 24 GB GPU
- The easiest way to try this model
- Running in a few minutes, easy setup
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Runs on RTX 3090 (24 GB) (5 GB headroom) · Q4_K_M
- Generation speed
- ~40 tok/s
- generation speed
- Cost per 1M output tokens
- $1.17
- per 1M output tokens
How Much VRAM Does Magistral Small 2509 Need?
Select a quantization level; the listed hardware adheres to it.
| Quantization | VRAM | +32K | On RTX 4090 (reference) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.9 GB | 17.2 GB | 2-bit · K-quant — 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements | Fits: 64K context · ~60 tok/s | |
| 11.2 GB | 17.5 GB | 3-bit small — 3-bit small quantization | Fits: 32K context · ~58 tok/s | |
| 12.4 GB | 18.7 GB | 3-bit medium — 3-bit medium quantization | Fits: 32K context · ~53 tok/s | |
| 12.7 GB | 19 GB | 4-bit · legacy — 4-bit legacy quantization | Fits: 32K context · ~52 tok/s | |
| 15.1 GB | 21.4 GB | 4-bit medium — 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot | Fits: 32K context · ~43 tok/s | |
| 17.8 GB | 24.1 GB | 5-bit medium — 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff | Fits: 16K context · ~37 tok/s | |
| 20.5 GB | 26.8 GB | 6-bit, very good — 6-bit quantization, very good quality | Fits: 16K context · ~32 tok/s | |
| 24.7 GB | 31 GB | 8-bit, near-lossless — 8-bit quantization, near-lossless | Does not fit: needs 27.7 GB |
Selected Q4_K_M
4-bit medium quantization18.1GBat 16K context
- Weights
- 14.4 GB
- KV cache
- 3.4 GB
- Overhead
- 0.3 GB
Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · 5.9 GB free · ~43 tok/s
≥50 tok/s needs ≥1.16 TB/s · RTX 5090 ~77
Which Hardware Can Run Magistral Small 2509?
Q4_K_M · 15.1 GBMagistral Small 2509 (Q4_K_M) requires 15.1 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 20+ GB is recommended. Using the full 131K context window can add up to 26.4 GB, bringing total usage to 41.5 GB. 26 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080. 122 devices with unified memory can run Magistral Small 2509, including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256GB), Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB), Mac Mini M5 Pro (24 GB).
20 GB
fits · 1.9 GB free · up to 16K ctx
1 GPU
RX 7900 XT~32Simulate output on RX 7900 XT32–40 GB
fits · 13.9 GB free · up to 64K ctx
1 GPU · 3 Mac classes · 4 device families
RTX 5090~77Simulate output on RTX 5090M5 Max36 GB~21Simulate output on Mac Studio M5 Max (36 GB)M532 GB~7Simulate output on MacBook Air 13" M5 (32 GB)Orin~9Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 32GBSnapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100)~6Simulate output on Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC
By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at Q4_K_M
How good is Magistral Small 2509?
The llmrun Score merges 5 public benchmark boards into a single figure, where 100 represents the average for open models.
Score vs VRAM in the 24 GB tier
- Magistral Small 2509
- Other models
- Best Score for its VRAM
#22 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Each dot is a model at the best quant that fits a 24 GB GPU. The line steps up to the best Score available at each amount of VRAM; a dot below it is beaten by a model that needs no more memory.
Full 24 GB ranking →Benchmarks
Here are all 5 boards that have results for this model, sorted by their weight in the llmrun Score; badges show who ran the test.
- GPQA Diamond
Epoch AI · Sep 2025Independent
Independent47.6%
#60/100 open
- AIME 2024/2025
Epoch AI · Sep 2025Independent
Independent28.1%
#53/88 open
- SciCode
Epoch AI · Sep 2025Lab-reported
Lab-reported35.2%
#55/72 open
- CritPt
Epoch AI · Sep 2025Lab-reported
Lab-reported0.3%
#48/84 open
- DTBench
Epoch AI · Sep 2025Lab-reported
Lab-reported61.3%
#46/70 open
In the 24 GB class
36 models fit 24 GBSame Score, only models that fit 24 GB at their best quant: the ranking a 24 GB owner actually chooses from.
