INTELLECT 3 — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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INTELLECT 3 is a 106.9B-parameter open language model from PrimeIntellect. It supports a context window of up to 131,072 tokens. At Q4_K_M it needs about 64.54 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
2.9K downloads
216 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- PrimeIntellect
- Parameters
- 106.9B
- Architecture
- Glm4MoeForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 131,072 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 151,552
- Release Date
- 2025-11-26
- License
- MIT
Get Started
HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does INTELLECT 3 Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_Kest. | 3.40 | 45.8 GB | 53.9 GB | 45.41 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_Mest. | 3.90 | 52.5 GB | 60.6 GB | 52.09 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_K_Mest. | 4.80 | 64.5 GB | 72.6 GB | 64.11 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_Mest. | 5.70 | 76.6 GB | 84.7 GB | 76.13 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_Kest. | 6.60 | 88.6 GB | 96.7 GB | 88.15 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0est. | 8.00 | 107.3 GB | 115.4 GB | 106.85 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
| BF16est. | 16.00 | 214.1 GB | 222.2 GB | 213.70 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 INTELLECT 3?
Q4_K_M · 64.5 GBINTELLECT 3 (Q4_K_M) requires 64.5 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 84+ GB is recommended. Using the full 131K context window can add up to 8.1 GB, bringing total usage to 72.6 GB. No single GPU has enough memory — multi-GPU or cluster setups are needed.
Which Devices Can Run INTELLECT 3?
Q4_K_M · 64.5 GB19 devices with unified memory can run INTELLECT 3, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 96GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Decent
— Enough memory, may be tightRelated Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does INTELLECT 3 need?
INTELLECT 3 requires 64.5 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 214.1 GB at BF16. Full 131K context adds up to 8.1 GB (72.6 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 106.9B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 64.1 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.4 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 8.5 GB (at full 131K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M64.5 GBQ4_K_M + full context72.6 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 run INTELLECT 3?
No — INTELLECT 3 requires at least 45.8 GB at Q2_K, which exceeds the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM.
- What's the best quantization for INTELLECT 3?
For INTELLECT 3, Q4_K_M (64.5 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_M (76.6 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 45.8 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
Q2_K45.8 GBQ4_K_M ★64.5 GBQ5_K_M76.6 GBQ6_K88.6 GBQ8_0107.3 GBBF16214.1 GB★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run INTELLECT 3 on a Mac?
INTELLECT 3 requires at least 45.8 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 INTELLECT 3 locally?
Yes — INTELLECT 3 can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 64.5 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is INTELLECT 3?
At Q4_K_M, INTELLECT 3 can reach ~68 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. 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 ÷ 64.5 × 0.65 = ~81 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (64.5 GB)
~81 tok/s~81 tok/s~68 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of INTELLECT 3?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 64.11 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 213.70 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 45.41 GB.
- Which GPUs can run INTELLECT 3?
No single consumer GPU has enough VRAM to run INTELLECT 3 at Q4_K_M (64.5 GB). Multi-GPU or professional hardware is required.
- Which devices can run INTELLECT 3?
19 devices with unified memory can run INTELLECT 3 at Q4_K_M (64.5 GB), including ASUS Ascent GX10, Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025, Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB), 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.