Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
ChatCode
2.4K downloads
14 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- MLX Community
- Family
- Qwen
- Parameters
- 30B
- Architecture
- Qwen3MoeForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 262,144 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 151,936
- Release Date
- 2025-08-06
- License
- Apache 2.0
Get Started
How Much VRAM Does Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 13.2 GB | 25.9 GB | 12.75 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 13.5 GB | 26.3 GB | 13.13 GB | 3-bit small quantization |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 15.0 GB | 27.8 GB | 14.63 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 15.4 GB | 28.2 GB | 15.00 GB | 4-bit legacy quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 18.4 GB | 31.2 GB | 18.00 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 21.8 GB | 34.6 GB | 21.38 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 25.1 GB | 37.9 GB | 24.75 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 30.4 GB | 43.2 GB | 30.00 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
Q4_K_M · 18.4 GBQwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit (Q4_K_M) requires 18.4 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 24+ GB is recommended. Using the full 262K context window can add up to 12.8 GB, bringing total usage to 31.2 GB. 6 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Which Devices Can Run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
Q4_K_M · 18.4 GB21 devices with unified memory can run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, Mac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomRelated Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit need?
Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit requires 18.4 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 30.4 GB at Q8_0. Full 262K context adds up to 12.8 GB (31.2 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 30B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 18 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.4 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 13.2 GB (at full 262K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M18.4 GBQ4_K_M + full context31.2 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
Yes, at Q5_K_M (21.8 GB) or lower. Higher quantizations like Q6_K (25.1 GB) exceed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's 24 GB.
- What's the best quantization for Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
For Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit, Q4_K_M (18.4 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_S (21.0 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 8.7 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
IQ2_XXS8.7 GB~53%Q3_K_S13.5 GB~77%Q4_117.3 GB~88%Q4_K_M ★18.4 GB~89%Q5_K_S21.0 GB~92%Q8_030.4 GB~99%★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit on a Mac?
Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit requires at least 8.7 GB at IQ2_XXS, 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 Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit locally?
Yes — Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 18.4 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit can reach ~158 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~36 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 ÷ 18.4 × 0.55 = ~158 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (18.4 GB)
AMD Instinct MI300X~158 tok/sNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090~36 tok/sNVIDIA H100 SXM~118 tok/sAMD Instinct MI250X~98 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 18.00 GB. The full-precision Q8_0 version is 30.00 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 8.25 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
6 consumer GPUs can run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit at Q4_K_M (18.4 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 Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit?
21 devices with unified memory can run Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct 4bit at Q4_K_M (18.4 GB), including Mac Mini M4 (32 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB), Mac Pro M2 Ultra (192 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.