NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
ChatSpecifications
- Publisher
- NVIDIA
- Parameters
- 123.6B
- Architecture
- NemotronHForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 262,144 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 131,072
- Release Date
- 2026-03-14
- License
- Other
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How Much VRAM Does NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 53.0 GB | 76.5 GB | 52.53 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 54.6 GB | 78 GB | 54.08 GB | 3-bit small quantization |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 60.7 GB | 84.2 GB | 60.26 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 62.3 GB | 85.7 GB | 61.81 GB | 4-bit legacy quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 74.7 GB | 98.1 GB | 74.17 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 88.6 GB | 112 GB | 88.07 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 102.5 GB | 125.9 GB | 101.98 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 124.1 GB | 147.5 GB | 123.61 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
Q4_K_M · 74.7 GBNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 (Q4_K_M) requires 74.7 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 98+ GB is recommended. Using the full 262K context window can add up to 23.4 GB, bringing total usage to 98.1 GB. No single GPU has enough memory — multi-GPU or cluster setups are needed.
Which Devices Can Run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
Q4_K_M · 74.7 GB5 devices with unified memory can run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB.
Related Models
Derivatives (8)
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 need?
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 requires 74.7 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 124.1 GB at Q8_0. Full 262K context adds up to 23.4 GB (98.1 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 123.6B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 74.2 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.5 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 23.9 GB (at full 262K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M74.7 GBQ4_K_M + full context98.1 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
No — NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 requires at least 34.5 GB at IQ2_XXS, which exceeds the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM.
- What's the best quantization for NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
For NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16, Q4_K_M (74.7 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q4_K_L (76.2 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 34.5 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
IQ2_XXS34.5 GB~53%IQ3_S53.0 GB~75%Q3_K_L63.8 GB~86%Q4_K_M ★74.7 GB~89%Q4_K_L76.2 GB~90%Q8_0124.1 GB~99%★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 on a Mac?
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 requires at least 34.5 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 NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 locally?
Yes — NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 74.7 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
At Q4_K_M, NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 can reach ~39 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. 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 ÷ 74.7 × 0.55 = ~39 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (74.7 GB)
AMD Instinct MI300X~39 tok/sNVIDIA H100 SXM~29 tok/sAMD Instinct MI250X~24 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 74.17 GB. The full-precision Q8_0 version is 123.61 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 33.99 GB.
- Which GPUs can run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
No single consumer GPU has enough VRAM to run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 at Q4_K_M (74.7 GB). Multi-GPU or professional hardware is required.
- Which devices can run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16?
5 devices with unified memory can run NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B BF16 at Q4_K_M (74.7 GB), including Mac Pro M2 Ultra (192 GB), Mac Studio M2 Ultra (192 GB), Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB), NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB. Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.