- #1
Qwen3.8 27BAlibaba
122.0
~38 tok/s · 17.9 GB
- #2
Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba
111.2
~38 tok/s · 17.9 GB
- #3
Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba
106.8
~151 tok/s · 22.0 GB
- #4
Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle
106.7
~32 tok/s · 21.7 GB
- #5
Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle
105.8
~171 tok/s · 16.5 GB
- #6
Qwen3.5 35B A3BAlibaba
105.8
~151 tok/s · 22.0 GB
Alternatives to Magistral Small 2509
Mistral family · 35 models →Official models with an llmrun Score, each answering one question; numbers are at the best quant that fits a 24 GB GPU.
Best alternative at this size
Qwen3.8 27B
Alibaba
- 36.4 higher Score
- 0.2 GB less VRAM
- 6 tok/s slower
Score 122.0 · 17.9 GB · ~38 tok/s
Much faster, similar quality
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Alibaba
- 21.2 higher Score
- 4 GB more VRAM
- 108 tok/s faster
Score 106.8 · 22 GB · ~151 tok/s
Fits in less VRAM
GPT OSS 20B
OpenAI
- 10.8 higher Score
- 4.9 GB less VRAM
- 146 tok/s faster
Score 96.4 · 13.1 GB · ~190 tok/s
Other vendor
Qwen3.6 27B
Alibaba
- 25.6 higher Score
- 0.2 GB less VRAM
- 6 tok/s slower
Score 111.2 · 17.9 GB · ~38 tok/s
Similar models
10| Model | Score | VRAM | tok/s | Why it is similar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle | 106.7 | 21.7 GB | ~32 | similar score |
| Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle | 105.8 | 16.5 GB | ~171 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 35B A3BAlibaba | 105.8 | 22 GB | ~151 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 27BAlibaba | 103.8 | 17.9 GB | ~38 | similar score |
| Seed OSS 36B InstructByteDance-Seed | 102.5 | 22.8 GB | ~31 | similar score |
| Qwen3 30B A3B Thinking 2507Alibaba | 100.7 | 19.4 GB | ~173 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba | 99.4 | 6.6 GB | ~103 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba | 98.5 | 3.4 GB | ~201 | similar score |
| Qwen3 14BAlibaba | 98.0 | 11.9 GB | ~69 | similar score |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32BDeepSeek | 97.2 | 23 GB | ~34 | similar score |
Specifications
- Publisher
- Mistral AI
- Family
- Mistral
- Parameters
- 24.0B
- Architecture
- Mistral3ForConditionalGeneration
- Context Length
- 131,072 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 131,072
- Release Date
- 2025-09-12
- License
- Apache 2.0
Frequently Asked Questions
How much VRAM does Magistral Small 2509 need?
Magistral Small 2509 requires 15.1 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 48.7 GB at BF16. Full 131K context adds up to 26.4 GB (41.5 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 24.0B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 14.4 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.7 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 ≈ 27.2 GB (at full 131K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 run Magistral Small 2509?
Yes, at Q6_K (20.5 GB) or lower. Higher quantizations like Q8_0 (24.7 GB) exceed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's 24 GB.
What's the best quantization for Magistral Small 2509?
For Magistral Small 2509, Q4_K_M (15.1 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q4_K_L (15.4 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 7.3 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
Can I run Magistral Small 2509 on a Mac?
Yes — Mac Mini M2 Pro (16 GB) and 133 other Macs can run Magistral Small 2509, the smallest at IQ2_M. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At Q4_K_M you need at least 15.1 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead), from Mac Mini M5 Pro (24 GB).
Can I run Magistral Small 2509 locally?
Yes — Magistral Small 2509 can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
How fast is Magistral Small 2509?
At Q4_K_M, Magistral Small 2509 can reach ~317 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~43 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 ÷ 15.1 × 0.65 = ~344 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (15.1 GB)
Real-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
What's the download size of Magistral Small 2509?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 14.41 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 48.02 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 6.60 GB.
Which GPUs can run Magistral Small 2509?
26 consumer GPUs can run Magistral Small 2509 at Q4_K_M. Top options include AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, AMD Radeon RX 6800. 7 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
Which devices can run Magistral Small 2509?
122 devices with unified memory can run Magistral Small 2509 at Q4_K_M (15.1 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.